‘Longlegs’ Movie Review: Osgood Perkins’ Serial Killer Haunt Is A Spine-Tingling House Of Demonic Horrors
Photo from Neon
From Jeff Nelson
Neon launched one of the year’s most thrilling marketing campaigns for Longlegs, the latest serial killer horror film by the same voice behind the unnerving The Blackcoat’s Daughter. After hosting an obscene number of fan screenings, the word was out that we have the scariest horror feature of the year coming our way. Perkins concocted another piece of enthralling occult terror, but does it meet the hyperbolic reactions?
FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) has a sixth sense for the impending evil she investigates. Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) puts the young investigator in charge of horrific murders with seemingly impossible clues, including a connection to the occult. The determined Lee works to uncover the serial killer named Longlegs (Nicolas Cage) whose involvement left the grisly deaths of entire families.
The Longlegs killer’s dark presence dates back to his “peek-a-boo” antics in a 1970s-set introduction before the plot jumps to the Bill Clinton era, where the rest of the story unfolds. Perkins takes multiple pages from classic serial killer thrillers, most notably The Silence of the Lambs and Seven. However, the crimes lean into the supernatural, rather than sociopathic genius. The line conveniently blurs between Lee’s personal life and career in predictable ways, forcing her to delve into her past.
Perkins is highly skilled in crafting an unnerving tone to his stories that burrow deep underneath the skin and Longlegs is no exception. There’s an underlying sense of dread, elevating a thin script to quietly blood-curdling heights. It isn’t as scary as the buzz would have you believe, although it has impressive staying power that isn’t so easy to shake off. The Satanic violence unfolds just off the screen, allowing most of the grotesque imagery to exist solely in our minds.
Longlegs is a mood-driven vehicle, excelling in its atmospheric terrors. The simplistic story reduces the characters to familiar tropes of stone-cold detectives and an unhinged serial killer, never trekking into characterization beyond simplistic motivations. Perkins mixes the bleakness of the occult with a dose of dark comedy, taking the occasional jab at the tropes it welcomes with open arms. Lee’s social awkwardness, Longlegs’ demented ranting and singing, and innocent bystanders who readily point out his odd physical appearance and even odder behavior, are all played for laughs.
The killer himself is plenty intimidating to start, but the evil he represents is what poses the real threat in this story. The sinister mysteries lurking behind such heinous deaths are scary. Jump scares are minimal, relying mostly on tone and mood over trying to make you leap from your seat. Perkins holds those jolting sounds for title cards to transition the viewer from one segment to the next. Unfortunately, the fear drains from the screen in a third-act exposition dump that dilutes some of its darkness.
Monroe fitting as Lee, exploring the character’s solemn personality with nuance. She somehow finds more comfort in the darkness of exploring ghastly murders over human contact. However, Cage’s Longlegs will draw the most conversation. He’s physically unrecognizable, injecting the role with an uncomfortable, commanding presence underneath impressive prosthetic makeup. The film’s tonal blend of horror and dark comedy bleeds into his over-the-top performance which starts strong before rolling into somewhat hammy territory.
Longlegs is a conventional detective story with a stylistically chilling facade plucked right out of a nightmare. Perkins has a knack for instilling heaps of tension, even if the titular serial killer is underutilized to a frustrating degree and the third act takes too much time explaining itself. The devil’s influence constantly buzzes in the shadows of this supernatural investigation, which taps into humanity’s capacity for depravity with loads of technique.
Rating: 3.5/5
Longlegs hits theaters on July 12th, 2024.
