Yes, I'm behind, and always catching up on movies. Some friends told me It Follows (2014) is their favorite horror movie in the last 20 years. Um, I wouldn't go THAT far, but it's certainly the prettiest movie about STDs I've ever watched. Let me explain...

***SPOILER WARNING***

The very first five minutes shows a girl named Annie running from something invisible in red high heels out of a house. She takes a car and leaves. She calls her dad and says goodbye knowing she's going to die. She's then shown contorted, broken, and bloody with heels still in view.

This is exciting and I was expecting a fun gore-fest of a movie, but it's not. It's more of a thriller with lots of symbolism. So I'm guessing the red heels are a signifier that she's sexually promiscuous?

That's gotta hurt.

Next we are introduced to the characters. Jay and Kelly are sisters and Kelly's friends are Yara and Paul. Jay is going out with a guy she just recently started dating and they are doing the classic dinner and a movie. (I enjoyed this part because the theater shown reminds me of one down the street from where I live that still has a working Wurlitzer organ, The Riviera Theater!) Before the movie starts he turns around and sees a girl, he asks Jay if she sees her. She says no. He panics and needs to leave. No big deal, innocent enough.

The next date they go on is by the beach. They have sex for the first time in his car. Right after, he drugs her unconscious, and ties her up in an abandoned underpass or parking ramp? She's still in her underwear.

Her undies are pretty.

This is where we learn a little more. He tells her there's a "thing" that's going to follow her. He passed it to her through sex ...like an std. Now both of them can see when this "thing" is there. To prove it, he shows her a naked woman doesn't recognize, slowly walking towards her. This reminded me of the scene in Twin Peaks where they find Ronette Pulaski walking on the railroad track bridge.

Naked woman Jay sees while tied up.

Ronette wandering home from the abuse at the hands of pure evil.

Then he says "You will see it as someone you know or a stranger. They are trying to get close to you." He tells her she has to have sex with someone else to get rid of it. Otherwise it will kill HIM. He also said, don't let it touch you. Then he drops her off, she calls the police, and needless to say they aren't dating anymore. The police go back to the area, and don't find anything, except that he used a fake name to rent a house.

Jay  goes to one of her college classes and she sees a woman creeping towards her, slowly ~ Night of the Living Dead style ~ and she runs, hops in her car, and drives away. She tells Kelly and Paul about it.

Old lady haunting the halls.

The Living Dead.

The friends decide to have a sleepover to protect Jay. Of course these entities keep coming, and break into her house to come after her. The friends finally witness her panic and decide they need to find the guy that did this to her. They go to his address and it's super run down house with homemade chimes, sound traps around the windows, unlabeled pill bottles, and a couple Ts. In his attic bedroom they find a picture of him in high school tucked in a porn magazine. They go to his old high school and find out his real name is Jeff. They track him down to his real house where he lives with his mother. He tells all of them the same story he told Jay, except that he got it from a one night stand.

The group leaves Jeff and they go to the cottage on the water of a neighbor named Greg, where he teaches her how to shoot a gun, but that doesn't stop the thing from coming after her. She shoots it and it gets right back up. It also pushes Paul and he's left with a mark, so the friends do believe Jay, even if they can't see it. Jay makes a run for it and hops in the car only to get into a crash, where she wakes up in the hospital with a broken arm. She has sex with Greg in the hospital to pass it along. Greg doesn't believe her and doesn't see anything for a while though.

She looks like Brittany Murphy.

One night she sees Greg breaking a window and climbing into his own house. She know that's not the real him and it's the thing coming for him. She runs over to try and warn him and the entity turns into his mother. She kills him in front of Jay by riding him sexually? Jay freaks out and goes to the beach in the water. It will come after her again now that it's not going after Greg.

We learn Paul always had a crush on her and he was her first kiss. They decide to go back to where they had their first kiss. A public city pool that is now abandoned? They plan on electrocuting the things following her. It comes after her in the pool and its starts throwing things in the pool, trying to electrocute her and hits her in the head. They shoot it, and the water turns bloody, and it grabs her ankle, but she gets away.

The worst period ever.

She then has sex with  Paul and they are shown walking down the street hand in hand with someone walking behind them. So are they dating now? Are they still being followed? Where did this thing come from? How did Annie get it? Is there any rhyme or reason to who they see? Why are the people they see always naked or wearing white? I have a TON of questions.

There's a lot of sexual symbolism with the color red and liquids in the form of water, cola, ice cream, you name it. The visuals are more impressive with panoramic stills of the unknown. Some of the scenes coloring even look like a comic book story board. There always seems to be a figure in the background following or watching.

The synth soundtrack is fun and on trend with the now popular retro wave music. It pairs nicely with the scenes making them ominous and intense. Overall the movie is pretty and original. I give it 3.5 dips in the pool out of 5.

Here's the trailer...

If you've ever thought of yourself as a witch - if only for a split second - the book Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women Magic and Power by Pam Grossman is like a warm welcoming hug. What is a witch? A witch can be anyone in any capacity because experiences range greatly from person to person. The traditional idea of a witch ascribes them to reading tarot cards, practicing candle magic, casting spells, befriending familiars, and being versed in the "old ways." But you may experience magic in your own life. Do you ever think of someone and they message you? Do you dream something and then it happens? Maybe you just have strong intuition or are gifted with a certain talent? Maybe you're an empath or a good listener? All of these things can make you feel like you are in tune with the unseen world around you. Waking the Witch will make you feel like you belong.

Grossman is a well-versed blogger, podcaster, and writer that covers a lot of territory regarding the history witches and intertwines them with her experiences, pop culture, and the current political climate. The book was published last year and she touches on Trump, the use of the term "witch hunt", and how identifying as a witch still has detrimental effects in other countries ~ but this is only a small part of the book. She talks about the burgeoning witch in the character of Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and her diverse characters, The Craft and it's authenticity, how Suspiria portrays a witch's power, and so much more.

This book is thoughtful and encouraging especially for someone like me, that often identifies as a witch and an outsider. It's positive and helpful with lots of references if you want to delve deeper. I only hope there is a follow up book because some of it will get dated, so I encourage you to read it now!

Never forget, we are the weirdos and we need to stick together.

For more information on Pam Grossman you can go to her website:
https://www.pamgrossman.com/

p.s. She's also a cat lady. 😉

(All images take from https://www.pamgrossman.com/)

When I started this blog I was pumped to write about cats and horror movies---I still am, but I don't have the time to focus on it. I even have a list of topics I want to write about and the movies I want to watch! I'm jealous of the people that can watch a horror movie a day. I haven't sat in front of the tv in at least a week.

When I started this blog I didn't have to do as much work at my job (Cats Like Us) as I do now. I own a business and it's my priority and I'm the only staff person. We started carrying vintage in addition to retro. What that means is I need more time to clean, repair, measure, describe, and photograph for the website. My time is not my own, if it was, I'd be blogging.

When I started this blog my cats were younger. I think my little Ginger is getting dementia and Vicktor has bad arthritis. Ginger wanders around my house meowing and lost, especially in the middle of the night and Vicktor tries to jump up on things and falls down.

When I started this blog I had less family in town. This past holiday has proven that family obligations will be taking up a lot of my time. For the most part, I like hanging out with family.

Don't worry I have a 3 year anniversary giveaway planned next month. I'm still here and will be posting on my facebook. I'm just overwhelmed and will be taking a break. Thanks for supporting me over the years and reading my posts. It means a lot. I'm glad I'm not the only one interested in cats AND horror!