Sexually Transmitted Horror: Why ‘It Follows’ Is a Modern Halloween Masterpiece

In the pantheon of modern horror, few films have redefined the genre’s intersection with sexuality quite like David Robert Mitchell’s 2014 indie gem It Follows. Often hailed as a contemporary classic alongside John Carpenter’s Halloween, this low-budget masterpiece turns the curse of a relentless, shape-shifting entity—passed through sexual intercourse—into a profound metaphor for the anxieties of intimacy, STDs, and the loss of innocence in suburban America.

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It Follows (#7 of 12): Extra Large Movie Poster Image – IMP Awards

Iconic poster for ‘It Follows’, capturing its eerie suburban dread.

The horror genre has always been fascinated by sex and the politics surrounding it. In the 1940s, men’s fear of a woman’s burgeoning sexuality became the underlying theme of films like Cat People and She Wolf of London. The 1970s saw the streamlining of the slasher, which continued throughout the 1980s as Halloween made way for Friday the 13th and so on.

The subgenre came with its own complicated set of sexual politics: from the faceless man thrusting a phallic object into his nearest victim to a virgin always emerging as the ‘Final Girl’. Detractors of the genre have often pointed to horror’s overt sexism as the main critique, and it can’t be argued that there are some major problems.

From a lack of women behind the camera to the treatment of those in front of it, even in recent years films like 2017’s Killing Ground—where every woman on camera is either raped, gang-raped, sexually assaulted, tortured, killed, or all of the above—have been lauded by largely male critics for having “great aesthetic elegance.” However, that’s not to say the examination of sex in the horror genre can’t have a more equal and often feminist lens.

Enter It Follows, which subverts these tropes brilliantly. The story follows Jay Height (played by Maika Monroe in a breakout performance), a young woman in suburban Detroit who, after a seemingly ordinary sexual encounter, becomes the target of “It”—an unstoppable entity that only the cursed can see. It walks slowly but inexorably toward its victim, taking the form of strangers, loved ones, or even naked figures to heighten the unease. The only way to pass the curse? Have sex with someone else.

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It Follows Maika Monroe Interview

Maika Monroe as Jay Height, embodying vulnerability and resilience.

Mitchell, in his sophomore feature after The Myth of the American Sleepover, crafts a film that feels timeless yet urgently modern. Set in a decaying Detroit suburb—where abandoned houses symbolize economic and emotional rot—the movie uses wide shots and a synth-heavy score by Disasterpeace to evoke Carpenter’s Halloween. Like Michael Myers, the entity is relentless and shape-shifting, but its transmission via sex flips the slasher’s punitive “sex equals death” rule on its head.

Instead of punishing promiscuity (a hallmark of 1980s slashers), It Follows punishes isolation. The “Final Girl” trope evolves: Jay survives not through virginity, but through community—friends banding together to confront the horror. This feminist reclamation is key. Jay is sexually active without shame; the terror stems from consent violated and the burden unfairly passed, mirroring real-world discussions of sexual health and responsibility.

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What Is the Entity in ‘It Follows’?

The entity approaches in one of its terrifying forms, unseen by others.

Critics and audiences alike have praised its allegory. Is “It” an STD? Teenage anxiety? The inescapability of trauma? Mitchell leaves it ambiguous, allowing layers of interpretation. The film’s slow-burn tension—no jump scares, just dread—builds through long takes of characters scanning horizons, paranoid that anyone walking toward them could be death incarnate.

One iconic sequence involves the group luring the entity to a swimming pool, attempting to electrocute it—a desperate, flawed plan highlighting human ingenuity against the unknowable.

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It Follows – Swimming pool scene

The tense swimming pool confrontation, a climax of ingenuity and terror.

Shot on a shoestring budget of around $2 million, It Follows grossed over $23 million worldwide, proving smart horror’s enduring appeal. It holds a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers calling it “one of the most evocative American horror films in years.”

Director David Robert Mitchell drew from personal nightmares of being pursued, blending them with societal fears.

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David Robert Mitchell – IMDb

Director David Robert Mitchell, visionary behind the film’s haunting atmosphere.

The suburban Detroit setting adds melancholy: empty streets, overgrown lots, a world where youth feels trapped.

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It Follows: How the new movie uses Detroit to explore the horror …

Eerie suburban streets that amplify the film’s sense of isolation.

Over a decade later, It Follows remains a Halloween staple—streamable and rewatched for its intellectual depth and visceral chills. With a sequel, They Follow, announced and starring Maika Monroe returning, the curse continues. In an era of elevated horror, Mitchell’s film stands as a masterpiece: scary, smart, and subversively sexy.

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It Follows: Every Form The Entity Takes

Another chilling form of the entity, underscoring the film’s unrelenting dread.