IT FOLLOWS – The Blu Review

“It could look like someone you know or it could be a stranger in a crowd. Whatever helps it get close to you.”

A sexually transmitted haunting plagues a Detroit teenager in IT FOLLOWS, a stylish horror film from director David Robert Mitchell that was released theatrically in March to great acclaim, especially from horror fans. In the wake of sleeping with a handsome stranger, Jay (Maika Monroe) quickly learns that she has inherited a most unusual curse: wherever she goes, lumbering, half-naked phantoms follow, and their singular goal is to see her dead. Desperate, Jay turns to her younger sister and loyal circle of friends to for help. In time, however, Jay learns that her only hope for escaping death is to sleep with someone else, and pass the curse on. But the pursuing phantoms are invisible to Jay’s friends and it soon becomes apparent that her time is running out. Now, with death closing in, the terrified young woman will be forced to make a difficult decision if she hopes to survive her terrifying ordeal

When Travis Keune reviewed IT FOLLOWS here at We Are Movie Geeks, he wrote that the film:

“….thrives on a solid script, tremendous direction and a low-key, talented cast without pretension for making anything other than what this film was meant to be, a terrifyingly complex but seemingly simple horror film that eats away at out most primary human fears.”

– Read all of Travis’ review HERE

IT FOLLOWS will be released on Blu-ray on July 14^th and We Are Movie Geeks has had a sneak peek.

IT FOLLOWS is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Starz/Anchor Bay with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.29:1. Though it was clearly shot digitally and on the cheap, the results are spectacular, at least when a certain slack is granted for the overall dark and shadowy ambiance, not to mention ubiquitous color grading, of much of the film. A lot of IT FOLLOWS is bathed in a frankly kind of sickly looking greyish blues and yellows but rather surprisingly, the fine detail remain largely undisturbed by this gambit, and with an equally surprising lack of crush, even dimly lit scenes have excellent to exceptional amounts of detail.

For what’s a relatively quiet, brooding film, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is quite active, yet highly nuanced. A wealth of surround activity keeps the rears active, as chirping birds, buzzing insects and thunderstorms help immerse us in the action. The use of music (which I don’t think I even noticed when I saw the film theatrically) benefits from fine fidelity and fills the room with ease. At times, some of the whispered dialogue is a bit difficult to comprehend, but thankfully such instances are rare. All in all, this is a solid mix that maximizes its potential despite a few blips.

IT FOLLOWS has a decent share of extras:

Audio Commentary: – Critics Eric D. Snider, Britt Hayes, Samuel D. Zimmerman, Alison Nastasi, Eric Vespe, and Scott Weinberg discuss the film. It’s an unusual and interesting angle to have fans talk about the film instead of someone involved, but a welcome one.

A Conversation with Film Composer Disasterpeace – a 5-minute discussion with the composer (whose real name is Rich Vreeland) who discusses how he got the gig to score the film and goes into the specifics of some of his choices

Theatrical Trailer

Poster Art Gallery – is a collection of images created from the hands of a worldwide selection of artists in support of the film’s release.