It Follows (2015) (DVD)

91knd7FVW5L._SL1500_It’s always a thrill when an indie horror movie, a good indie horror movie, manages to take America by storm. “It Follows” is the big horror indie of 2015, and for good reason. It’s a creepy, intelligent, complex, and occasionally terrifying glimpse in to a nightmarish world where having pre-marital sex results in dire consequences. Particularly there’s the demon simply identified as It. Maika Monroe is great and absolutely gorgeous as Jay, a young girl who goes out with a guy named Hugh on a date. After they hit it off they have sex in his car, and Hugh proceeds to kidnap Jay. Rather than harm her, he explains that during sex he’s passed on a supernatural curse, and he explains the rules on how to evade the demon. One of the main guidelines being that sex passes the curse on and she must find someone to sleep with to save her own life.

“It Follows” is a film open to interpretation and will garner a ton of analyses and deep insight in to what occurs. Director David Robert Mitchell concocts a unique premise with a terrifying villain, and then asks the viewer to decide for themselves what they’re seeing and what they can derive from the events that unfold. Much of the photography in the film is peculiar in where it paints the world as a nightmarish labyrinth where the demon could be lurking around at any moment. One characteristic about the demon is that it changes form and walks very slowly, thus Mitchell successfully derives paranoia out of every passerby. Every time someone steps in to frame that isn’t a main character, there’s the potential for absolute terror, and Mitchell accomplishes building that looming horror at every single corner.

“It Follows” watches a lot like an indie version of a Japanese horror film, where there’s the curse, the demon, and the stained soul, all the while Jay and her friends try to find Hugh and figure out what to do about the demon itself. It creeps up at every corner, and really is a cunning monster, which makes the fight to stop the curse so harrowing and a grand feat. Much of the characterization is based around the aimlessness and innocence of youth, as we meet Jay who loves floating in her pool for hours, as well as wiling the day away with her sister and friends. It is almost like the harsh realities of life, poking its head in every single time she lets her guard down to remind her of the dangers that are surely lurking and waiting for her and her friends.

Much of what the demon is and why the demon acts on its victims is based around healthy ambiguity, and it really adds a mystique to the film. We can never be sure why it transforms in to busty young women or relatives, but we’re sure it’s all apart of its tendency to violate its victims before murdering them. Perhaps it’s a manifestation of our sexual anxieties? Or maybe it’s a reflection of our sexual desires that we dare not speak of? In either case, the demon has a talent for terrifying yet seeming oh so desirable simultaneously. Mitchell has a peculiar talent for filming certain shots that act as metaphor for elements like innocence lost, underage sex, and the consequence of not having protected sex.

Mitchell also loves to film legs and knees, closing in on Monroe’s knees at least more than once. What makes It such a horrifying villain is that it’s very easy to avoid, but impossible to shake, and surely enough it’s so much more cunning than it appears to be when we initially see it. Mitchell derives a lot of plot points and shots from films like “Halloween,” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” relying heavily on literary nods, as well as themes about fate, and the thin line between reality and fantasy. “It Follows” is an exceptional horror film, one that focuses on innocence lost, and the cruelty of our world, and it builds a horrific new villain that kept me gawking at the screen and fidgeting with anxiety and paranoia. I hope we see more from Mitchell down the road.

The DVD comes with a poster art gallery, and the theatrical trailer. There’s also the five minute A Conversation with Film Composer Disasterpeace, which explores the career of the composer for “It Follows,” and how they created the amazing score for the film. Finally there’s a fine audio commentary with Critics Eric D. Snider, Britt Hayes, Samuel D. Zimmerman, Alison Nastasi, Eric Vespe, and Scott Weinberg, all of whom discuss the film in great detail. It’s a wonderful commentary with a series of great movie critics, all of whom are led by equally stellar Weinberg, who garners a real love and insight for “It Follows.”