The ultimate sign of a great movie, to me, is when it follows you home. Like a heated argument with a friend or a flirty chance encounter with a pretty girl, you just can’t stop thinking about it. A great movie occupies your head for days, creeping up on you when you’re doing the dishes, driving to work, or even having sex. David Robert Mitchell‘s It Follows is such a movie, and what makes it even more precious a gem is that it’s a horror movie, and a downright terrifying one at that. I can’t remember the last movie that freaked me out so thoroughly. Great movies stick to the back of your mind; It Follows breathes down the back of your neck.

What is It exactly? Well, it’s a shapeshifting monster that stalks its victims until A) it kills them or B) the hunted has sex with someone, passing the “infection” along. While on paper it seems a clear metaphor for STDs or AIDS (were it made 25 years ago), it’s actually more complex than that. If the monster manages to kill its target, it shifts its focus to the previous one. It’s invisible to everyone but its current and former prey, and the closer it gets, the more fucked up it looks (from afar it could appear to be a normal-looking granny; up close, it could be a rape victim pissing down her own leg). It doesn’t run (thank goodness—I’d have a heart attack) and it doesn’t talk. It just walks toward you perpetually, its destiny to dine on your flesh.

Maika Monroe (The Guest) plays Jay, a pretty girl from the suburbs of Detroit who, after having sex with her new boyfriend in the back of his car, becomes the paranormal stalker’s new mark. Unless she can find someone new to have sex with (it wouldn’t be hard considering she has plenty of admirers to choose from, but she’s got too much self-respect for that), she’ll have to live the rest of her days on the run. Thankfully, she’s got a tight contingent of friends to protect her and help save her from the monster: her sister, Kelly (Lili Sepe); her nerdy best friend, Yara (Olivia Luccardi); and her childhood playmate, Paul (Keir Gilchrist), a puny fellow who’s always had a crush on Jay. Joining them later in the story is Greg (Daniel Zovatto), the hunky guy from across the street. How will they get rid of the demonic lurker? Will Jay sleep with a stranger, Greg, or Paul (with his nerdy-virgin aura, you can’t help but root for him)?

One of the coolest things about the movie is how insular it is, focusing the story squarely on the young leads and their immediate surroundings, letting the rest of the world fall away into nothingness. The kids’ parents are essentially non-entities (except when the monster takes their form), giving the film a nostalgic, urban legend flavor that brought me back to when Are You Afraid of the Dark haunted my dreams on Saturday nights in the ’90s. The nostalgia factor runs even deeper than that: the film seems to exist in a time period that’s a scattered conflation of the past 60 years. The kids watch TV on an old boob tube in a wood-paneled room, and yet Yara runs around with a pink, seashell-shaped smartphone or e-reader of some sort. Mitchell doesn’t seem to want us to be concerned with the story’s time period, leaving it largely ambiguous, which at the same time affords him the liberty to pick and choose props and design aesthetics from any decade he wants, authenticity be damned. As a result the film has a look and feel you can’t really put your finger on, which is a very, very good thing.

It’s hard to pin down the mood Mitchell is able to create, but I wouldn’t say the film is necessarily enigmatic or elusive. What’s going on here is that Mitchell is aiming to evoke and trigger abstract feelings, fears and emotions rather than let plot define the experience. There are several dark themes at play (primarily the dangers of sexual awakening), but they emerge organically. It’s as if we discover them rather than have them fed to us by a heavy-handed screenwriter. The film’s generated so much talk and critical momentum because it bucks convention in so many ways. Trashy jump-scares are nonexistent because the movie doesn’t need them; it’s extremely tense and unsettling all the way through. Most teen horror movies manufacture drama via dissent within the core group, but It Follows‘ characters stay (mostly) supportive and loyal.

The most atypical element of all, though, is the film’s villain, ingenious in its simplicity. It awakens common social and sexual fears on a primal level, acting as a blank canvas for us to project our darkest fears onto. I can remember thinking when I first heard the infectious guitar riff from The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” back in 2003, “How the hell did no one write this until now?” It felt so immediately classic and iconic, and yet it was also brand new. That’s exactly how I feel about the titular “It.” Unique. Terrifying. Elemental. Innovative. It’s the best, most nightmarish horror creation in recent memory.

That’s not taking anything away from Monroe, though, who’s critically instrumental in making the monster so frightening. Some of the film’s scariest moments aren’t when we see the monster itself, but when we see Monroe seeing the monster. She knows how to tell a story with her eyes, the sure sign of a skilled actor. It’s all but undeniable at this point that she’s destined for big things. Sepe plays a great confidant and is a generous on-screen partner for Monroe, never trying to outshine her. (Unfortunately, she won’t get the credit she deserves because her role is so understated.) Gilchrist is incredibly sympathetic and surprisingly winds up becoming the heart of the film.

Like Jim Mickle did in Cold in July, Mitchell uses eerie, ’80s-style synths to emulate the classic soundscape John Carpenter perfected in Halloween. He’s a bit too aggressive with the score at times, though, sometimes bumping up the siren-like synth wails so loud it distracts from rather than supports the imagery. He more effectively ratchets up the film’s overwhelming sense of dread with his camera, occasionally using sweeping 360 degree pans as an opportunity for us to scour the environment for “It” and exacerbate our paranoia. He’s letting us scratch our itch: it makes us feel good momentarily, but he knows it’ll only make things worse in the long run. Though early in his career, Mitchell already seems to be approaching “Master of Horror” status alongside Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, and Guillermo del Toro.

In Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s The Guest, their genre-blending follow-up to 2013’s You’re Next,  Dan Stevens plays an ex-soldier who ingratiates himself into the family of one of his fallen comrades. With his good looks and Southern charm, he’s got everyone under his spell; when he begins to intervene in the family’s personal affairs–sometimes with fatal results–daughter Anna (Maika Monroe) begins to suspect the new family friend has darker motives than he’s letting on.

In a quick conversation with Monroe, we talk about working with Stevens, Wingard, and Barrett; how Stevens’ performance inspired her to be a badass herself; choosing the right roles in her young career; defining Anna’s strength; and more. The Guest is out in theaters now. Check out our review, here.

Dan has such an icy stare in the movie. What’s it like to be on the other side of it?
Maika: I know who Dan really is–he’s not anything like his character. It was fun acting with him and trying to take him seriously, but I knew that once they called “cut” he’d go back to being goofy Dan. It really wasn’t as scary as it is for the audience [laughs]

Adam and Simon have a lot of fun playing with genre tropes, like the scene where you catch Dan coming out of the shower. We’ve seen this stuff a million times, but the way it’s done in this film stands out.
Maika: I think Adam has a specific style that’s so different from your typical horror movie. It’s such a mix of scariness, thrills, ’80s throwbacks, and comedy. An actor like Dan, who [you wouldn’t think would] necessarily fit into the role, blows everyone away, and it all creates something different than everyone expects.

There’s a very particular kind of humor to Adam and Simon’s movies that I can’t really put my finger on. Can you define what their brand of comedy is?
Maika: Oh my gosh, I have no idea! [laughs] Have you talked to both of them?

I have.
Maika: They have their own sense of humor. They’re hysterical, but I really don’t know what it is! It’s really nice on set because Adam’s very hands-on. He’s right there. I really like that in a director.

Much like Dan, you career is still very young. Your track record is great so far. Talk about choosing these projects and defining your legacy as you go.
Maika: I love my job. I don’t ever want to be doing something for no reason. As far as reading scripts goes, I really look at the character and make sure it’s something I want to do. You’re Next was amazing. Really different. I like pushing myself and exploring new ground, and I’d really never done anything like [The Guest] before. After meeting Adam and Simon I thought, “I definitely have to do this.”

Sharni Vinson’s character in You’re Next was such a strong female protagonist, and Anna is strong too, but in a different way. How would you describe Anna’s strength?
Maika: She kind of gets stronger and stronger throughout the film. By the end, she’s going against her family, going against everyone, as people are telling her she’s crazy. She sticks with her gut. You see her grow, and it’s cool to see an arc in a character like that.

You’ve worked with Dan on The Guest, and now you’re working on The Fifth Wave, in which you play a badass yourself. Do you find yourself looking at his performance as inspiration?
Maika: Oh, definitely. He just absolutely killed it. Coming from Downton Abbey, he couldn’t be more opposite from his character. How he carries himself in the film, his presence…yeah, I totally [take inspiration] from that. He’s incredible.

When you watch the film with different crowds, do you find each audience reacts differently to the film? Laugh here, gasp there…do you notice that stuff?
Maika: I don’t really notice. I’ve seen the film with a crowd about three times. Adam and Simon probably notice that. I have a really hard time watching myself. It’s hard to watch the film as a whole. I learn a lot from watching myself, but I can only watch it so many times before I start totally tearing myself apart. [laughs] I try to keep it to a minimum.

That’s interesting! You don’t get any enjoyment from watching yourself?
Maika: Oh god no! [laughs] It’s so hard! The first time I saw The Guest I saw it with an audience, and Dan and I were scared shitless.

The film’s marketing campaign is really cool. I love the poster of you standing behind Dan.
Maika: It’s so weird! Seeing double-decker buses go by with Dan and I on it is pretty cool, pretty badass.

And the poster’s pink!
Maika: I know! It’s really cool. Perfect for the film, too.

Absolutely. The part in the film where we see the most color is in the finale, in that haunted maze.
Maika: Part of the maze was built for the movie, but most of it was a real maze. This family in New Mexico makes this haunted maze every year, and it’s scary. They told us not to go off on our own because it’s massive. There were clowns, and I hate, hate hate clowns! The room with clowns was actually really scary.

Poor Jay (Maika Monroe). She’s a young, attractive girl dating a guy she really likes, but once she has sex with him things go sour. Turns out her date (Jake Weary) only wanted to get in her pants so he could give her his ghostly STD. Anyone with the curse/disease starts seeing something in the form of a human walking towards them at a slow, steady pace. They can outrun it, but they can’t stop it, and if it catches up it will brutally murder them. To make matters worse, the thing can only be seen by those afflicted with the curse, and even passing it on through sex isn’t a guarantee; once the apparition kills whoever it’s after, it simply goes right back to haunting the last infected person.

Sounds convoluted, but through David Robert Mitchell’s writing and direction It Follows is one fun, lean horror machine. Mitchell uses the rules behind his horror villain to create some seriously eerie, intense moments, milking the image of someone slowly walking towards the camera as much as he possibly can. The use of long shots and 360 degree pans not only give the film a neat stylistic quality, they also go a long way establishing the fear and paranoia Jay goes through. Jay needs to keep moving to save her life, and the camera’s elegant restlessness evokes her feelings of constant fear and paranoia perfectly.

A heavily aggressive sound design and over the top score (seriously, if you thought Cold in July‘s Carpenter throwback soundtrack was too much, it’s nothing compared to this) kills some of the tension. The bombast of the film’s sounds and music don’t make for a good match with the simplicity and restraint of Mitchell’s core concept. Luckily the creepiness doesn’t get drowned out, making It Follows an enjoyable piece of genre fun.

A teaser trailer and still images are now available for consumption from director Adam Wingard’s (You’re Next) throwback thriller The Guest. Collaborators Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett continue their streak of blending genres together with The Guest, mashing the badass action from The Terminator with the creepy thrills of Halloween. The film is about an odd soldier (Dan Stevens) who befriends a family after claiming to be a friend of their son who died from the war. As soon as he is welcomed into their home, the mayhem begins. I had a chance to see the film earlier this year and it ended up being one of my favorites from the SXSW film festival.

Official teaser trailer for The Guest

Image Stills from The Guest

The director that made Thank You For Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air switches gears with his new film, Labor Day, which slows down its pace and trades charismatic and quirky characters for flawed and heartfelt ones, while keeping solid performances from the cast. However, the biggest change from Jason Reitman’s previous films is the paint-by-number approach, which results in a contrived melodrama that lacks any real impact. The outcome is something that has Lifetime movie written all over it; a conventional romance story that features a woman (and family) in distraught, ultimately concluded with an emotionally charged ending that aims to please, but fails to satisfy.

Labor Day wastes no time showing the struggles that a young boy named Henry (Gattlin Griffith) faces when his depressed single mother Adele (Kate Winslet) can barely bring herself together to drive a car, let alone properly raise the boy on her own. They are well aware that their situation is far from idea, but are able to make do by supporting each other the best they can. Little did they know that a routine trip to the store would change both of their lives forever.

A man who appears to be in desperate need of help spots Henry wandering the store and kindly, yet forcefully asks to speak to his mother. The man introduces himself as Frank (Josh Brolin) and urges the two to house him due to his injuries. Adele initially declines request, like most people would, but she quickly realizes that Frank is demanding a ride rather than asking for one after he grabs Henry by the back of the neck. Because of all of the unspoken subtly found within this scene it ends up being the best in the film, despite Adele ignoring a couple chances to escape (Frank allows the son and mother in the car first after all).

It is not long before the two learn that Frank is a convicted murderer who just escaped from prison, though it does not really change how they treat the situation. In their defense, Frank has the ability to cast a spell over people with his charm and cover up the fact he is really holding them hostage. In fact, since Frank is content with helping out around the house while simultaneously being a father figure towards Henry, he is actually somewhat of a saint for the family. Soon they find themselves longing for Frank to stay with them permanently, knowing full well the consequences if the law finds the fugitive housed there.

Title cards displaying what day of the week it is constantly remind us that what goes on in one day feels like a week. Frank is able to clean out the gutter, fix up the stone work around the house, change the oil and replace fuses in the car, and teach Henry how to throw a baseball all in single never ending afternoon. Not only is Frank quite the handy man, but he is also an unbelievable cook and baker. Add the fact he is able to win over both the mother and the son while essentially hold them hostage and you will start to wonder if there is anything this man cannot do.

Do not be surprised if you find yourself yelling at the screen for the characters to do the very opposite of whatever they are doing. There are many examples of this throughout the film, but none more evident than in the beginning when Adele not only submits to Frank’s orders, but also passes on several opportunities to escape. She trusts him way too quickly off the bat and lets him tie her up without any resistance. Her willingness to comply, especially in the beginning before his charm really settles in, feels very implausible. Thus in order to get through Labor Day you must suspend your beliefs and put away your red flags just as the characters in the film do.

I am convinced there is a well-written story at its core, perhaps in novel by Joyce Maynard that the film is based on. It is easy to see that each one of the characters has an extensive backstory and that there is a range of themes found within the story. There is a coming-of-age section with Henry, a newfound romance between Adele and Frank, and a much-desired family rebirth when they are all together. However, the film settles for such a conventional way to show the story that it does not show the viewer anything they did not already see coming.

Winslet holds up her end of the bargain by wonderfully portraying a single mother who is dealing with severe depression from an emotionally troubled past. It is visually evident that her condition has affect her physical movements, and you can tell that she is having an internal battle on what is best for her son. Winslet’s performance was enough to earn a nomination at this year’s Golden Globes. Unfortunately, Brolin does not type seem to fit the part. While he does a good job with making you feel uneasy about the character when the role calls for it, the same cannot be said when he is supposed to come off as endearing and romantic. He is a bit too stone-faced and impenetrable to actually believe in the sensitive side of his character.

Labor Day is simply mediocre as long as you are willing overlook the weaknesses, but it is disappointing if you were expecting anything more out of it. The film aims to please a crowd by staying in familiar territory and strategically placing flashbacks in order to keep the audience guessing at Frank’s backstory. Labor Day is not a complete bust, but the parts that work are far outnumbered by the parts that do not.

Labor Day trailer