A Few Words About A few words about...™ It Follows -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Oblivion138]

I thought it had a satisfactory conclusion for the genre.

I guess, if you expect very little from the genre. The entire climax comes out of nowhere, without the slightest indication - either to the characters or to the audience - that their tactics might work. And without any real confirmation or denial that they did work. The climax is a non sequitur. In a film that is basically too bland to care about, I only had the following reactions to anything:


(girl running in underwear and high heels) - "Ummmmmmm...."

(kid gets chair-smacked by invisible thing) - *hysterical laughter*

(the entire climax) - "Say what now?"

 

[Tino]

Excuse me but that's a bit insulting. I thought it had a satisfactory conclusion. You didn't. Don't tell me I expect very little from the genre. We are entitled to our opinions aren't we?[emoji15]

 

[TravisR]

The entire climax comes out of nowhere, without the slightest indication - either to the characters or to the audience - that their tactics might work.

I never thought that their plan had any chance of working. How do you shoot a ghost or supernatural force? That they even tried to do something like that shows that they're children that are in way over their heads.


I suppose it's very open to interpretation but I took the last few shots to mean that

Spoiler

the guy seen behind them and the next POV shot is it following them.

 

[Tino]

I agree Travis regarding your spoiler.

 

[Oblivion138]

Excuse me but that's a bit insulting. I thought it had a satisfactory conclusion. You didn't. Don't tell me I expect very little from the genre. We are entitled to our opinions aren't we?[emoji15]

Of course we are entitled to our opinions. And that is mine.


If you think the climax works, I am happy you like it. But since I think it is illogical and meaningless, then I don't think it's improper to assume that someone who thinks that it is "satisfactory for the genre" does not expect a whole lot from said genre. Especially as you didn't say it was satisfactory, period. But rather, satisfactory for the genre. As if perhaps you feel there is a lower bar for horror than for other genres. Perhaps you don't, but many do, and your wording gives that impression. Which probably informed my response. I'm sure that many people who don't expect a hell of a lot of logic or well-plotted storytelling from the horror genre thought the ending was just fine. But being that it comes completely out of nowhere and makes the characters look quite stupid, I think it's just poor screenwriting, regardless of genre.


None of this was intended as any kind of personal slight. Just my own personal opinion.

 

[Cineman]

Given the premise, the apparent physical nature of the entity along with IT's equally apparent invincibility from the usual forms of destruction, how could one at least neutralize IT for the longest period of time?


My suggestion is that...

Spoiler

...the next sexual handoff victim must be the youngest person serving a life term without parole in solitary confinement in the highest security prison on the planet. That way, IT will be reduced to sitting it out, literally hanging around outside the prison until IT's targeted victim either escapes (a particularly bad idea under the circumstances) or dies of old age, potentially decades from now.

There. Fixed it. For a long while anyway. Any other ideas out there?

 

[Vincent_P]

I felt that someone thought they had good ideas for individual scenes, and then tried to make a movie that incorporated them -- internal logic or consistency be damned.

Spoiler

Right from the very beginning, for example: Girl runs out of house and stands for a few minutes in the middle of the street. Then goes back into her house. Re-emerges and gets into car. Drives to beach, where she then sits in the sand and waits for IT to catch up & kill her.

Sorta effective scene-wise, but it makes little to no sense when you think about it. The movie was full of scenes like that.


I might have overlooked or ignored all this, had the film been sufficiently scary or suspenseful. Unfortunately, I was not engaged and so had plenty of opportunity to sit and ponder all the stuff that didn't add up or make any sense.

That sequence makes PERFECT sense. If you watch, you'll see

Spoiler

she's not just standing there, she's slowly backing away LOOKING at something. She's drawing "it" out of the house (in fact, you can hear her screen door open and close as she's backing away and the house is off-screen), then when it's close to her, she runs back into the house to get the car keys and flees. As for "waiting to be killed", my guess is she's just given up at that point. We don't know how long she's been followed by "it" and how much it's tortured her psyche. I liken her sitting there waiting for it to a terminally ill patient deciding to take their own life rather than continue suffering.

Vincent

 

[Vincent_P]

As a huge fan of horror who DOES expect a lot out of genre, in my opinion IT FOLLOWS is the best American horror movie since Wes Craven's original A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. I've watched it three times so far and it keeps getting better. The critical commentary on the Blu-ray is very interesting too, and I read a really good write up on the film a couple days ago, I thought it was on Salon but now I can't find it.


Vincent

 

[TravisR]

...in my opinion IT FOLLOWS is the best American horror movie since Wes Craven's original A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.

That's a bold statement but I'm hard pressed to think of a better example.


EDIT: OK, I thought of one- Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer.

 

[Vincent_P]

HENRY is an absolutely brilliant film and incredibly upsetting/disturbing but I think of "horror" as more having a supernatural element. There is a fine line to be sure, though, so let me clarify and say I think IT FOLLOWS is the best American supernatural horror film since the original A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET


Vincent

 

[Dr Griffin]

As far as jump scares, there were a couple, along with a few moments of dread. Very well done movie, with an interesting idea imo. The various ever-trudging characters portraying the "thing" were a little scary, but overall not the scariest movie out there.

 

[haineshisway]

I bought it because of this thread, and while I'm not really a horror fan, and maybe because of that, I rather enjoyed it. It moved right along, and it helps that the lead girl is really terrific. It never lost my interest and I thought it all worked well. It was rather like a 2000s Val Lewton movie, which I was happy about. The director's influences both cinematically and musically can be summed up in one name and it's obvious from frame one: John Carpenter.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Watched It Follows earlier this week and I enjoyed the experience quite a bit. Spoilers I guess...

Spoiler

Maybe I'm just slow, but I thought the idea of the sequence at the pool was to electrocute the entity; but that all seemed to go out the window when the ubiquitous IT arrived. Also, that pool seemed kind of upscale for the rundown neighborhood.

Yeah, I would agree on the John Carpenter influences. The fall colors and shots of the leaves on the ground around the trees and the many suburban shots really brought Halloween to mind. Carpenter introduced the virginal heroine (unintentionally) in Halloween and in this film a little bit of promiscuity seems to be the only way to save yourself; remaining a virgin would of course safeguard you, but if that ship had sailed then only re-indulging might possibly save you.


Solid, solid film that is deserving of the praise that it has received.



- Walter.

 

[Eastmancolor]

I bought it because of this thread, and while I'm not really a horror fan, and maybe because of that, I rather enjoyed it. It moved right along, and it helps that the lead girl is really terrific. It never lost my interest and I thought it all worked well. It was rather like a 2000s Val Lewton movie, which I was happy about. The director's influences both cinematically and musically can be summed up in one name and it's obvious from frame one: John Carpenter.

Just by pure luck, after I watched IT FOLLOWS on a streaming site, I switched over to Netflix and watched THE GUEST, which I had been meaning to look at for some time now. Imagine my surprise when the lead in the film was Maika Monroe, who also played the lead in IT FOLLOWS. What a co-inky-dink.


I agree Bruce, she's quite a good actress and she's certainly the best part of both films. I liked them, though I think both could have used another pass thru the typewriter. Still, they were both entertaining films and well made.


And three cheers to IT FOLLOWS for trying to be creative and suspenseful without pouring on the cheap shocks and gore! I'll likely make a Blu-ray purchase at some point.

 

[haineshisway]

Jim, I did exactly as you did - watched The Guest last night - and yes, she's terrific in it. I liked Dan Stevens, but I thought the movie just got too stupid for its own good and the last fifteen minutes were minutes where I wanted to throw my shoe at the screen.

 

[McCrutchy]

I haven't yet seen The Guest, but this will probably be the most memorable memory of it, for me:

 

[Aaron Silverman]

A teenage girl, meets the right guy, and decides that he'll be the one with whom she'll share herself. It doesn't go as planned, and as a result, she takes over his position of being "followed," by precisely what, we're never certain.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I'm really surprised at all the critical claim and positive comments this film got / is getting. My wife who loves horror movies and I watched it last night and we both thought it was terrible. Like we both really wished we had done something / anything else for that time.


The biggest complaint I had was the soundtrack. The music was just awful / bizzare and grating. At times it was just way to overpowering and loud and really took me out of the movie every time it came on. The lead girl mumbles nearly every one of her lines, and I struggled to understand what she was saying.


Other than that, it was just pretty plodding and boring, without that many scares or tension.

That sequence makes PERFECT sense. If you watch, you'll see

Spoiler

she's not just standing there, she's slowly backing away LOOKING at something. She's drawing "it" out of the house (in fact, you can hear her screen door open and close as she's backing away and the house is off-screen), then when it's close to her, she runs back into the house to get the car keys and flees. As for "waiting to be killed", my guess is she's just given up at that point. We don't know how long she's been followed by "it" and how much it's tortured her psyche. I liken her sitting there waiting for it to a terminally ill patient deciding to take their own life rather than continue suffering.

Vincent

This is also pretty much directly explained 10 minutes later too by the girl with glasses who directly makes a quote about how someone tortured will eventually just give in and submit rather than live in agony, or something to that effect.


One thing I couldn't figure out was when this move was supposed to take place. Virtually everything in the movie looked like it was the 70's, except for the girls little clamshell kindle thing. That one piece of equipment was modern, yet everything else was ancient. And there was no reason at all that it needed to take place in the 70's other than 'just because'.


All in all, just go in with low expectations if you haven't seen this one yet.

 

[Malcolm R]

I'm really surprised at all the critical claim and positive comments this film got / is getting. My wife who loves horror movies and I watched it last night and we both thought it was terrible. Like we both really wished we had done something / anything else for that time.

Sounds like my experience with The Babadook. Lots of critical positives, but I didn't enjoy it. At least it was a Netflix watch, rather than a rental or blind buy. I've almost bought It Follows a couple times based on the reviews and cheap Walmart price, but I think I'll wait until I can catch it via streaming.

 

[Tino]

Sounds like my experience with The Babadook. Lots of critical positives, but I didn't enjoy it. At least it was a Netflix watch, rather than a rental or blind buy. I've almost bought It Follows a couple times based on the reviews and cheap Walmart price, but I think I'll wait until I can catch it via streaming.

I agree with you Malcolm regarding The Babadook. Bought that one blind and got burned. It Follows however was great and was a happy blind buy for me.