Longlegs - Review Thread

I know why they do it, but I really wish horror movie marketing would stop leaning into quotes like "The scariest movie of the decade!" in their marketing, because of inherent expectations. So, let's clear the air here: no, Longlegs is NOT the scariest movie of the decade, but that doesn't de-legitimize its ultimate effect any, either. Very much cut from the same cloth as 90's serial killer horror films like The Silence of the Lambs and Seven, Longlegs details a fresh FBI agent's hunt for a serial killer in the 90's who may have occult connections. A killer who calls himself Longlegs. This movie heavily deals in atmosphere and tension to create unease and creepiness, something which writer/director Osgood Perkins seems to have a pretty firm grasp on. I haven't seen any of his other films, but here with Longlegs, he makes you feel uneasy right from the start, in an opening scene that "introduces" its titular killer in a way that firmly establishes the tone we're in for. Perkins and first-time cinematographer Andres Arochi bathe this film in yellows, oranges and browns that serve the atmosphere well, and they also frame and block scenes in ways in which you reflexively catch your eyes drifting to unoccupied spaces behind characters, waiting for something ominous to lurk onscreen. The atmosphere serves the story well, too. It is pretty routine serial killer hunt trappings, but full of conviction and style. And I personally liked the ways in which more supernatural overtones gradually crept into the plot. By the end, it gave the film a more unique quality in comparison with other similar movies that I think it pulled off effectively. Also worth noting, of course, is Nicolas Cage, who plays Longlegs. Perkins makes the decision for the first half of the movie to mostly keep his face obscured or not fully shown (save for one or two cheats) that I feel add to the mystique of the character. It also helps that it's the kind of bananas Nicolas Cage performance that's dialed up to just the right level, and the movie accordingly uses him just the right amount. Cage definitely leans into the Cage-isms that we all know and love by now, but he and Perkins manage to make them legitimately creepy here. And that extends to the rest of Longlegs as well: nothing particularly groundbreaking or new, but quite creepy, eerie and effective all the same.