Ms. Brugger and I went to see
It Follows the other night at the RED
Cinemas, formerly the Carousel, here in Greensboro. The owners of the Carousel
sold the theater some time ago, much to the annoyance of many regular
movie-goers in town, since it was about the only movie house in the area
that played indie and lesser-known current theatrical releases. The new owners,
who own several eclectic restaurants in the area, have named the 15-screen
theater the RED (for Restaurant Entertainment District) Cinemas. It was the
first time Kimberly and I had been there since the changeover, and I have to
tell you, I was impressed. Sure enough, they have numerous indie films in their
lineup, the concession stand offers beer and wine (some pretty good red wine
selections, at that), and — unlike at least one review of the place I saw — it
was anything but filthy, overpriced, and poorly staffed. Quite the contrary, as
a matter of fact. It was clean, the prices were comparable to any other theater
in town, and the staff was capable and courteous. Once we entered the auditorium
— the largest one in the building — we were not bombarded by endless advertising
and interminable trailers; just a handful of previews before the movie started,
and right on time.
Unfortunately, I must predict this theater won't make it, at least with its
current setup, for the long haul. Any place that caters to an adult
theater-going audience is just too damned good to be true. But you can bet that
I'll frequent the place as long as I have the opportunity. I would love, love,
love for my prediction to be proven wrong. Y'all local folk, please help
me out here.
As for
It Follows, I was quite taken with it. Directed by David Robert
Mitchell, it's a quiet, not-at-all gory, well-acted little film, with a creepy,
if rather bizarre premise, and an excellent musical score by Rich Vreeland,
a.k.a. Disasterpeace. It's also agreeably quirky — loaded with apparent
anachronisms, vivid local color, and some lighthearted set pieces (but which are
played quite seriously). It's presumably set in the present day, since there are
e-readers, scenery in Detroit that could only be from the here and now, and the
occasional 21st century car model. Yet there is 1980s-style clothing and fashion
in abundance, 20th century push-button telephones, 1950s horror movies on TV,
and cars primarily of 1970s and 80s vintage. The story revolves around a group
of teenagers, and only occasionally do adults appear on screen. Most of those
that do, such as the two main sisters' mother, have no speaking lines and appear
only from behind. Having recently visited Michigan, I knew from the opening
frame where the movie was set, and I tend to favor books and movies where the
setting, almost as much as the characters, becomes an integral part of the
story.
From the plot, one can assume that, at some indeterminate time in the past, a
curse was cast by someone, with some occult power, somewhere, for some reason,
that has brought forth a
thing that follows you with murderous intent —
until you have sex with someone else, who then becomes the chosen victim.
However, if the thing kills that person, it comes back to you, and works its way
back down the chain. So, even if you pass the curse on to someone else, you'd
better hope they get laid quickly, and that everyone from he or she on fucks his
or her living brains out.
The story follows Jay (Maika Monroe), a likeable young woman who lives in
suburban Detroit with her mother and sister, Kelly (Lili Sepe). Her boyfriend,
Hugh (Jake Weary), takes her out to the movies, where he exhibits certain
paranoid behavior. Things progress as things will progress between teenagers,
and the two end up having sex (in a station wagon). But next thing you know,
Hugh chloroforms Jay, and she wakes up in an abandoned building, tied to a
wheelchair, where he explains himself — he suffers the curse of being followed
and has passed it on to her. Worst of all, a strange woman appears and begins
walking slowly toward Jay. Hugh then drives her home and dumps her off in her
front yard, where Kelly and their friends Paul (Keir Gilchrist) and Yara (Olivia
Luccardi) rush to her rescue.
From that point on, Jay is subjected to being followed by various strange
individuals that only she can see — in reality, all the same entity wearing
different guises. As horror movie aficionados, how often have we been pissed off
by the slow-walking pursuer who still manages to catch the fleeing victim?
Here's the movie where the slow, inevitable tread of the pursuer is truly the
source of fear. Jay's neighbor Greg (Daniel Zovatto), who doesn't quite believe
in the curse but understands that she is desperate, offers to help by taking her
and her friends to his family's remote lake house, which she believes will at
least buy her some time. It's not too much time, alas, for the pursuer appears,
at least to her, but its handiwork is evident to all: it smashes a hole in the
barn door where she seeks refuge and takes a fair swipe at Paul, who is thrown
into the air and left with scars resembling claw marks. Jay attempts to flee in
Greg's car, but in her panic, she crashes into a nearby cornfield.
She wakes in the hospital, alone. But Greg, being all noble and such, is willing
to take the curse from her by having sex with her — which he does, in her
hospital bed. Days pass and nothing happens, reinforcing Greg's attitude that,
whatever Jay's problem is, it's in her head. Well, yeah — until the thing up and
kills Greg, disguised as his mother in a horny state.
The friends decide to attempt to kill the pursuer, in novel fashion, at an
indoor swimming pool in Detroit. Here, though the thing is still invisible to
all but Jay, it does reveal itself to her friends. And now their plan to destroy
it is put to the test....
All through the narrative, as dark as it is, there are moments of whimsy,
particularly in the swimming pool scene. Jay's friend Yara proves particularly
quirky and several of her scenes bring on a good chuckle. It's kind of humor
that makes the characters appear as
real teenagers — unlike so many
slash-and-burn-the-obnoxious-victim horror flicks, where one's natural
inclination is to jump into the killer's shoes and off the idiots just for good
measure. One of the best things about
It Follows is that, while the movie
is about young folk, almost exclusively, it isn't juvenile.
That is
refreshing.
Yep, I liked it. I'll rate it four out of five Damned Rodan's Dirty
Firetinis.
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Maika Monroe as Jay Height, in a moment of relative calm
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Greg (Daniel Zovatto) and Jay (Maika Monroe), trying to sort out the
strange goings-on
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One of the pursuers that only Jay can see
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