# It Follows - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=49266[/img] 
*Title: It Follows* 

*Movie:* :4.5stars:
*Video:* :4.5stars:
*Audio:* :4.5stars: 
*Extras:* :2.5stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*86




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=49274[/img]*Summary*
Good horror movies are always a rarity. In fact, it’s always been that way. Even in the glory days of the 80’s and early 90’s there were TONS of drek to populate the medium even though there were plenty of fantastic ones too. Unfortunately the horror genre has become a little more stale then it should be and riding out on worn out ideas and rehash after rehash. Especially with the rise and fall of the torture subgenre (think “Saw”, “Hostel” and the like). However, lately there has been an uptick in good to great horror movies, introducing movies like “The Conjuring”, “Babadook” and now, “It Follows”. Steeped in atmosphere and literally dripping with tasteful homages to films of multiple generations, “It Follows” is a tasty little treat that builds a world like none other and coats every last inch of the screen with suspense and intrigue to the point that I honestly didn’t know what to expect by the end of film. 

The film opens with a tinkling electronic/piano score that brings you straight back to the classic “Halloween” in vibe as well as the camera work. Said camera watches a young girl run down her street, terrified of something that seems to be following. As hard as the audience and the other people she encounters tries, we just can’t see WHAT is following her. Desperate and frightened we follow her to the beach, where she calls her dad one last time to give the famous “goodbye” speech. Next thing the viewer sees is her dead and disfigured on the beach in the morning. Cut forward to our main heroine, Jay (Maika Monroe), your average teen girl. She and her new boyfriend, Hugh (Jack Weary), are going out on the perfect date and all is roses and kittens till that night. The date itself seems to go fantastic, with romance, beer and the night culminating in a bit of illicit fun for the couple, which is where things go horribly wrong. Chloroformed and tied to a chair in the middle of a parking garage, the horrifying truth comes out. Hugh informs Jay that now that they have had sex she has a monster following her. A creature that is relentless, tireless, and luckily for Jay, rather slow moving. It will follow her until it finds her and kills her, and the only way to get rid of it is to do the same thing and copulate with someone else, where therein it will follow that person and so on and so forth. The only problem is that if the person you give the monster to dies, then it goes back to hunting the person before that and so on and so forth till it gets back to the beginning (wherever or whoever that may be). 

Terrified and rather confused, Jay is dumped on her front porch where her friends run to her aid. Jay is at first rather scared, but still unbelieving until she sees a form approaching her, a person that no one else but she can see. Realizing the horrible truth, she tries to convince her friends that what’s chasing her is real. Of course they don’t see the creature, and mostly they agree to protect her believe that Jay is suffering from PTSD or something, but after a few close encounters with the slow moving “something”, they start to realize that maybe, just maybe, Jay isn’t as crazy as she seems. Hunky Greg (Daniel Zovatto) agrees to “take the curse” so to speak, and cockily stands ahead of the pack to prove them wrong. As horror movies go, this is pretty straightforward and the audience knows that he is gonna bite it pretty fast. Now this adds another wedge into the story as Paul (Keir Gilchrist), one of the group of friends, has had an obvious crush on Jay for most of their lives and the frustration that he feels for not being “chosen” to take the curse on and hopefully pass it on to someone else is blatantly written all over his face. Now the relentless curse is in the wind and soon enough it’s going to come back and haunt Jay again, unless she can do something about it.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=49282[/img]I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I went in to “It Follows”. The internet had burst into chatter the minute it hit theaters and it was instantly hailed a classic and in many people’s words was “very much like Halloween”. That made my brain go straight into “oh, it’s going to be a slasher film”, and I went in with those expectations. “It Follows” is NOTHING like a bloody slasher, and in fact doesn’t rely on much blood, or jump scares or even really SCARY moments at all. Instead it relies on a heavy dose of atmosphere and suspense, artistically weaving in homages to the great horror films of the 80’s and 90’s and even early 2000’s with great respect to the aforementioned films without ever acting like rehash or a knock off. The atmosphere of the film is so dense, so thick that it soon saturates the entire viewing experience like a fog. It never really says WHAT time period it takes place in, and to make matters more ambiguous, you really can’t tell. We see technology that comes from modern times, with black and white TVs and cars and trucks that seem to be a mixture of 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and even a few from modern times. The color grading and filming styles are exactly the same way, some of them feeling like the director took a page from John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and other modern directors as well. The clothes and house styles also fall under that homogenous decade overlap and after a while you realize that the time period isn’t important, as knowing almost detracts from the dreamy state of suspense that David Robert Mitchell is creating around the framework of the plot.

There are some great GREAT points of the movie, but it does have a couple of small flaws, mainly in the pacing. Things can get a teensy bit confusing in the 2nd act and the third act has a cheesy face down with the monster that just didn’t seem as “epic” as it could have been. The ending itself though is pure brilliance, as it leaves the viewer with an unsettling feeling in their stomach, wondering if the monster has truly been defeated and that last flickering scene has sparked many a debate among viewers across the internet. I won’t say it’s a perfect film, but my goodness, it’s a VERY good horror film. One that doesn’t rely on blood, gore or gratuitous sex to build a world of terror (there is some nudity in the film, and a bit of sex, but it’s not glorified nor is the nudity almost ever sexual in any way, they only further add to the creepiness and atmosphere of the movie). 

What makes “It Follows” So great isn’t that it adds in plenty of homages to older films, as that alone would have made it a cruddy film in my opinion. The real joy here is watching how they intricately and seamlessly built up a world from the ground up, a world that is real, palpable, and extremely relatable to the audience. Not only that they pretty much scared every teen into abstinence for the next 30 years! I haven’t been this caught up in the nuances of a horror movie in a VERY long time. Listen to the dialog and you’ll see that there is a LOT going on here, with philosophical questions being asked under the guise of teen dialog and deep meanings that really gives the viewer something to chew on much longer than the 100 minute run time. 



*Rating:* 

Rated R for disturbing violent and sexual content including nudity, and language



*Video* :4.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=49290[/img]One of the very best parts of the entire movie is the visual aspect. “It Follows” doesn’t look like a modern film at all, but rather takes notes from Carpenter and the other 70’s and 80’s horror director, but uses much cleaner shooting cameras to get the job done. The yellow and earthy (and some teal) color grading gives the film a decidedly retro look, but one that is clean and clear of grain, noise or artifacting as well. Even though its digitally shot, “It Follows” never looks overly “digital”, if you know what I mean, but blends seamlessly with other horror classic’s in terms of look and texture. Detail is phenomenal and while there are plenty of dimly lit and dark sequences, the film never shows black crush or banding at all. The disc itself seems very clear of artifacts, and certainly deserves the praise I’m heaping upon it. Well done Anchor Bay.






*Audio* :4.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=49298[/img]Horror movies deserve a great audio track, as atmosphere is everything, and “It Follows” doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. Aggressive and heavily detailed, it saturates every channel of your speaker setup with a deep and throbbing bassline that accentuates the ticking and clicking and creaking of the surrounding noises. Dialog is well spoken and clear of any distortions or imbalances in the mix. The surrounds are constantly active with the sounds of churning water, pitter pattering feet, creaking doors and the BEAUTIFUL score from Disasterpeace is simply mesmerizing and a work of art. Flowing through every bit of the movie it literally almost MAKES the entire audio track perfect. LFE, dialog and surrounds blend into an immaculate and extremely accurate piece of art that really is just sumptuous and tasty to the last bite. 



*Extras* :2.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=49306[/img]
• Audio Commentary
• A Conversation with Film Composer Disasterpeace
• Theatrical Trailer
• Poster Gallery







*Overall:* :4.5stars:

“It Follows” is easily one of my favorite movies of the last year and easily the best horror movie I have seen in quite some time. There really isn’t any typical “scares” in the movie, but it does so much with the atmosphere that you really won’t care that you won’t lose any sleep at night. However, the intelligence and philosophical points of the very well MAY keep you up as you digest the film over many hours. It took multiple viewings on my side to actually start picking up and putting some of those philosophical pieces together. The audio and video encodes are simply superb and while the extras are a bit lacking, I can’t help but highly recommend “It Follows” to anyone who enjoys a good horror movie. 

*Additional Information:*

Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi
Directed by: David Robert Mitchell
Written by: David Robert Mitchell
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Studio: Anchor Bay
Rated: R
Runtime: 100 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 14th 2015




*Buy It Follows On Blu-ray at Amazon*


*Recommendation: Watch it​*








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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

I will definitely buy this one. Thank you!

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

asere said:


> I will definitely buy this one. Thank you!
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk


if you're a fan of old fashioned suspense horror, this one shouldn't be missed


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

Mike Edwards said:


> if you're a fan of old fashioned suspense horror, this one shouldn't be missed


And that I am.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

asere said:


> And that I am.


if you're looking for the best price, Target will have it this week for $12.99 and if you use your target cartwheel app, they have a discount for 10% off, making it $11.69 on release week


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

Mike Edwards said:


> if you're looking for the best price, Target will have it this week for $12.99 and if you use your target cartwheel app, they have a discount for 10% off, making it $11.69 on release week


How cool is that. Target it is and thank you


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

Thanks for the writeup. I haven't been impressed with the recent crop of horror movies but after reading this review, I am interested in watching this one, especially since I haven't heard of this movie.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Thanks again for another great review Mike. I hadn't heard of this one but based on your review I'll definitely check it out. In your opinion is it worthy of purchase or do you suggest rental?


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

JBrax said:


> Thanks again for another great review Mike. I hadn't heard of this one but based on your review I'll definitely check it out. In your opinion is it worthy of purchase or do you suggest rental?


I hesitate to give it a 100% "go buy it" recommendation due to the fact that it's NOT a bloody slasher horror that most of us think of when we think "like Halloween". it's very mood oriented, very methodical in it's pacing and actually builds a solid premise for the monster before showing anything important... Basically it may not be EXACTLY as people expected, but it's a VERY good horror flick.. however. I have to say.. Using the 10% off target cartwheel coupon combined with the cheap opening week price, it's kind of hard to go wrong if you pick it up


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I think I'd feel comfortable with an 80% buy recommendation. In fact I think I'll just take a leap of faith and add it to the collection.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Bought it. Thanks Mike!


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

Todd Anderson said:


> Bought it. Thanks Mike!




:T


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

Oh man, I've had about a 3 month period where I haven't actually bought any movies. After your comment in the Ex Machina thread for the pricing on that movie and this one, I may have to pick these up. Admittedly, as I've gotten older my tolerance for horror flicks has diminished, but I still want to see this one...


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## bxbigpipi (Feb 2, 2012)

Will be watching this some time this weekend. Hope it is as good as everyone says it is.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

bxbigpipi said:


> Will be watching this some time this weekend. Hope it is as good as everyone says it is.


if it isn't you can blame me. I'll be your whipping boy


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

I bought the movie today in Florida while on vacation. Will watch it this weekend when I'm back home.

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## B- one (Jan 13, 2013)

asere said:


> I bought the movie today in Florida while on vacation. Will watch it this weekend when I'm back home.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk


Sounds like time I upgrade my sub!!:devil:


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

Saw it last night with my wife. First thing we said was it reminded us of Halloween especially with the fall scene and when they were walking on the sidewalk with the bushes next to them. The score was like Halloween too.
The film was good but I think it would have been better if I was not so sleepy at the time. I did not find it scary but these days I'm so immune to horror. The movie deserves more credit and it's going to be a re watch for me whenever I can pay full attention.

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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

asere said:


> Saw it last night with my wife. First thing we said was it reminded us of Halloween especially with the fall scene and when they were walking on the sidewalk with the bushes next to them. The score was like Halloween too. The film was good but I think it would have been better if I was not so sleepy at the time. I did not find it scary but these days I'm so immune to horror. The movie deserves more credit and it's going to be a re watch for me whenever I can pay full attention. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk


 The score definitely added a lot to the atmosphere of the movie. I wouldn't say it was scary so much as just plain eerie. I know it had me on the edge of my seat and squirming. If you noticed what happened at the very end I think they left it open for It Follows 2.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

JBrax said:


> The score definitely added a lot to the atmosphere of the movie. I wouldn't say it was scary so much as just plain eerie. I know it had me on the edge of my seat and squirming. If you noticed what happened at the very end I think they left it open for It Follows 2.


The man with the white shirt did make me jump lol. Yes I'm sure part two is in the works.


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## bxbigpipi (Feb 2, 2012)

The movie was good but it was not scary. I agree with the comments about it looking like Halloween. The tall man was was one of the best parts.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

asere said:


> The man with the white shirt did make me jump lol. Yes I'm sure part two is in the works.


I'm actually hoping we don't get a part two. it worked perfectly as a single movie and any more just takes away from the mystery of the thing... at least that's my little "off the record" opinion. but then again, it made a lot of money and we all know what happens to movies that make a lot of money


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

My wife and I just watched this movie and neither of us get it. Maybe I am too old or something but I am not sure I understand

I will say I could not take my eyes off of the screen and I do not know why, so it must be good in some sense. I will have to watch it again...soon.


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## afterlife2 (Jan 23, 2013)

Ok I just thought it was ok, but I went open without reading anything about the film. What I found curious in the movie that there was no cell phones and only the Beach shell which one of the girls was using as a reading device. Was that a metaphor? Mike your review was on point.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

afterlife2 said:


> Ok I just thought it was ok, but I went open without reading anything about the film. What I found curious in the movie that there was no cell phones and only the Beach shell which one of the girls was using as a reading device. Was that a metaphor? Mike your review was on point.


Yeah that beach shell or compact had my wife asking over and over what is up with that.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

afterlife2 said:


> Ok I just thought it was ok, but I went open without reading anything about the film. What I found curious in the movie that there was no cell phones and only the Beach shell which one of the girls was using as a reading device. Was that a metaphor? Mike your review was on point.





asere said:


> Yeah that beach shell or compact had my wife asking over and over what is up with that.


it was done on purpose. the director intentionally wanted the era of the film to feel ambiguous. it's why you had house styles and dress styles reminiscent of the 70s... cars that came from the 80's and 90's and some...black and white TV's, and then other devices that seemed modern... he wanted it to be a film "out of time"


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## afterlife2 (Jan 23, 2013)

Mike Edwards said:


> it was done on purpose. the director intentionally wanted the era of the film to feel ambiguous. it's why you had house styles and dress styles reminiscent of the 70s... cars that came from the 80's and 90's and some...black and white TV's, and then other devices that seemed modern... he wanted it to be a film "out of time"


Well that makes sense. I did wonder about the TV on top of the TV and older cars. Thanks Mike.


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