For the last few months, director Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook has been the go-to horror movie for people who want to see something that proves there’s still life in the horror genre beyond endless Saw and Paranormal Activity sequels. As great as The Babadook is, though, everybody has seen it by now, thanks to it skipping a wide theatrical release in favor of an early dump onto VOD services. Babadook is old hat now. It’s passé. Plus, there’s a new Babadook in town: David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows, which The A.V. Club posted a glowing review of last week.
According to Bloody Disgusting, some rumors began circulating recently (on Bloody Disgusting, as a matter of fact) that It Follows would take the same path as The Babadook and jump to VOD platforms as quick as it could, but that turned out to be wrong. In classic horror movie fashion, just when you think one thing is going to happen, the opposite thing happens and you jump with fright: Not only will It Follows not give in and go straight to On Demand, it’s going to be getting a wide theatrical release. That means you won’t have to rent it on Amazon or give your cable provider a few extra dollars when the bill comes, you’ll be able to see it in an actual theater—the way your grandparents probably watched movies. Of course, it will hit the various streaming services eventually, but by then there’ll probably a new horror movie that does to It Follows what It Follows did to Babadook.