A scene from ‘Longlegs’ | Photo credit: NEON
Neon’s relentless marketing campaign for Osgood Perkins’ fourth feature weaves tall tales (and even taller tales) to build towards unspeakable terror, with social media teasers and mysterious trailers touting it as a full-blown scare-fest. But like any good horror story, there’s more beneath the surface. There’s more than just the blood-curdling screams the publicity machine has hinted at, long legsis a masterclass in subtlety. This is a film that doesn’t pounce on you with desperate thrills but rather burrows into your subconscious, settling in there like a sinister outlaw you can’t exorcise. Perkins’ direction weaves a web of dread into the atmosphere, making the real horror not what you hear or see, but what you feel as though your own nails are being slowly pulled off.
The plot seems straightforward enough. An FBI agent is tasked with investigating several gruesome family murders spanning decades, marked by cryptic notes signed “Longlegs.” The deeper she digs, the more tangled the web becomes. Longlegs is a ghost, always one step ahead, always watching. The sense of impending doom is excruciating, and Perkins makes sure it never subsides.
Longlegs (English)
Director: Osgood Perkins
Mould: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Alicia Witt, Kiernan Shipka, Blair Underwood
Runtime: 101 minutes
Plot: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes an unexpected turn and uncovers evidence of a mysterious conspiracy.
A masterful blend of procedural crime-thriller, wrapped in suspense and a constant sense of dread, long legs It’s a contemplative descent into a demonic fever dream. It’s less a throwback to the conventions of horror and more a slow-burning, terrifying journey into the abyss – a sensation only heightened by a creepy, nightmarish performance from the chameleon Nicolas Cage.
The film is a journey into the twisted mind of Nic Cage’s creepy titular baddie, who proves once again that he’s known for characters that make you want to sleep with the lights on. With a raspy voice, long brown hair, and a face laden with bizarre, light makeup and prosthetics, he was first introduced in a 1974 prologue that sets the stage for the horror to come, with Cage transforming himself effortlessly into an androgynous figure of supernatural legend. His seasoned eccentricities have lent themselves to creating a character that could make Pennywise look like a cool birthday clown. His sick body language and melodramatic vocals – it’s all designed to make your skin tingle
A scene from ‘Longlegs’ | Photo credit: NEON
Longlegs is often seen in half light, his grotesque features only partially exposed, leaving little to the imagination. When his full face is finally revealed, it’s a jarring payoff that feels both inevitable and shockingly fresh. Cage’s portrayal is a terrifying tour de force, combining elements of Ted Levine’s Buffalo Bill with a level of edginess that’s characteristic of Nic Cage.
On the other side, contemporary horror veteran Maika Monroe plays FBI agent Lee Harker: a silent counterpoint to Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling and a stark contrast to the manic energy of Cage’s Longlegs. Monroe’s performance is tense and restrained. She’s troubled by her past, and as the film progresses, you realize that the real evil may not be (just) Longlegs.
Perkins builds the film’s tension with exquisite precision; every scene, every frame is calibrated to evoke maximum discomfort. He cleverly hints at more than he shows, allowing the audience’s imagination to fill in the horrifying blanks long legs Feeling like a vivid, waking nightmare.
Courtesy of cinematographer Andres Arochi Tinajero, the film’s visuals are a study in contrasts, with its underlit scenes, ominous wides and suffocating 4:3 flashbacks trapping us and its characters in a perpetual state of uneasiness. The complementary sound design by Eugenio Battaglia and the disturbing score by Zilgi gnaw at your soul, creating an sonic ordeal that leaves a lasting, sinister spell.
The film’s themes touch the heart of Perkins, whose family history is filled with its own dark secrets. The filmmaker’s fraught lineage, as the child of a closeted homosexual crazy The story of stars Anthony Perkins and Berry Berenson (who died as a passenger on the first plane to strike the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks) reflects their distorted perspectives on family trauma. long legsHe leans on his strengths and creates a film that is about the unseen and the unsaid, and at the same time is a stylishly crafted modern horror marvel.
For those expecting to be squirming in their seats upon seeing “the scariest movie of the decade,” it’s my civic duty to temper their expectations: long legs Perhaps it will never match the exaggerated legend that preceded it. Instead, what it provides is a remarkably disturbing experience, a masterful lesson in atmospheric horror. This film is not satisfied with simply scaring you; it exists solely to disturb your psyche, to weave itself into the crevices of your mind, to linger long after the credits have rolled, as if descending into hell itself.
Longlegs is playing in cinemas now
