Wednesday, July 19, 2017

It Follows (2014)



Number Rolled: 5
Movie Name/Year: It Follows (2014)
Tagline: It doesn’t think. It doesn’t feel. It doesn’t give up.
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length: 100 minutes
Rating: R
Production Companies: Northern Lights Films, Animal Kingdom, Two Flints
Producer: Joshua Astrachan, Robyn K. Bennett, Mia Chang, P. Jennifer Dana, Frederick W. Green, Rebecca Green, David Kaplan, Corey Large, David Robert Mitchell, Alan Pao, Erik Rommesmo, Jeff Schlossman, Laura D. Smith, Bill Wallwork
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Writer: David Robert Mitchell
Actors: Bailey Spry, Loren Bass, Keir Gilchrist, Maika Monroe, Lili Sepe, Olivia Luccardi, Jake Weary, Debbie Williams, Daniel Zovatto, Ruby Harris, Leisa Pulido, Linda Boston, Claire Sloma, Joanna Bronson
Stunt Doubles: Travis Russell, Amber Whelan

Blurb from Netflix: After a sexual tryst, Jay learns that her date has passed on a lethal curse that can only be shed by sleeping with another unsuspecting partner.


Selina’s Point of View:
What is it with sexually transmitted curses lately? Is this Hollywood’s attempt at a PSA about unprotected sex or promiscuity?

I don’t know. Maybe I’m losing my taste for horror films or something. At the very least, I definitely haven’t been in the mood for horror lately. I’ve been more looking forward to the comedies in our queue.

For now, I’m just going to chalk it up to the pregnancy making my brain a little wonky.

What I did notice was how similar It Follows and Contracted (2013) were. They had similar plots with different curses. The movies eventually took different paths… but I still felt like I had seen this film before.


Maybe if it had been longer since I’d seen Contracted I might have taken more to this film.

The acting was fine and It Follows was MUCH better quality than the other film. Given a choice between the two I would choose this one every time… but given a choice between this movie and another horror flick, I’d choose the other one – for the most part.

I also hated the ending. I hated it. A better ending might have saved the whole thing, but the one it had just made everything seem worse.

It Follows just wasn’t for me.


Cat’s Point of View:
I was super excited that we landed on this movie. This wasn’t my first time watching it, nor will it be my last. The trailer stuck with me back in the timeframe this film was released. Needless to say, I jumped at the first chance I had to see if it lived up to my expectations.

Not only did this movie exceed them, it’s now one of my favorite horror movies. This is at least the third time I've seen it - perhaps more. It's been in rotation on cable movie channels.

The atmosphere and pacing of the film feed into the plot-based dread. Sweeping camera pans add to anticipation as you wonder what is coming next and where it’s coming from. The fact that you can’t quite pin down the timeframe of the setting due to the mix of style and technology gives it this nebulous feel that keeps you a little off-kilter. Overall, it feels a bit retro-noir like Stranger Things (2016-) – especially with its electronica soundtrack.

It’s said that writer and director David Robert Mitchell (Kiss, Virgin, The Myth of the American Sleepover) based this story on a tweaked version of a recurring nightmare he used to have. I sincerely hope that he exorcised whatever it was that compelled him to repeat a dream such as this. I think if these were my dreams, I wouldn’t sleep.


Then again, dreams sometimes breed genius - take H.R. Giger for example. He was the dark visionary artist that created the original design for the creatures in Alien (1979). 

I once happened upon a documentary about him and learned that his often grotesque and disturbing art was an expression of his dreams. He had to get them on canvas, so to speak, so that they would no longer drive him mad.

This movie definitely had a bit of a dream-like quality to it, which seems to be exactly Mitchell’s intention. At the same time, the film seems to prod at familiar horror movie tropes without falling squarely into a recipe that’s been done before.

Unfortunately, quite a few of the elements of this film that I adore would give too many spoilers; so it’s something you’ll just need to see and judge for yourself. Just keep in mind that the R-Rating is well deserved here.


Languages
Speech Available: English, Spanish
Subtitles Available: English, Spanish

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 97%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 65%
Metascore - 83/100
Metacritic User Score – 7.8/10
IMDB Score – 6.9/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 2/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating5/5

Movie Trailer:

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