12 Greatest Horror Films Of The Last 5 Years
2. It Follows (2014)
Over the course of It Follows' runtime every element falls squarely into place. Released in 2014 and written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the plot concerns a teenage girl who is pursued by a deathly supernatural entity after having sex with someone who is cursed. The intimacy of sex has long been an element of horror, but It Follows manages to explore it in a completely new way.
It's not just the plot that's great, however. Lead actress Maika Monroe is something of a revelation, conveying as much emotion when she gazes out at the urban Michigan landscape as when she's running terrified for her life. There's a quiet desperation to Monroe's performance that helps sell what's going on.
The entire package is rounded off by a brilliant, electronic score composed by Rich Vreeland of Diasasterpeace fame. The music is frantic and melancholy in equal measure, and combines perfectly with the film's moody cinematography to elicit a tone like nothing you've ever experienced before in a horror film.