Anyone who grew up in the suburbs fondly remembers spending their teenage years hanging out on the porch, cruising around the neighborhood with that special someone and constantly running from a supernatural entity bent on murdering them by any means necessary.

Well, maybe not the last part.

The mixture of lackadaisical suburban activity and pure, omnipresent dread is just part of what makes “It Follows” unique. Made with a mere $2 million budget and starring people you’ve never heard of, this indie horror film has been getting steady buzz recently, and for good reason.

It isn’t the greatest horror film ever made, but it executes its simple premise well, with excellent cinematography and an outstanding electronic score by Disasterpeace heightening the tension the whole way through.

Our protagonist is Jay (Maika Monroe), a fairly typical teen who has sex with a guy she’s dating, only to find out he’s passed on some sexually transmitted terror.

Until Jay passes it onto someone else via sex, a horrifying, unexplained entity will follow her everywhere she goes, taking on any human form that is convenient in its quest to murder her. This unkillable specter can’t be seen by anyone but those it has cursed, meaning Jay has a tough time convincing those around her that it even exists.

Impeded only by distance, the entity makes every single scene stressful and terrifying. Even quieter moments in wide-open areas such as parks are tough to deal with, because it always feels like there could be someone slowly shambling toward the group from any angle off-screen.

The brilliant cinematography by Mike Gioulakis is the real star of the show. He makes great use of extended, slow pans and zooms around the environment to convey the sense that this thing could be coming from anywhere. The viewer is drawn to distant, unfocused objects in the background, just to make sure nothing bad is coming.

My only real problem with “It Follows” came with the messages it tries to send. It’s kind of all over the place, at times feeling like commentary on emotional baggage from prior relationships, teen sexual angst or sexual assault, without ever clearly nailing one down.

I suppose it’s not a bad thing to be ambiguous like that, but it feels like the film encourages you to overthink things during those quiet, suburban moments, which can distract from the high quality horror on display.

Despite that, people who enjoy horror owe it to themselves to check out “It Follows.” The deliberate nature of the horror forces the viewer to bask in the dread instead of using cheap jump scares, and it does so with no effects budget or grotesque violence to speak of.

Just remember that abstinence is the key to prevention.