It Follows

Look at these people and their pained smiles. They know something they’re not telling us. WHERE DID YOU HIDE THE BODIES?!?

Lists can be extremely useful, especially when you need to get organized, go grocery shopping or break down all the ways Jon Snow will return on Game of Thrones (very important). I like those kinds of lists, as the many Post-Its littered across my desk (and Macbook and iPhone) will show you. But making a Top 10 for the best movies of the year is a whole other monster, a film writer’s Sophie’s Choice. For someone as ridiculously indecisive as myself, it took days to finalize the final spots on this list.

The British Film Institute’s official publication brings a global perspective to their rulings, having polled 168 critics worldwide on their favorite releases of the past calendar year.

It Follows was a major sleeper hit when it was released earlier this year. Originally meant for VOD, director David Robert Mitchell’s film performed so well in a limited release, it was expanded to over 1,200 theaters two weeks later. Audiences loved it and it has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yesterday, in an interview with Vulture, Quentin Tarantino said that he liked the film, but was frustrated because it could have been great. How could it have been great? Allow Quentin to explain.

The good movies are supposed to come out in the second half of the year. January through June, that’s the dumping ground; the crap that was so toxic it had to get buried in the winter, followed by the empty-headed excitement of summer blockbuster season.

The last few years in horror have felt rather stale, but hot on the heels of watching the terrifying and refreshing 'The Babadook' at Fantastic Fest comes 'It Follows,' the sophomore effort from writer/director David Robert Mitchell. Similar to the lo-fi tone of his debut film, 'The Myth of the American Sleepover,' the comparisons end there for Mitchell's follow-up, which smartly and horrifically explores the politics of young adult sexuality.

David Robert Mitchell left quite an impression with his first feature film, The Myth of the American Sleepover, an honest and subdued look at teen friendship and coming of age. The director has returned with his second feature, It Follows, a thoughtful horror film in which teens are once again the focus, this time coping with a sexually-transmitted haunting. Mitchell has a knack for understanding young people, with a keen ear for their dialogue and a sharp perception of the somewhat separate world they inhabit. Along with a handful of other directors, Mitchell has helped to reinvigorate the horror genre, which has suffered in recent years from the influx of found footage and banal, unoriginal concepts. We had a chance to speak with Mitchell about It Follows, the genesis of this layered and impactful horror film, and the timelessness of what he’s created.

David Robert Mitchell’s ‘It Follows’ made the festival rounds throughout 2014 and the general consensus was that it was one of the scariest films of the year. Well, technically it’s one of the scariest films of next year, since it won’t actually open in theaters until 2015. But believe us: This is one horror movie worth the wait, and the freaky new domestic trailer should do a fine job of whetting your appetite.

This year has proven that there are still plenty of inventive, original and genuinely scary horror film ideas. ‘It Follows’ is one of those films with its tale of a sexually-transmitted haunting, and it has left quite an impression, gathering praise at both the Cannes and Fantastic Fest film festivals (read our review). Today brings the first trailer for the upcoming horror film, which will soon also play at the Sundance film festival before it hits theaters in the U.S. Prepare to be spooked.