Rating of
2.5/4
The mood was tremendous but it's not really creepy
ikkegoemikke - wrote on 06/01/16
"This thing. It's going to follow you. Somebody gave it to me. And I pass it to you."
Now this was a movie I really was looking forward to. I'm a horror fanatic who's always on the lookout for films in this genre that leave others far behind in terms of originality and atmosphere (such as "He never died", "Goodnight Mommy", "The Babadook" and "Spring" for instance). And many advised me to watch this one. The fact that the hype about this movie was disproportionate, made my expectations go sky-high. And did it meet my expectations? Partially it did and partly it didn't. The fact that I went outside for some fresh air after I had watched it and I looked briefly over my shoulder because of the feeling that I was being watched, means that the atmosphere was quite alright. On the other hand it wasn't really creepy and it felt rather as if I watched a ridiculous educational film about the dangers of sexual intercourse.
The association with sexually transmitted diseases was made quickly. There's only one difference. Here it's not confined to the proliferation of microscopic cells that'll make sure you get such a terrible disease. In "It follows" the deadly sexual disease which spreads from one to another, is presented by slow moving and yet sometimes quite terrifying and sinister-looking individuals. The shape "It" takes is randomly. It ranges from totally unknown persons, to someone in your immediate circle of acquaintances. There's only one thing the infected person should keep in mind. And that's not to get caught by "It". A certain death would be the end result, after which "It" focuses on the previous one in the line of infected victims.
The beginning of the film certainly wasn't disappointing. To be honest, in a sense you could say it was brilliant. A confused teenage girl driving off in panic, ending up somewhere on a beach where she makes one last phone call with her parents to say goodbye. The next image is a molested body. The tone was set and it looked like my expectations would be fulfilled. That's what I thought. Because as the movie progressed, the ominous atmosphere and a feeling of discomfort remained, but really frightening it became nowhere. Even worse. They piled up one stupidity after the other. I thought the final piece was pitifully poor and stupid. And again they couldn't resist to finish in the most clichéd manner. The only one who was able to use his brain cells was Paul (Keir Gilchrist). His solution was as effective as dead simple.
But once again, the overall mood was tremendous. That constant feeling of threat reminded me of the better horror movies of the 80s like "Halloween" or "Friday the 13th". The only difference is that now it's not about a crazy psychopath with a shiny sharp knife, but something supernatural. A kind of insidious disease. The soundtrack with intensive synth music and familiar sound effects were reminiscent of films made in that period. Even attributes of that time were used here. Although I sometimes had the impression that they mixed up two different eras (a black and white TV and an e-reader). Maybe the characters were fans of a vintage interior design. In terms of originality "It follows" scores very high. But in terms of implementation, the horror content could be somewhat stronger. Maybe they could use this film as an educational film for today's youth.
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