It Follows Film Analysis

In their chapter, Developmental Differences in Responses to Horror, Joanne Cantor and Mary Beth Oliver established three categories of fear inducing stimuli and events that are regularly seen in frightening media. They created the three categories after reviewing research on the issues of real life fears and the effects of frightening media on viewers. All three of their categories can be found in this week’s film It Follows. The film focuses on a young woman, Jamie “Jay” Height, and her struggle to end a curse that will claim her life unless she passes it along to another unsuspecting individual through sexual intercourse.
Cantor and Oliver’s first category is the frequency of danger and injury. Of course, horror films can only be successful

It Follows is unlike many current horror films in the sense that the film only has, really, one big injury that is displayed to the audience. The injury occurs right at the beginning of the film. Annie, a young teenager, is seen running from something or someone that is following her. However, she is the only one that can see it. She ends up on the beach where she is shown calling her father and giving him a heartfelt goodbye. She is next seen lying dead on the beach with her right leg in a very gruesome position, the foot being bent forwards until it ripped from the kneecap. The audience is treated to a lovely view of blood and bones. While there are at least two more deaths in the film, Greg and the creatures, there are not as gruesome or as shocking as Annie’s. Much of the film consist of an endless danger to the main character Jay. She is