7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.3 |
For a 19-year-old girl, fall should be about school, boys, and weekends out at the lake, but an unknown supernatural force stalks Jay after a sexual encounter.
Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia LuccardiHorror | 100% |
Supernatural | 27% |
Thriller | 27% |
Mystery | 25% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
UK-based video label Icon Productions' release of David Robert Mitchell's IT FOLLOWS (2014) contains an exclusive audio commentary, an original theatrical UK trailer, a brief interview with Disasterpeace, and an image gallery. In English, with optional English SDH for the main feature. Region-B locked.
David Robert Mitchell has quietly become one of the leading voices for American independent film. Mitchell took the long road to achieve the recognition and critical success he's received since directing his first feature The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010). Writer Julie Hinds profiled the native of Clawson, Michigan for a feature that ran in the Detroit Free Press a decade ago when Myth received a limited US release. Mitchell attended nearby Wayne State University where he produced a slew of short films. He then attended Florida State University where he earned an MFA in Film Production. Mitchell moved to Los Angeles in 2002 during which he edited TV spots and trailers for a movie marketing company as his day job. He spent evenings writing screenplays and developing film projects. Though he wrote the first draft of Myth in '02, it lingered in "Development Hell" for years. Mitchell spent four years making Myth until finally completing it in '10. He was 35.
Myth weaves together four interlocking stories and subplots of Detroit teenagers on their last day of summer. The movie does a commendable job of capturing naturalistic moments of the teens' lives in an uncontrived manner and also steering away from genre clichés. Flash-forward four years to 2014 and It Follows. Mitchell's growth and maturation is demonstrated by leaps and bounds. If Myth was Mitchell's post-MFA film, It Follows is his post-doc. Mitchell exhibits a finer grasp of cinematography, editing, music, and direction of actors.
Icon's Blu-ray release of It Follows comes on an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. (Early pressings may have come with a slipcover.) This transfer appears to use the same one my colleague Martin Liebman reviewed five years ago for the Anchor Bay BD-50, which I also own. The image is very clean and sharp. The darker and grayer scenes have largely been drained of color. On the other hand, sunlit and daytime autumnal scenes are bright and accented with solidly delineated hues (see Screenshot #s 2, 3, 14, and 15). At other times, the image has a chlorine blue. (Check out the interior in Jay's bedroom in #11 and the pool scenes in #s 10, 12, and 13.) At least one viewer who watched the AB noticed aliasing on houses and static objects during panning shots and some shimmer on shutters and tree foliage. I spotted no such anomalies, either with the image frozen or in-motion, on the Icon. I've watched both the AB and Icon discs on different viewing displays and if I were to pick one over the other that I preferred, I'd go with the Icon. My video score is 4.75/5.00. Icon has encoded the main feature at an average video bitrate of 30000 kbps.
The 100-minute film comes with twelve scene selections.
Icon supplies a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (4083 kbps, 24-bit) and an LPCM 2.0 Stereo downmix (2304 kbps, 24-bit). The uncompressed 5.1 mix largely replicates the one on the AB. From Marty's original review: "Low end support is quality, too, deep and well defined without falling victim to unwanted rattling or other unkempt results. The track also features several well defined large support effects. Several blasts from a revolver are crisp and authoritative, perhaps not quite so deep as they could have been -- particularly a couple of shots fired inside -- but there's nonetheless a nice weighty feel to them. Driving rains and heavy thunder are likewise naturally replicated and nicely fill out the entire stage. Lighter effects such as natural environmental ambiance -- chirping birds and singing insects -- are likewise well defined and precisely scattered throughout the listening area. Dialogue delivery is clear and center-focused with a nice little bit of reverberation in chapter three." My ears reinforce his auditory observations.
The original score by Disasterpeace is tremendously effective in conveying the mood of scenes and the internal/external states of the characters. The music delivers the sonic goods on the 5.1 track. Disasterpeace listened to a temp track prepared by Mitchell that featured the music of John Carpenter, John Cage, and Krzysztof Penderecki. While the score bears the apparent influences of those composers, its electronic sounds as crafted by Disasterpeace are original in their own unique ways.
Icon includes optional (white) English SDH for the central feature.
It Follows is one of the most significant horror films to be released this millennium. I have the MUBI (UK) BD-50 of Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake (2018) and cannot wait to watch it. Icon's release of It Follows boasts an outstanding transfer and robust 5.1 lossless track. I consider its picture quality to be ahead of the Anchor Bay by small margins. Icon's inclusion of an exclusive commentary track makes this a highly appealing package. (I own the AB SteelBook with the different "group" commentary.) It seems unlikely that It Follows will be released on UHD any time soon. RECOMMENDED MOST HIGHLY.
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