LONGLEGS (2024) - Movie Review

Director: Osgood Perkins
Starring: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Kiernan Shipka
Genre: Thriller, Horror, Crime
Writer: Osgood Perkins
Runtime: 101 min
Rated: R for bloody violence, disturbing images and some language
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), 4K Ultra HD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes an unexpected turn, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Review:

One of 2024's runaway hits, "Longlegs" is a fascinating horror film that showcases fantastic cinematic prowess. It's also one of the bleakest movies I have ever seen, constantly assaulting the senses with creepy visuals and an exhausting sense of dread. Wrapping up Satanic panic themes in a procedural structure, the film follows FBI rookie agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) who must solve several cases involving murdered families. The only thing the killings have in common is that before their deaths, each family received a letter with Satanic coded messages from a mysterious man calling himself Longlegs (Nicolas Cage).

Writer/director Osgood Perkins ("The Blackcoat's Daughter"), son of iconic actor Anthony Perkins, meticulously crafts a sharlpy tense and skin-crawling atmosphere. An uneasy sense of impending doom pervades every scene, of evil lying in waiting, ready to overturn our sense of safety in this world. Monroe's impressively immersive performance vibes perfectly with the movie's tone, constantly on edge as Lee deals with traumatic experiences buried deep within her subconsious. Also deserving of recognition are Alicia Witt in a genuinely chilling supporting performance as Ruth Harker, Lee's mother, and Kiernan Shipka, who steals her only scene in the film and will be very hard to recognize if you're not already aware she's in the movie.

Cage's performance has been the movie's selling point, and it's not hard to see why. He's completely transformed and very much unsettling as the glam-rock obsessed Satanist serial killer. Cage has stated that his high-pitched voice and body language were inspired by his own mother, a twisted little detail that somehow makes his character even more unnerving. His portrayal is pretty much what you'd exepect from the actor, complete with wild rock-vocal outbursts, but also subtle touches that make this performance quite unique compared to other characters he's played. I'm not entirely convinced Longlegs will ever get mentioned in the same breath as other iconic villains, but Cage's turn is definitely haunting despite his limited screen time.

The glam rock connection is not incidental, but very much deliberate. T. Rex's 1971 hit "Get It On" opens the film with a title card featuring a passage of lyrics from the song, and is played in its entirety over the end credits. Two other of the band's songs also make an apperance. Glam rock feels like an odd choice for a satanic panic horror film, but I think that's exactly the point. The way I see it is that it plays into the film's surreal aesthetic and the recurring theme of darkness and corruption hidden behind the unexpected and the things we deem as familiar or ordinary.

The procedural part of the story is perhaps the least engrossing, derivative of films like "Seven" or "The Silence of the Lambs", but what it lacks in narrative strength it more than makes up for in atmopshere. A third act revelation leads to a lengthy voice-over narrated flashback that feels like one big exposition dump to tie up all the loose ends before the story can move forward to its conclusion. It plays into a theme of unlocked memories, but it still felt a bit unwieldy as a narrative device.

The whole movie can be described more as an experience rather than a traditionally structured narrative feature. It won't be an experience for everyone because of the slow burn and the unusual artistic choices. But for those who appreciate elevated horror, you'll find a movie that hits all the right terrifying notes as it worms its way deeper into the darker corners of the human psyche.

SCORE: 8/10