KATHRYN VAN BEEK
  • Blog
  • Pet
    • Pet Podcast
    • Newsroom book launch
  • Bruce the Cat
    • Bruce Goes Outside
    • Bruce Finds A Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Press
  • Shop

Chain letter from hell

3/5/2015

0 Comments

 
'It Follows' movie review
'It Follows' movie review
It Follows movie review
It Follows: written and directed by David Robert Mitchell

I get pretty freaked-out during scary movies, so when my husband said he’d booked evening tickets for indie thriller It Follows I was terrified for the entire day. And as it turns out, I had good reason to be.

The film opens at dusk with a scantily-clad girl running from a house in fear. She jumps into her car and drives to the beach, where she sits at the water’s edge in the dark. When the sun rises the next day the girl’s dead - and it’s clear from the state of her corpse that whoever, or whatever murdered her is no ordinary killer. 

Next we meet 19 year old Jay (Maika Monroe), an ethereal blonde from a lower middle-class family whose ambitions centre around finding a boyfriend. She dates Hugh (Jake Weary), but things take a nasty turn after they make out and she finds herself infected with the kind of STD that nightmares are made of. From now on wherever she goes, whatever she does, a shape-shifting entity is going to follow her - and it’s got one thing on it’s mind. 

Like the chain letter from hell, the only thing she can do to get rid of the curse is pass it on. 

The film riffs on the classic horror themes of teen sex, sin and guilt. But as tension builds it becomes clear that the central idea is the inexorable nature of death. From the moment we’re born it creeps relentlessly towards us - and we don’t know when it will strike. (If you have heart problems, it might strike while you’re watching this film.)

If the story wasn’t creepy enough the film’s set in Detroit, where rows of derelict homes - brick houses with shattered windows lining rubbish-strewn roads - give the film a surreal edge. The set-dressing adds to the dreamlike quality of the movie. The slightly grubby old lamps, TV sets and duvet prints of the interior complement the dour autumnal tones of the exterior, and set the film in an uncertain present. Even the entity moves at a slow, interminable pace as it advances through shots that look as though they could have been crafted by Gregory Crewdson.  

And then there’s the score - an 80s-inspired synth freak-out by Rich Vreeland. It’s pure genius - but I, for one, won’t be buying the soundtrack. 

I don’t need a CD to remind me of this move - I have the feeling that It Follows is going to be creeping me out for a while. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Kathryn van Beek

    Author

    Kathryn is the author of short story collection Pet, and the winner of the Mindfood Short Story Competition and the Headland Short Story Prize.

    Kathryn has written several zines, a podcast, a web series, and a number of articles for outlets such as The Spinoff. She has written and illustrated two children's books about her rescue cat, Bruce, and won awards for her plays. 


    Sign up to receive infrequent but interesting news. 

    Follow Kathryn on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

    I have also put the power of the pen to good use by advocating for better miscarriage information and support. Click here for details.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    May 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    Categories

    All
    13th Floor
    Actors
    Advocacy
    Alicia Young
    Article
    Auckland Writers Festival
    Author Brand
    Bereavement Leave
    Best Of Auckland
    Bologna Children's Book Fair
    Bonsai
    Book
    Book Launch
    Bruce Finds A Home
    Bruce Goes Outside
    Bruce The Cat
    Business Writing
    Cat
    Character
    Child Poverty
    Children's Book
    City Of Literature
    Competition
    Creative Hub
    Creative Writing
    Crowdfunding
    Crowd Funding
    Distribution
    Dunedin City Of Literature
    Dunedin Fringe Festival
    Dunedin Writers Festival
    Earthskin
    Eketahuna
    Elsewhere
    Emotional Support Animal
    Eramboo Artist Environment
    Famous Cat
    Flash Fiction
    Fresh Ink
    Funding
    Gif
    Glory Days
    Headland
    Holidays Act
    Housing
    Illustration
    Illustrations
    Infertility
    Intern
    Joyce Carol Oates
    Justin Timberlake
    Karangahape Road
    Kickstarter
    K'Rd
    MasterClass
    Mindfood Magazine
    Miscarriage
    MIsconceptions
    Modern Girl's Guide To Publishing
    Music
    Musical
    National Writers Forum
    North And South
    NZ Herald
    NZ Pacific Studio
    NZSA
    Opera
    Opinion
    Otago Daily Times
    Overland
    Pet
    Picture Book
    Podcast
    Published
    Publishing
    Reading
    Residency
    Review
    Sargeson Prize
    Script
    Short Story
    Storylines
    Sunday Star Times
    Sunday Star-Times
    Takahe
    Theatre
    Theatreview
    The Highlanders
    The Spinoff
    TV
    Vegetarian
    Victoria University Press
    Video
    Web Series
    Win
    Writing
    Writing Festival
    Zine
    Zinefest

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • Pet
    • Pet Podcast
    • Newsroom book launch
  • Bruce the Cat
    • Bruce Goes Outside
    • Bruce Finds A Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Press
  • Shop