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Posted: |
May 15, 2015 - 5:47 AM
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By: |
Cooper
(Member)
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--on the other hand there's something "Japanese" about it, on the third(!) hand, there's something truly original about a 'sticky' spirit following the protagonists around...
Sorry if this has come up already--I'm leery of spoilage, so I stopped reading at the ellipsis in the quote--but is "It Follows" essentially a feature length development of the sequence in Takashi Shimizu's American remake of "The Grudge" where the ghost follows the woman home from work? A brilliantly suspenseful, creepy as hell scene...and I'm surprised it hasn't been cribbed, referenced, or homaged before.
I'm sure there's more to It Follows... Then again, "Sticky Ghost" is the premise of the Ju-On films in a nutshell. I understand the means of transmission may be different, at least. In The Grudge,it was a house; the locus of a past misdeed. In 'It Follows,' sounds like coitus may be the culprit...
Leery of spoilage, so vague impressions will do fine... Really looking forward to checking this out!
--Coop
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Posted: |
May 21, 2015 - 1:36 PM
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By: |
Francis
(Member)
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Finally got round to this movie. The score is very 80s with nods to Charles Bernstein, John Carpenter, ... (80s synth scores in general) but to me it felt like a Mr. Oizo score in the wrong movie; the cues at the start were good, but it got repetitive real fast to distracting and taking me out of the movie. Watch the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers to experience how you don't need music all the time to make bystanders suspect or appear menacing; eerie sound design, odd locations and setups can achieve it much better.
The movie itself I didn't find one bit scary at all nor all that clever. As a matter of fact during its downtime as "it" was catching up, it gave me plenty of time to think over how absurd the premise and the rules of the movie are... OK, it does take the notion of someone dieing after having sex in a horror movie quite literally and I get the whole STD allegory and fear of it (again done better in other horror movies) but the whole curse itself is handled so poorly by its anxious teenager cast.
Some questions;
Is it only transmitted through straight sex or can it be gay sex as well? What if there is a condom involved? What happens if it arrives during intercourse? Why can others feel it but not see it? Does it walk in a straight line through buildings or does it go around them? Does it take breaks? Does it go up and down hill? Can it cross water (I thought of this early on and still don't know the answer lol)? Why is it susceptible to gravity? If you fuck an astronaut, will it follow said astronaut into space? Wouldn't you be better off fucking a pack of hookers and pay said hookers to compete in an alternating gang bang to give yourself a good head start? What happens if you have a threesome? Or if you finally decide you've had enough, wouldn't you just kill yourself?
Movies about curses usually provide ample backstory to distract you from the silliness of the curse to allow you to suspend disbelief and actually go onboard with the premise (The Ring, Drag me to Hell, The Box). I found "It follows" hipster horror on a shoe string budget, but definitely not all what it is hyped up to be.
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Posted: |
May 21, 2015 - 2:34 PM
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By: |
Francis
(Member)
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Wow, I'm really surprised you didn't care much for this, Francis. I had thought it was right up your alley!
I think you want it to be more literal than it is. For me, this is more of an impressionistic portrait than it is a straightforward horror film (although it has that aspect as well). It's very tricky with these films that are SEEMINGLY conventional, but that have more arthouse values below the surface. UNDER THE SKIN was a similar film last year (which I also love, but which divided the audience -- especially those that were expecting a more traditional narrative).
Well Under the Skin I did like and there I found the mix of music and visuals more effective. The overall look, performances, contrasts and almost shot candidly on location encounters along with the editing felt like it served a purpose and interesting narrative. It was very unsettling in places but also very compelling to watch. With "It follows", I didn't experience any of that and it felt like it was just going through the motions.
I'm not questioning your honest reaction, but do you think all the buzz you read beforehand (here and elsewhere) shaped your impression in any way?
Perhaps, but that didn't stop me from enjoying Babadook which had even more buzz.
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