‘Longlegs’ movie review: impressive ‘90s period piece horror slightly lacking in terror
For better or for worse, Nicolas Cage losing his shit has become such an online phenomenon that one can’t help but experience his most recent portrayals of maniacal behaviour without ushering eye-rolling laughter at the same time. Playing the titular villain in Osgood Perkins’ 1990s horror-thriller period piece Longlegs, Cage delivers a deranged serial killer dollmaker that once again details his captivating intensity but equally falls victim to the ‘meme-ification’ of the actor himself.
There are certain shades of Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs in Gretel & Hansel director Perkins’ most recent venture, in which the horror-thriller genre’s new queen, Maika Monroe, plays a troubled and traumatised FBI agent tasked with tracking down the obsessive, cultish and Satanic serial killer, Longlegs, to whom she seems to have some historical, biographical link.
Much buzz has surrounded Neon’s Longlegs, and it has been dubbed one of the scariest movies of the decade. The opening sequence of the film, captured in a retro-leaning 4:3 aspect ratio, certainly indicates that the early preview comments were correct in their assertions. However, because the first moments of Perkins’ movie prepare an audience for some seriously shit-scary horror action to unfold immediately, the remainder feels rather timid by comparison, with only a handful of scenes capturing its early promise of terror.
Cage’s antagonist is a mentally unwell dollmaker who crafts life-sized effigies with some sort of occultist practice that makes families who unwillingly come to own them savagely murder one another. Clearly, some possession is at play here, and Monroe’s Lee Harker is given the job of figuring out the reasoning behind Longlegs’ awful deeds without him actually being present at the crime scenes of a string of gruesome murders.
Longlegs himself is portrayed masterfully by Cage, a depiction of sheer insanity, amplified by some impressive prosthetics and makeup, while Monroe also does a commendable job of detailing an air of personal desperation and trauma as she begins to track her villain down. There’s even an impressive sense of comedy in Longlegs, although when weighing up the laughs versus screams in the supposed “scariest film of the decade”, perhaps Perkins might have done better to tip the balance of its tone towards its horror and thriller genre influences.
The narrative – though certainly more considered and exciting than Ti West’s recent X trilogy efforts – can tend to feel slightly clunky and misdirected at points, which can also contribute to a sucking away from the horror tension of the film. Where Longlegs succeeds, though, is in its production. A score from Ziligi is some of the best the horror genre has heard in recent years and douses the movie with a terrifying atmosphere that cannot quite be matched visually and narratively.
In addition, every moment of Perkins’ film is expertly shot under the guidance of cinematographer Andres Arochi, including a moment in which only part of Longlegs is revealed, in order to give him a wider sense of fear and yet allure. A 1990s period piece might have crept upon us suddenly, but the era of some three decades ago is brilliantly crafted by Perskins’ prop and costume team, another tapping into the most notorious horror thrillers of the cinematic era.
Longlegs undoubtedly succeeds as a horror thriller. It’s creepy and weird and taps into the unknown realms of the supernatural without leaning too heavily into explanation, creating a tantalising occultist experience. However, the early moments of the film and the preview press suggest that it will be far scarier than what it delivers, which can tend to slightly overshadow its overall excellence.
Still, with some of the best production in contemporary horror, brilliant performances from Cage, Monroe, Blair Underwood (Harker’s FBI partner), and Alicia Witt (her vacant-eyed Christian mother), and an occultist narrative that plays with its facets intelligently without revealing too much too quickly, Longlegs is worth most of its hype, if not all of it.
