It Follows: Sex Horror
The concept behind It Follows is a simple one and one that makes for a pretty effective horror film. Essentially, we’re dealing with a sexually transmitted curse. If someone with the curse has sex with you, it passes to you, and an invisible (to everyone but the cursed) ghoul starts slowly heading in your direction to kill you in some horrific way. If it does eventually kill you, the curse gets passed back to the person who gave it to you and the ghoul comes for them again.
In the film, Jay (Maika Monroe) has sex with a guy she’s dating using the assumed name Hugh (Jake Weary). Afterwards, he drugs her and ties her up in some deserted area. Ya see, Hugh has figured out that the best way to keep the curse as far away from him as possible is to explain the rules to Jay directly, while waiting around for the ghoul to show itself so she knows he’s not crazy. If Jay can pass the curse on to someone else, then that creates an extra buffer between Hugh and the curse.
People like to call this film an STD allegory and a caution against promiscuity, but I think that falls apart a little when considering the fact that the only salvation of the cursed individual is to continue having sex — the more anonymous and distant, the better. Perhaps some of that is baked in, but writer/director David Robert Mitchell has said that wasn’t his intention.
After being infected, Jay needs a little more convincing that this thing is real, but ultimately comes around to her unfortuntate reality. In a bid to gain more answers about what is now stalking her, she and her friends set out to track down Hugh (real name Jeff) and pry more out of him. Cleary spooked by Jay’s proximity to him (and therefore the greater likelihood of both being whiped out in an instant), Jeff is transparent with the gang about what he knows, which is little.
Apart from the basic rules of the curse which I’ve already laid out, there’s very little explanation given in the film about how everything works, which I appreciate. It leaves the viewer to fill in the gaps themselves and lowers the chances of disappointing exposition. Where did the curse begin? Who was patient zero, so to speak? What is the ghoul/entity that carries it out? How does it manifest in the ways that it does? Why does it kill in the various ways it does? If you take an international flight, will it take one as well, or will it slowly walk across the ocean. Can it be killed? It’s seen sustaining damage. How much can it take?
I feel like most modern horrors would be tempted to say the curse came from somewhere exotic and give it a name and introduce some magic book with the details our heroes need to end it once and for all. Instead, our protagonists are left pretty much in the dark. When Jay’s attempts to pass on the curse ultimately buy her no real time, she and her friends resolve to kill the entity. Their plan involves trapping it in a pool and eloctrocuting it. Why? There’s a hint electricity might be part of how the ghoul works, but they’re really grasping at straws. It’s a stupid plan (like what I’d expect a bunch of teens to come up with) and it fails miserably. They end up landing a gunshot on the entity and it bleeds (it is just messing with them?), but it keeps on coming. In the end, they are forced to go with the logical, if unethical, plan of putting some distance between themselves and the curse. They give it to a prostitute.
While this appears to have worked, at least for a little while, Jay will be forced to watch over her shoulder for the rest of her life — however long that is. Is the out-of-focus form approaching in the background the ghoul or is it just some dude?
That question we’re left with is something that pervades the entire film. Since the entity can take on whatever form it wants, you’re constantly watching the screen for what might be approaching in the distance. Slow walking extras are placed strategically to keep the audience on edge. It might not be a scare tactic that works on repeat viewing, but I remember being pretty tense when I saw It Follows in theaters the first time. Luckily, the film has a ton of other interesting qualities that make re-viewing a rewarding experience.
For instance, the film, shot in Detroit, is unique visually. Things are dreary and rundown and it’s impossible to place within a specific time period. Very little modern technology is used or seen, yet you’ll see vehicles and architecture from a variety of eras. Disasterpiece’s incredible synth score is distinct, but also a callback to John Carpenter horrors of the 80s. Mitchell says this was all a deliberate choice to make the film more dreamlike, but the timeless quality should also keep the film from feeling as dated ten years from now as some of its contemporaries.
Is it scary? Yeah. Like I said, maybe more so the first time, but it remains a fun viewing after that.
Streaming: It Follows is currently available on Netflix.
