31 horror films you need to watch this October

It Follows

The Plot

After going on a few dates with a new guy, Jay thinks he seems nice enough; but after they have sex for the first time near an abandoned warehouse, he drugs her, ties her to a wheelchair, and forces her to confront a strange figure walking towards them across the empty space, slow and silent, as he tells Jay it has passed to her now.

Though Jay mostly focuses her energies at first on forgetting the experience, she soon begins to see the strange and ominous figure following her from a distance, always different in appearance and never speeding up. She comes to realize that whatever it is, it is passed from person to person during sex; and if it catches her, it’s sure to kill her.

The Breakdown

It Follows plays on the danger associated even with relationships. The thing that follows is more than a paranormal STD. Among other things, it’s an analog for how opening yourself up to someone in a physical and romantic capacity also means opening yourself up to all of their baggage and issues. It’s about sex, but also about trust. Also, the soundtrack will absolutely blow your mind.

The Scare Factor

Of course, other than working on a thematic level, it’s also just straight up scary. Though much of the movie itself relishes in the quiet, inevitable sense of waiting, a few short and highly effective sequences make it clear what the stakes are if Jay can’t get away (or pass it on to someone else). You’ll want to watch this with your back to a wall in a room with two exits.