Is It Follows actually a bad movie? (Spoilers)

[Johnny Impact]

I liked it a lot. Most fun I've had with a horror movie in a while.

Reminded me of the best of 80's horror, the stuff that's actually halfway scary. Remember the first Elm Street movie? Great villain, simple premise. Don't fall asleep or Freddy will kill you. It worked because no matter how hard you try to stay awake, it can only be done for so long. Eventually you WILL sleep and then you have to face the bad guy, it can't be avoided. It Follows uses essentially the same premise. The thing never sleeps, never stops. No matter how careful you think you are, sooner or later you'll slip up and It will get you.

Characters aren't incredible but it's a horror movie, it's not about character. I'd say they avoided annoying tropes, which is a net positive. Plot is very simple, as it should be. Action yo-yos perfectly with tension maintained throughout. I like the way it was shot. The wide shots are somehow expansive and claustrophobic at the same time. Sure, you can run anywhere in the world, all this open space, but all the world is not enough space to keep It from finding you. It can come from anywhere at any time. I kept staring at the backgrounds in all the wide shots, waiting for a glimpse of It.

The creature is explained just well enough so the kids know what to do, but its true nature and power remains an enigma. We never know whether It can even be stopped at all. I prefer this to having everything explained. The unknown is always more terrifying. Also, did anyone else notice someone was following them down the sidewalk in the second-to-last shot? Ambiguous ending FTW.

Planes and trains aren't as good an idea as you think. You're stuck in the terminal for hours. It costs a fortune. And what if It makes it into the terminal with you? Panicked running makes security suspicious. You can go out an emergency exit, but nobody else sees the creature. They just see a crazy person running across the tarmac. Security will tackle you and hold you as It simply walks up and snaps your neck right in front of them. Even if you get across the ocean, It can just walk along the seafloor. By the time you acclimate to a foreign nation, It will find you again.

 

[Benpasko]

So basically you could just throw like flour on it and then get your friends could see it and subdue it easily. They just tie it up with some rope or chains and shoot it occasionally so it can't fight back. I mean it's not even going to kill them as they do it. Boom, problem solved. Hell they could probably even just lasso a noose around it's neck and then you could just walk to the top of a mountain or somewhere that it's not going to escape from and just chain it up and leave it there. I mean even there's a billion ways this thing could be defeated with very minimal effort.

And then it shapeshifts out of the rope/chains and carries on its way. It's shown shapeshifting multiple times rapidly during the beach scene to get into the shed, It would just do the same thing to any attempt at restraining it, short of encasement in concrete.

As for the "It could take a plane of a boat" thing, that just makes it sound even stupider. Apparently smart enough to catch a train or boat but not smart enough to get in a car or hop on a bus. Or do any of the other things that is faster and smarter than walking.

I didn't get the impression that It lacked in terms of capabilities or intelligence, It just isn't trying very hard. It's got all the time in the world, and can't be stopped, there's no need for efficient tactics.

 

[awesomeClaw]

So basically you could just throw like flour on it and then get your friends could see it and subdue it easily. They just tie it up with some rope or chains and shoot it occasionally so it can't fight back. I mean it's not even going to kill them as they do it. Boom, problem solved. Hell they could probably even just lasso a noose around it's neck and then you could just walk to the top of a mountain or somewhere that it's not going to escape from and just chain it up and leave it there. I mean even there's a billion ways this thing could be defeated with very minimal effort.

And then it shapeshifts out of the rope/chains and carries on its way. It's shown shapeshifting multiple times rapidly during the beach scene to get into the shed, It would just do the same thing to any attempt at restraining it, short of encasement in concrete.

As for the "It could take a plane of a boat" thing, that just makes it sound even stupider. Apparently smart enough to catch a train or boat but not smart enough to get in a car or hop on a bus. Or do any of the other things that is faster and smarter than walking.

I didn't get the impression that It lacked in terms of capabilities or intelligence, It just isn't trying very hard. It's got all the time in the world, and can't be stopped, there's no need for efficient tactics.

The problem with the last part is that I just can't buy Its motivation anymore.

Let's assume it doesn't care about how fast it does things. That implies Its not taking this whole murder-the-sluts-thing very seriously. The only way I can envision it now is as an uninterested day labourer.

"Yeah boss, the new coffee machine is great, don't worry about it. What's that? The people I'm haunting? Yes, of course I'm chasing them day and night. Well no, I'm not using a car. I mean there's no deadline on the project, and I've got a lot of other things to do, and I've been feeling kind of burned out lately, so I'm taking it slow, you know? Scaring them a bit. Yeah. Yeah. Great. See you on monday."

Not the most aweinspiring mosnter ever conceived.

 

[rgrekejin]

Well... two things -

First, the fact that the monster is pursuing people who don't have the means to jetset around the world and easily escape it is kind of the point, both as a horror movie and in the movie's role as an AIDS allegory. It's entirely possible that the monster isn't unique, and that there's one out there somewhere that's following around a multinational CEO who has simply never noticed because he's never in one place long enough for it to catch up to him. Without the fact that we're dealing with children who can't really get away from the monster on any sort of a permanent basis, you've got no movie.

Second, (and I am aware this conflicts with an AMA answer from the creator) I didn't leave the theater convinced that the monster *did* walk everywhere. As far as I could tell, the monster seems to employ some sort of rubber band A.I.-like movement pattern. You know, like how in Mario Kart no matter how well or how poorly you're doing, the computer-controlled racers never get too far behind or too far in front of you? If they're way behind you, they teleport to catch up. If they're getting way in front of you, they slow down a bit. The only time they behave normally is when they're directly in your field of view. That's how I assumed the monster moved - no matter what you did, it was always just a little behind you. I mean, it's clearly supernatural. Why can't it's primary method of movement be supernatural too?

 

[Silvanus]

Okay! Can't promise you'll like em all, but these were the ones that didn't make me vomit with apathy

Much appreciated! Already seen The Babadook, and loved it. Going to watch The Conjuring tonight.

OT: Saw It Follows last night. I'd say it's a good premise, but the film doesn't fulfil the potential of that premise. When the film ended, me & the flatmate were both a bit nonplussed, having been expecting another whole chunk at least.

It was even shown multiple times that the creature couldn't even get past simple locked wooden doors.

Sure it could. It busted through the beach-hut with ease. The only reason it was knocking on that guy's bedroom door was because it knew he wasn't aware it was there, and would open it. It's got panache and prefers a more stylish entrance.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

It's a malevolent force. It's not human. If it decided to swim, it might swim. If it could walk on water, it would walk. And like it was already stated, if it wanted to get into a plane, no one would even notice.

For the pool scene, I thought it wasn't trying to kill her, but to get her to try to leave.

Spoiler

For the only two deaths, they were very physical. The assumption is it takes something from the physicality of killing its victims. The first young lady was brutalized, leg torn asunder. We didn't get view of the underwear between her legs for obvious reasons, but if the death of Greg is any true indication of how it kills, it's an extremely violent sexual molestation.

That, disturbingly and disgustingly, would explain why the top of the first victim was pristine, but her lower half of her body was savaged.

It could explain the choices of viewing, as well. Greg's only shape was of his grotesque mother. Jay was treated to twisted family members, demented strangers, the creepiest things that one could imagine in a sexual capacity. The force is inking out as much revulsion it can muster for its victims. It never appears as something sexually appealing to the victim, a tactic almost asinine in it's simplicity.

If you didn't know the rules of the curse, would you run from someone who you found attractive and looks perfectly fine walking towards you? Most would think it was their lucky day and wouldn't deviate from their course

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I just watched it and I had issues that nobody has even listed yet:

Spoiler: Point #1

Why the hell would the first guy come up with that whole plan to get a house with a fake name and then romance a chick to sleep with her? He knew the rules. Why didn't he simply drive a decent ways off and sleep with a prostitute? The prostitute would obviously sleep with someone else rather quickly so It has less chance of getting back to you vs sleeping with a girl that you tell the rules to that is most likely going to be very scared.

Spoiler: Point #2

This may be a nitpick for some but I just hate movies with scenes where guns can shoot through water. Who hasn't seen an episode of CSI where they shoot a bullet in water to test it (because bullets don't go anywhere in water)? I'd write it off if it wasn't the kill-shot (the movie was left open at the end there though but still).