Unnerving as hell with visceral terror that will dig its claws into you right from the start, Neon's Longlegs is not for the faint of heart.
Longlegs Review
One of the most anticipated horror movies of the year, Longlegs has made a name for itself thanks to secret screenings and a marketing campaign that has only added to the tension and mystery surrounding the story. Like all the reactions and marketing has hinted at, Longlegs is indeed an ungodly union of Satanic/occult horror and a serial killer thriller. Writer/director Osgood Perkins' latest standouts in the genre, delivering something that resembles Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs crossbred with The Omen and The Exorcist.
The one word that stuck with me long after I sat with my thoughts on this film– unnerving. Not that that should surprise anyone, Perkins is adept at creating these worlds that turn our reality into a living nightmare. The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel saw him honing his horror skills and now he is showing off everything he has been building towards. This is one of those rare cases where the hype for such a film is well deserved. With a visceral terror that permeates the screen, Longlegs burrows under your skin and refuses to let go.
Within the opening sequence, Perkins establishes the tone for the entire runtime– it's unsettling, it's horrifying, and that feeling of nowhere to hide is going to follow you home. FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) has just been assigned to a case that has gone cold by her boss Agent Carter (Blair Underwood). He thinks her special “instincts” may aid them. For decades, families have been found dead from what appears to be murder-suicides, except for the fact that at each scene, a note is left behind, written in a strange code and signed Longlegs (Nicolas Cage). With no signs of forced entry or DNA of anyone outside the family, how did these messages appear in these homes? Harker, using her psychic abilities (that her boss fully embraces) begins to delve into the mystery at a near frantic rate. But what she eventually discovers will pose a threat to more than just her life.
Similar to his approach in The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Perkins crafts a horror that takes familiar genre components and sprinkles them with a generous dose of otherworldly evil. Not only that, but he blurs the line between reality and fiction by lacing his story with nods to real-life murderers: the Zodiac Killer and Charles Manson. Each moment of the investigation mirrors the realism of true-crime with the frightening feeling of a demonic nightmare. Harker may seem unfazed by it all (at least at first) but we are marinating in the dread Perkins has poured out on the screen.
Cinematographer Andres Arochi understood the assignment. Every scare, every terror feels real, as the light and shadows dance across each scene. Harker is mostly alone in her investigations, surrounded only by evidence, cryptic clues, and the chilling feeling that she's being watched. Flashbacks are filmed in 4:3, as if it were a home video, lending more credibility to the realism of each moment. There are blood-splatters, subliminal messages of demonic imagery, and repeated phrases that send chills down your spine. In one particular sequence, we see Harker alone in her home trying to decipher clues, but she's not really alone. The way Arochi works the camera and Eugenio Battaglia plays with the sound design in this scene (and the entire film) create a sense of panic and the feeling that the walls are closing in.
Some might think Longlegs is scary but in my opinion I wasn't scared so much as unnerved. It's violent but not in a slasher way. Rather the violence is a choice, motivated by different circumstances. And what is truly terrifying about it is that Perkins frames it in a way that says the evil isn't coming from some central point below us, but it's all around us, all the time. It left me and other moviegoers feeling like we needed to shower away the grime and as I mentioned early, it burrowed into my flesh and creeped me the hell out.
Sound, camerawork, and story aside, Longlegs is elevated by the performances of Monroe and Cage. Monroe gives Harker an awkwardness that grounds the story even when it is at its most supernaturally bizarre. She allows the cracks in Harker's stoicism to show gradually until a mental breakdown seems almost imminent. Her only real relationship is with her off-balanced mother Ruth played by Alicia Witt with a disarming menace.
But it is Cage's performance that will have everyone buzzing. He is nightmarishly amazing, creating an iconic character that will live-on in the echelon of the genre. He melts into the role, and between the prosthetics and his pitchy voice, you won't even recognize him. Perkins has kept Longlegs' face out of the marketing and for most of the film, he is never fully shown. But when that reveal does eventually happen, Cage is mesmerizing in the most disturbing way possible. You want to look away but you can't, as his magnetism draws you in. He is jarring, grotesque, yet fascinating, another career best for Cage.
Verdict
Longlegs is unnerving as hell with visceral terror that will dig its claws into you right from the start. This film will haunt you long after the lights thankfully turn back on. Without spoiling anything, the ending is one that will stick with you for a while. It is Perkins best film to date with another career-defining performance from Cage. Longlegs has a lot of hype surrounding it and I'm happy to report it lives up to it, making it one of the most terrifying movies of the year. Just be prepared, because it won't be easy to shake the unease or the feeling that you're being watched.
Longlegs releases in theaters on July 12. It is rated R for bloody violence, disturbing images and some language with a runtime of 101 minutes.
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