It Follows/The Rezort

IT FOLLOWS

This has already become somewhat of a modern classic in the horror genre, but it was my first time watching. The opening as a girl runs from her house to the concern of her confused parents, only to die on a beach, is unsettling, especially as we never see what it is she keeps looking behind her to see. Also, while we come late into her story (like A Warning to the Curious), her first actions in the film are to run away from her loved ones so no one else gets hurt. Poor red shirt, she seemed nice. And now she’s been horrifically murdered.

The camera is as voyeuristic as the thing that follows. It lingers behind trees and in gardens, and on people, it tells the audience they are part of this.

The Exorcist III/Final Girls

THE EXORCIST III

If anything successfully described the tone of The Exorcist III, it would be the sense of unease that permeates throughout the film. For its entire run length, and not just in the famous jump scare which lingers in the nightmares, William Peter Blatty shoots just off kilter, like we are watching a nightmare come to life. The echo of people’s voice just doesn’t quite resonate, the rooms are just that little too bright, in contrast with the swirling mists from outside. Gerry Fisher, who was also cinematographer on Highlander, mines every shot for atmosphere.