It Doesn’t Think, It Doesn’t Feel, It Doesn’t Give Up ⭐

It Follows is my all time favorite horror movie. Which seems crazy to say considering it’s barely 4 years old. It’s also the one movie on my “Top 10 Favorite Movies” list that requires the most justification. It Follows being my number ten favorite movie. Well for a lot of people, horror is either a big obsession or something to be avoided altogether. I’m actually a big fan of horror movies. I have been ever since I was a kid. So I knew my list needed a horror movie on it. The question was, which horror movie do I choose? This is why I chose It Follows. My history with this movie is shorter than any of the other movies on my list. I first heard of It Follows when I saw a trailer for the movie online. The trailer was vague, creepy, and I took notice of the glowing reviews. People were calling it one of the best horror films in years. Horror is not for everyone and sometimes modern horror films feel too generic. So to hear that It Follows was actually really good was enough of a selling point for me. I don’t ever see horror movies in theaters, but I actually really wanted to go see It Follows. I didn’t, but I have seen the movie many times since then…

Jay and Hugh have sex in the back of a car

It Follows is a supernatural psychological horror movie about a teenage girl named Jay. Jay is just your average everyday teenager. She likes to swim, hang out with friends, and she’s currently dating a guy. Everything starts off normal at first. Going on dates that eventually lead to them having sex in a car. This is where things take a turn for the worse. It turns out that the guy she’s dating, Hugh, was carrying something with him when they had sex. Something like an STD, but much worse. He explains it to her while she’s still in her underwear and tied to a wheelchair. An entity with the sole purpose of killing the person who carries it, and when that person is dead, they go straight down the line to whoever started it. To quote Hugh, “It can look like someone you know or it can be a stranger in a crowd. Whatever helps it get close to you.” That’s exactly how the entity appears. The only thing the appearances have in common is that sometimes the entity is naked (either topless or fully nude) or they have bloody eyes. The entity is also very slow. It walks straight towards you as soon as you have sex. Which may not seem dangerous, but the problem is, you can never let your guard down. You have to be on high alert at all times. Your only chance for safety is to pass it on. As soon as Jay accepts that what’s happening to her is real, she comes up with a plan to stop it, and she actually uses her friend’s and sister’s help. Jay searches for answers, learns to defend herself, and ultimately faces off with the entity. It Follows is an atmospheric horror movie that doesn’t fully rely on jump scares. It takes place in an unspecified decade that gives almost no indication into when it takes place or where. Everybody drives vintage cars and watches vintage television. The only bit of modern technology is some kind of shell phone. Adults are also never seen. They’re either seen from far away or their faces are obscured. You only see adults when the entity assumes their form. Now that you know the story, this is why it’s my all time favorite horror movie…

Hugh (background) tells Jay (foreground) about It

It Follows taps into one of my greatest fears, being followed. The fact that there’s a horror movie about being followed, immediately guaranteed it as my favorite. When it comes to horror, psychological movies scare me the most. Slasher movies are more entertaining, monster movies are usually fun, torture porn is just disgusting, and I can only take so many ghost stories. I like psychological horror, because sometimes the idea of something scary is scarier than what you see on screen. That’s what makes It Follows such a terrifying film. I don’t know how I’d survive being followed, always living in fear. I’m the kind of person who looks behind his back every 10 seconds when I’m walking. It Follows is also refreshingly original and strikingly well made. There are several artistic shots, camera angles, foreshadowing, and techniques that give the movie an identity all its own. Like the slow building iconic shot of the car. Their choice to never show the adult’s faces was also brilliant, because this is a story about young people and young people alone. It makes it feel like a really dark version of Charlie Brown. Jay is one of the smarter horror movie heroines. Her choices actually kept her (and her friends) from falling victim to a lot of typical horror cliches. As far as scares are concerned, It Follows has plenty of scary moments. Most of which involve the entity in its many forms, but its the atmosphere that messes with you the most. A lot of which is supported by an amazing soundtrack by an unknown artist named Disasterpeace. Honestly, his music is some of the best I’ve ever heard in a horror movie. It’s unsettling, it’s unnatural, and it’s unbelievably effective. Which perfectly describes the movie. It Follows has also been the topic of much discussion. Many critics have tried to come up with their own theories and/or interpretations for the movie. Such as, whether or not sex is treated as a good thing or a bad thing. Having sex puts you in danger, but having sex will also set you free. There’s also much debate about what the most effective way to fight the entity is. Well the ending is left ambiguous, so I guess we’ll never know. That’s what makes It Follows my favorite horror movie. It Follows leaves you with an unsettling feeling that makes it one of the best horror movies of the past decade.

Blood in the water

Followed by: They Follow