Earlier in the week, Quentin Tarantino opened up to the fact that he hasn't seen many films this past year, but that he loved THE KINGSMAN and really liked IT FOLLOWS. Speaking of the latter, he went on to say that "It's one of those movies that’s so good that you start getting mad at it for not being great. The fact that he didn't take it all the way makes me not just disappointed but almost a little angry.” Tarantino didn't stop there, as he detailed exactly how the movie "cheated" in his eyes.
Quentin Tarantino on what was wrong with IT FOLLOWS:
He [writer-director David Robert Mitchell] could have kept his mythology straight. He broke his mythology left, right, and center. We see how the bad guys are: They're never casual. They're never just hanging around. They've always got that one look, and they always just progressively move toward you. Yet in the movie theater, the guy thinks he sees the woman in the yellow dress, and the girl goes, “What woman?” Then he realizes that it's the follower. So he doesn't realize it's the follower upon just looking at her? She’s just standing in the doorway of the theater, smiling at him, and he doesn’t immediately notice her? You would think that he, of anybody, would know how to spot those things as soon as possible. We spotted them among the extras.
The movie keeps on doing things like that, not holding on to the rules that it sets up. Like, okay, you can shoot the bad guys in the head, but that just works for ten seconds? Well, that doesn't make any f*cking sense. What's up with that? And then, all of a sudden, the things are aggressive and they're picking up appliances and throwing them at people? Now they're strategizing? That's never been part of it before. I don't buy that the thing is getting clever when they lower him into the pool. They're not clever.
Also, there’s the gorgeously handsome geeky boy — and everyone's supposed to be ignoring that he's gorgeous, because that’s what you do in movies — that kid obviously has no problem having sex with her and putting the thing on his trail. He's completely down with that idea. So wouldn't it have been a good idea for her to f*ck that guy before she went into the pool, so then at least two people could see the thing? It’s not like she'd have been tricking him into it. It’s what I would've done.
In light of these comments, IT FOLLOWS director, David Robert Mitchell, actually responded to Tarantino's criticisms via his Twitter account.
I gotta hand it to David Robert Mitchell for taking it pretty well. I'd rather he post his rebuttal online, but I can't fault the guy for keeping it classy. I know there's a lot of fans out there for IT FOLLOWS and I must say I have to agree with what Tarantino's qualms with the flick were. With that said, I'd love to see what his take on a horror film would be. I mean, DEATH PROOF is pretty horrific, but that's not exactly what I'm talking about.
Tarantino's next flick, THE HATEFUL EIGHT, will open in 70mm-capable theaters December 25 and everywhere else on January 8, 2016.
Do you agree with Quentin Tarantino's criticisms?