It Follows

For the longest time my most favorite moment in a movie theater had been when I took a friend to see The Grudge. There was a scene where Sarah Michelle Geller's character is riding on a bus when Sadako (the antagonist) appears in the bus window's reflection, complete with her trademark guttural groan. The entire theater freaked out, myself included. Never thought that moment would take a backseat to anything after that.

Fast forward to 2015 and I've been on message boards reading about a horror movie that had no business being as good as it was. The name of the film was It Follows, and after having read an almost sickening level of praise for the film, I decided to go see it. I hit up a local Movie Tavern and buy my ticket. Before I find a seat, I order some Honey Pepper wings from their concession area. Those wings are delicious, even though they cost an arm and a leg. I find my seat after that and wait for my order to come in.

The movie finally starts and I'm welcome to a very nostalgic type of music that I haven't heard in a horror film since the 80s. Very good work by Disasterpeace on that. The film continues on rather mundanely until it finally happens. The MC is being stalked by a supernatural force that only appears visible to the people directly affected by it. She's in her room with her friends when another friend opens her door. The shot itself is perfect. There's her friend at the door's entrance, but there's this long shadow that fills the hallway. All of a sudden, an extremely tall man walks up behind her friend, ducking his head to get inside the room, making for a delightfuly uncomfortable scene. Now I personally love stuff like this. It's why I watch horror films in the first place. But there was a lady in the theater that was so completely undone by what she saw that she screamed out just as loud the main character did, then ran out of the theater. Everybody else in their seats either laughed or applauded, as those were the only two responsese that made sense.

To this day, that has remained my favorite moment in a movie theater. Yes, even edging out Captain America summoning Mjolnir to beat down Thanos.