Right around the time you think Nicolas Cage has done it all, and on all performative fronts, along comes a sneaky horror gem like Longlegs and sends you reeling. If you did not get that already, Nicolassaince (Pig, Arcadian) is not just an Oscar winning fella who deserves to be reduced to memes and jokes. Still, it is not the only gratifying aspect of this excellent new crime thriller that marks the grand return of acclaimed writer/director Osgood Perkins — Cage as the absolutely dreadful villain Longlegs.
For some time Perkins has appeared behind the camera with films like Nope and Legally Blonde to his credit but it seems he will go down in the history of Hollywood because of the many films he has produced and directed among them The Blackcoat’s Daughter and now Longlegs. This new movie is the best movie he has made so far, even if fans of Stephen King are impatient to see Perkins’ adaptation of The Monkey that is coming out next year. Longlegs will creep into your subconscious for myriad reasons – some of them are quite the horror archetype waiting to happen: a true crime story, a little bit of satanism, an over the top Cage and much. It is the most frightening movie in ages.
Longlegs may also be the one movie where Maika Monroe gets the role of Agent Lee Harker, a detective attempting to solve a series of brutal family murders in which perpetrators commit suicide with a similar methodology. Rather, it is reasonable to think that Monroe’s standout chops in this latest horror venture were perhaps primed by her previous work in the genre namely It Follows (2014) and its sequel They Follow. Monroe’s lead performance in Longlegs is certainly awards level work and rightly positions her as a future Hollywood A lister, especially if you consider the fact that she is sharing the screen with co-star and producer Nicolas Cage and managing to get some faces time on the screen. If this were Jodie Foster it is possible this would be her Silence of the Lambs.
This particular daddy longlegs gross affects the movie itself quite a lot – this is the reason why an absurd, yet brief, fright-inducing opening may be considered as a good way to justify the title of the film. Yep, Cage’s character is indeed fatherly, which is also one of his strangeness, which I will not spoil. This is all connected to the backstory surrounding the cold case that Agent Carter (Blair Underwood, charming and solid as always) gives to Harker after hearing her created psychic abilities. And I mean, yes Harker may or may not just point at a random house and say that she believes the killer lives there.
But this investigation of brainwashing and killing of families over the years in this case is a puzzle, in addition to the action that is gruesomely horrifying as it sounds. When the brilliant Harker gradually starts connecting the bloody dots it becomes uncomfortably evident that there was more to this investigation than simply doing a great job and painting over an obnoxiously monumental wall; there was a reason why she was treated like a dog out of control one too many times.
Longlegs herself now starts addressing Harker, who, for his part, begins to get in contact with her estranged mother, Ruth (the ice cold and great Alicia Witt) regarding some events of Harker’s peculiar and troubled childhood. Hablo additionally hints that we will also be witnessing in the central investigation something akin to Mindhunter or Se7en, and even Rosemary’s Baby will come to mind when satanic motifs start surfacing during the second and third acts of this drama.
Also kidding, there are no heart-wrenching moments of attachment in Longlegs. There must be innumerable horrors out there where a dark focus of investigation is established; hence the scares cannot be the dominants of keeping crowds glued. Perkins’ near flawless script and clever crafting lets Longlegs exist on its own through the issues of child-motherhood, sacrifice, revenge and, the line of what is morally right. This groundbreaking feature also conveniently leaves room for a sequel, the way the climactic third act plays out; don’t be surprised if Longerlegs (excuse the made up title) enters pre-production down the line.
And, some credit should be given, by the way, to the great young actress Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men, Totally Killer), such character wonders at any appellate stage as any grand post – it is the only scene that probably stands out the most, in the percentage of all scenes. And it’s not even that kind of “jump out and scream exciting” activity that you have here, which is what makes this particular scene, such an unspeakable horror. Here is the character: herself Carrie, a woman involved with the unsolved case, who now lives in a mental hospital. Lee has to go to her to get some answers. Shipka’s breathtaking scene – Writer Paul Lee should be nominated for every FYC that exists. If you are in recognition, embarrassment isn’t healthy, shipka we are all behind you.
Her center piece moment in Longlegs, however, is just one instance in the tight 101-minute running time of the film that one would argue Perkins is probably reinventing the wheel when it comes to making a devastating horror thriller. Also, one of the major characters of the film, cinematographer Andrés Arochi, announces himself with bold and sometimes even adventurous means of expression that are obviously projected into Perkins’ ideas. These are visual images that are hard to erase in one’s memory.
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