Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% The way people have been talking about It Follows you'd think that we had a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Halloween on our hands. We don't, but watching the incredibly creepy first hour of David Robert Mitchell's indie horror flick - when the film is at its most effective - it actually does feel like It Follows is something progressive and rare. Sadly, though, this is a movie that gets worse the longer it goes on. As Mitchell tries to up the ante and keep you invested, he begins to reveal and show too much, which - in turn - drains out what made the movie so scary up until that point - the off-screen horror, always just out of frame, slowly edging towards protagonist Jay (Maika Monroe) in a bid to nab her after she finds herself "infected" with a curse during an ill-judged sexual encounter. It Follows is beautifully shot, its soundtrack is arguably the best of 2015, and the retro tone that carries the movie is wonderfully (and eerily) realised. It's such a shame, then, that Mitchell doesn't show restraint for the entire flick. Whilst most critics seemed to relish the movie's action-oriented second half, in reality it made a unique film feel more generic.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
