10 best horror films to watch on Netflix right now

3. It Follows

From the very beginning, It Follows leans heavily on the surreal: we see a girl sprinting out of her house in high heels, running in a wide circle, and then getting in her car and driving away as quickly as she possibly can — all the while looking at something that the audience can’t see. The next morning, we see her horrifically mutilated body. The strangeness of that opening sequence suffuses the entire movie, set in Detroit in a nebulous time period containing both antiquated and unfamiliar technology.

After a date ends in a strange and disturbing experience, Jay discovers she can see something no one else can — a figure slowly following her, wherever she goes. It looks different every time she sees it; sometimes like a stranger, and sometimes like someone she knows and loves. But no matter what, it always follows; slowly, but steadily, and never stopping.

Where some horror exceeds at capitalizing on terror, It Follows finds its niche with dread. It’s the waiting which is the worst part; the periods where nothing happens, and you can’t help but squint into every corner of the frame, looking for a slowly advancing figure in the background. All you can do is run and the narrative establishes from the get-go what the stakes are if you ever stop running. There are ways the characters can try to save themselves, but throughout it all their fate seems inevitable. Also, the soundtrack will blow your mind.

The Takeaway

It Follows is a dread-infused instant classic, which pioneers a smart, fascinating concept that will have you looking over your shoulder for the foreseeable future.