It might have passed by the mainstream media when it first came out in 2015, but the next big Netflix smash certainly didn't slip through the net of horror fans.
Now, with its appearance on Netflix, the rest of us will get a chance to see It Follows, a movie that has been dubbed as a modern classic and that boasts an enviable 97% score on ratings website Rotten Tomatoes - from over 200 independent reviews.
Quentin Tarantino, who has seen more horror movies than the most of us have had hot dinners, called it 'the best premise I've seen in a horror film in a long, long, long time', while Empire, the bible of serious film criticism, described it as 'a first-rate horror movie, It Follows adds a new monster to the pantheon'.
Credit: Northern Lights Films
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The Guardian was even more effusive, ranking It Follows up there with some of the real heavy hitters of the horror genre: "I don't think I have ever had a nightmare quite as scary as this film - a modern classic of fear to be compared to something by a young Carpenter or De Palma" said chief film critic Peter Bradshaw in his five star review back in 2015.
High praise indeed.
As befitting a film that picked up awards at some of the major genre film festivals - best film at the Horror Society Awards, the iHorror Awards, Fright Meter Awards, Fangoria Chainsaw Awards - as well as commendations at Cannes, the Saturn Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards, a major distribution deal was rumoured.
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Now it has come to fruition and a mainstream audience will have the chance to scare themselves witless at the unseen assailant of It Follows.
David Robert Mitchell's film evokes classic directors like George Romero (the Living Dead series) and John Carpenter (Escape From New York, The Thing, They Live) through wide, expansive shots and stars Maika Monroe in the lead role as a teenage girl who is followed by a mysterious entity after hooking up with a date.
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It's a little bit cryptic, a little bit mad and scary as well. Exactly what we want for a little bit of 'Netflix and Chill' then.
Well, the Netflix will stay the same, but the chill just took on a totally different meaning.
Words: Mike Meehall Wood
Featured Image Credit: Northern Lights FilmsTopics: Horror