t’s best to be on the lookout for It Follows. The new horror film by director David Robert Mitchell made a big mark during a very limited opening this past weekend — a weekend that featured a Friday the 13th. It Follows opened on four screens, pulling in $163,453 for an impressive per-screen average of $40,863. It also created a tremendous amount of positive buzz and momentum.
Radius, the specialty arm of The Weinstein Company, will continue to roll out the film in weeks to come. It Follows comes with rave reviews with a 95% critic score on RottenTomatoes.com, nearly unheard-of marks in the horror world. “The best reviews of the year, smart horror fans, sex and Friday the 13th combined to deliver an extraordinary opening. We’re looking forward to a robust theatrical expansion filled with dread and mayhem,” Tom Quinn, co-president of Radius, said in a statement Sunday.
The horror film, first seen at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, follows 19-year-old Jay (Maika Monroe), who suddenly finds herself plagued by nightmarish visions after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter. She can’t shake the sensation that someone, or something, is following her.
“It Follows is that rare breed of horror movie that boasts not only the perfect combination of indie street cred and critical acclaim, but it’s also perfectly positioned to ride the wave of the growing positive buzz,” says Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Rentrak. The trailer alone is pretty terrifying.