Director David Robert Mitchell makes an impressive debut with this original teen horror yarn about a sexually transmitted spirit that takes various human forms to track its victims with unflagging determination. Once our lead, convincing young actress Maika Monroe, has been "infected" with the curse after a steamy backseat session with a local guy, she must learn her hunter's rules in order to survive.

As Monroe's Jay character and her friends soon find, the creature's restrictions are varied, but its gamesmanship knows no bounds, as it becomes everyone from an elderly woman to a deceased parent in hopes of infiltrating the group to destroy its quarry. Mitchell pays homage to eerie 80's fare such as Halloween through a hair-raising synth score and clearly-visualized chase sequences.

Though the group's final plan to turn the tables on their attacker doesn't fully add up, the film offers enough genuinely suspenseful moments and disturbing images to satisfy genre enthusiasts. In a climate where unique, well-made horror offerings are becoming ever rarer, It Follows is a welcome chiller with few easy answers.

Final Grade: B | 85/100 | ★★★