Longlegs Movie (2024) | Maika Monroe | Blair Underwood | Alicia Witt | Review And Facts

[Music] e e e hey there movie lovers welcome to MP movie facts your hub for all things Cinema get ready to dive deep into the world of film with us from the latest Blockbusters to Hidden gems we're here to dissect discuss and debate it all join us every day as we break down The Good The Bad and The downright epic in our honest and insightful movie reviews whether you're a DieHard film fanatic or just looking for your next flick to watch we've got you covered so grab your popcorn hit that subscribe button and let's embark on this cinematic journey together long legs is a bunch bunch of 1990s serial killer movie cliche is masquerading as Prestige horror and not the good 1990s serial killer movie cliche is need the killer to leave personalized messages at the murder scene for the lead FBI agent written in an alphabet of coded hieroglyphs that only she can translate long legs is your movie need the killer to follow an obscure pattern of dates that form a shape when they are typed out on a page just so long legs is your movie need the killer to kill without leaving fingerprints as though he were never in the House Long Legs is your movie need a movie to scare you intrigue you ins snare you entertain you or just keep you from laughing out loud for the better part of 2 hours look elsewhere it pains this critic to deliver such a harsh verdict against long legs and it may surprise this reader to read it given that the initial Buzz for Oz Perkins film was loud and for a time it had a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes it pains this critic because perkins's 2015 film The Black coat's daughter is without hyperbole one of the best and scariest horror movies of the 21st century perkins's other films have been worthy though not as worthy examples of prestige horror but the only explanation for such good notices for Long Legs is that there has been some sort of mass hypnotism among the people who watched it and only a few stalwart minds are free from it the title character is played by Nicholas Cage and what might have been kept as a nice surprise is ruined by the choice to reveal it in the opening credit not just that cage is in the movie but that he plays long legs nonetheless Perkins gives us only glancing views of his stringy-haired monster with a sing songy voice actually a man nothing Supernatural as if trying to withhold the horror of his antagonist like he were the shark in Jaws then at some point without Fanfare Perkins just starts showing him to us and pity that because cage looks like Robert Smith of the Cure bleached white and age 10 years reaching for the hamiest extremes of his range in a vain attempt to scare or even disquiet us someone like long legs should be scary as he appears to have been responsible for ordinary men going crazy and killing their whole families over a period of decades at set intervals that have to do with the birthdays of a young girl in the family he targets girls turning 9 years old on the 14th of the month though he doesn't repeat any months and confusingly the murders don't actually take place on the 14th but within a few days on either side this week's sauce numerology has something to do with killing in the shape of an inverted triangle over all those years but we don't discover that until later on the case is FBI agent Lee Harker makea Monroe who makes Claris Starling look like a downright extrovert Lee seems to have some sort of extra sensory perception because while knocking on doors with her partner she gets a feeling that the Killer is in the house on the other side of the street he isn't but a man who appears to have killed his whole family is likely under the influence of long legs how Lee knew this is touched on but generally discarded like so much of the loose spaghetti that doesn't stick to the wall in this movie since the 14th of a new month is coming up and since Lee's analysis of the pattern has determined that another killing is due even though sometimes they are years apart Lee investigates with a senior Agent Carter Blair Underwood who is constantly sitting under a portrait of Bill Clinton in his office just in case you forget for 5 minutes that this is the 1990s his role is to throw cold water on all her hunches but still be supportive don't you know you never distrust the hunches of the closed off young FBI agent who had a trauma in her Youth and emerged as a brilliant Savant investigator as a result the first disappointment to get over while watching long legs is the idea that you thought it might be a horror movie Perkins has experience with body Horror in his previous effort as there are some particularly Grizzly moments involving human viscera in his film gredle and Hansel for example you can tell he wants to go there here with a few moments that are meant to shocks us or churn our stomachs the thing is anyone who saw c7n knows that these are also signature aspects of the serial killer movie and the lingering exhaustion from the way these tropes played out 30 years ago is enough to explain why you don't see a lot movies with these basic buiing blocks anymore if it seemed like Perkins were intentionally trying to revive that form that would be something it does not seem like that it seems like Perkins dredged up a lot of tired signifiers props and other serial killer ephemera with the idea that he was producing something new and then gave it to us with a straight face asking for our minds to be blown by a person who communicates in code and seems to have a personal relationship with the FBI agent for a Time long legs disguises its ineptness through Moody moments and a general competency with the core aspects of film making like editing and camera work ultimately we realize this is part of the ineptness any pretty pictures we see here are gussing up old tired ideas that were in such shallow hibernation we point at them and call out their very insipidness the moment they identify themselves there are major aspects to the story that have not been revealed out of a general professional courtesy but suffice it to say that they only complicate the already murky Clarity of all the symbols numbers tired religious iconography and insert shots of slithering snakes that compete for our atten attention the final indignity is that long legs concludes on a note where you may have to ask yourself what was supposed to have just happened even when the filmmaker means for that to be the ending it can be frustrating when a film is made as haphazardly as long legs it's just laughable OSG good Perkins long legs will haunt you I know this because I have been haunted first coming out of seeing the film I was impressed by its unrelenting atmosphere and exceptional perform performances but also the movie wouldn't let me go while I didn't experience any nightmares my mind constantly drifted back to the dark space of the work in the days that followed replete with disquieting memories of Nicholas Cage's horrifying physical transformation and reflections of the story's disturbing turns and conclusions after less than a week I inquired about getting to see it again which I did and I have plans to see it a third time as soon as possible I am haunted by long legs in that I am captivated by it it has familiar Parts but it's Unique in how it makes you feel both while you're in it and removed it sticks fingers in the folds of your brain and does a nice bit of mushing and it's a remarkable expression of what it is that I love about horror movies you might be seated in a comfy chair eating some candy and watching a rapid series of images projected as light onto a screen but it nonetheless with your amigdala and leave you uneasy about the world it sets its tone immediately and never interrupts its Devotion to evoking Terror following past outstanding work in the genre with films like the guest it follows and Watcher M Monro advances her growing scream Queen Legacy as Lee Harker a young FBI agent in Oregon hunting Killers during the Clinton Administration when a surprise bit of psychic intuition leads her to capture the target of a Manhunt it's decid by agents Carter Blair Underwood and Browning Michelle Choy that her skills may be useful in a case that has been puzzling authorities for years there has been a slew of family murders and while there is never any direct evidence of outside influence they are all linked together by two things the celebration of a child's birthday and letters left at the scenes written in Cipher and signed long legs with nothing else in her life beyond the voice of Her mentally adrift mother Alicia wit on the other side of a phone line Lee's Mind Falls deep into the search until it literally comes home to her as she works to decode the messages from longlegs Nicholas Cage investigates past crime scenes and interviews the Lone Survivor of the serial killer spr Kieran shipka however her discoveries get more and more disturbing and she begins to recognize the rules of reality as she knows them bending around the case while it's trendy to dismiss jump scares as cheap now nowadays long legs opens the gates with an amazing example that sets the tone for the whole piece a young girl living in a remote house on a snowy day is surprised to see a strange car parked on the property and as she approaches it gets turned around and confused by a mysterious cuckoo call when the child does finally find the stranger he appears suddenly sending your heart into your throat and half of Nicholas Cage's shocking Visage is obscured by the top of the frame he CS excitement to be with the almost birthday girl but laments having brought his long legs with a curious what if I this Goosebumps inducing presence begins to bend his knees and the scene cuts to black on red credits driven by the grung of psychedelic sound of Jewel by T rex it's a diamond sharp hook that pierces you and keeps you deeply locked in for the next 90 minutes of your life osid Perkins further evolves the dark aesthetic of his previous features and while his script will quickly draw comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs with a bit of a push provided by the period setting the narrative is matched it with a green brown and gray heavy pette reminiscent of David Fincher's work and evokes connections to zodiac and the series mind Hunter its grounded and Steely Vibe itself sells a realistic serial killer Centric mystery but influencing the audience to keep a foot planted in that assumed reality allows the movie to trip you up and slam you down with its shocking explorations of great evil expertly navigated the movie even has the pre- internet setting add an extra layer of spookiness even putting aside the growing presence of the supernatural in the film computers and cell phones taken out of the mix has the effect of heightening Lee's isolation and making her investigation more tactile as she gets hypnotized by the files and crime scene photos that she spreads out on the floor in front of her one of the movie's Most Fascinating choices is forgoing the typical tough as Nails FBI agent Trope and it's incredibly effective in large part because of make monro's outstanding performance Lee Harker is smart determined and capable but she is also far from ignorant about the horrors in the world in which she lives and her professed and expressed fear is palpable and contagious in the movie's most intense moments as she pulls out her gun and stalks around for threats her breathing is heavy and loud and her fear becomes our fear as she carefully turns corners and sees demonic shadowy forms in the night monro's performance is full of atypical choices and it's exceptional Nicholas Cage's turn is a completely different Beast entirely and unlike anything we've ever seen before from the actor which is impressive unto itself given his Decades of big screen ubiquity with his ghostly pale complexion stringy white hair gaunt features and pitched voice long legs is a ghoulish unpredictable and terrifying presence even when OSG good Perkins is only allowing us fleeting glimpses and obscured views and the Ultimate Reality is that while he doesn't actually do all that much his presence and appearance alone is chilling cage has made many great contributions to horror Cinema throughout his career including his starring role in last year's dream scenario but it can be said in immediately and without hesitation that this is the part for which genre fans will forever remember him while I found myself with a couple of gripes about plot developments and Long Legs following my first screening of the film they dissipated with my second as well there are some conveniences in the story they are forgivable in light of how the movie plays with the nature of evil and the supernatural at the end of the day I haven't been this captivated and stunned by a new horror release since Jennifer K unleashed the baduk on the world a decade ago and like with that movie I don't expect it to stop haunting me for a long long time the summer movie season is officially washing over us with its full force as we are treated to new titles every week though it's July and my thermometer says 100 everyday it is not too early to be treated to some spooky little horror flicks cutting right to it we have long legs to consume directed by horror royalty Oz Perkins and starring make Monroe with Nicholas Cage long legs has been showing off its distinct style and design for months the marketing campaign has been an expertly crafted plan in creating hype and setting the tone of the film I happen to be a horror man so of course the marketing was being noticed by me and even helped long legs become my most anticipated of 2024 does long legs leave much to be desired or does it live up it Stellar campaign my friend I was in my pants without totally unrooting the surprises see it blindly long legs revolves around a young FBI agent make a Monroe task with solving a series of family murders disturbing right off the bat Monroe is fantastic in this giving a deeply troubled and traumatized performance while also carrying herself as a strong Leading Lady as we follow her along the bread trail of Clues the film film offers us a genuine mystery from a law enforcement angle that grips you the entire runtime without spoilers Nicholas Cage is absolutely batchet wild in this cage has always been a Fearless performer and he is channeling his energy into one of the scariest character performances I've seen in years even when he is offc screen his dark presence is felt in the viewer's bone marrow which is also complimentary of the tone that is set throughout Monroe and cage both both contribute to the distinct dread that is unlocked with every frame there were times that meam Monroe was so scared shitless that it started to induce Panic within me they both are powerhouses that keep the motor running hot The Supporting Cast also seamlessly provides so many memorable and unsettling scenes it's a testament to the vision that director Oz Perkins has and it shows that everyone completely bought in Long Legs would not work as well as it does without the elaboration that it displays long legs will and has been compared to the likes of c7n and the Silence of the Lambs in the sense of it being a serial killer mystery director Oz Perkins gives us a True Detective procedural like those films but flips it into a hellish nightmare that shortens your breath and increases your heart rate from the opening credits to the end credits long legs slithers its way into your nervous system and its presence will be felt long after you walk out the auditorium I absolutely applaud Perkins here for his confident horror Direction and vision the script is hot and cold but every frame edit music sting camera pan and color grading was downright Artful Oz Perkins visual storytelling at times is admirable and impressive the tone and style is unlike most horror films making it an absolute standout the sense of dread that is felt in every frame is a contribution from the cinematographer and editors Andre's arachi Masters terrifying wide angles with tons of empty space behind characters and subjects he instills the feeling of something sinister and dark is always lingering and watching Green and Graham foron edit the out of this movie by making this the scariest sounding horror I've seen since hereditary the entire theater was vibrating and I could feel it all in my core in a technical sense long legs looks and sounds terrific adding to the nightmarish dreaded in forces truly experience it on the big screen to feel all of The Angst and Terror I am truly So Satisfied with long legs and everyone involved with it it provides a great blend of FBI Thriller elements and religious horror that isn't presented as such the direction is confident as hell it's a technical Marvel and it gives us fantastic and nuanced performances and it's all so damn frightening too since the marketing for this movie began long legs has been burrowing its way into the cinema world as a major horror force that will surely acquire staying power this is certainly going into the personal October movie rotation the script is nothing to bow for and sometimes the plot doesn't reach its full FBI mystery potential but this is a damn good movie this is absolutely a theater watch to see the entirety of each each intense frame and to feel the uneasy vibrations from the sound design naturally I've been yearning for a horror movie that leaves me with as much dread and fear after watching hereditary 2018 even more so I've been ansy for a mystery that is as satisfying as Zodiac 2007 unfortunately long legs feels more like a Happy Meal toy cheaply manufactured watered down and a potential choking hazard ask yourself after watching If This Were a limited miniseries would I feel satisfied with the story's conclusion before getting into the film as a disclaimer it is important to note that my critique is shaped by my perspective as a writer I assess a film's quality by its movement the intentional use of purpose and action rather than plot points that are un acted upon a film that has empty space or lacks character motivation and movement where characters passively let things happen to them is to me not made with love to off quote Anton ego I don't like movies I love it 15 minutes into long legs I knew I was going to be The Annoying contan due to its overt godess prioritization of Aesthetics and the painfully inactive plot line and characters the devil made me do it really this line sums up my main issue with long legs in place of depth the audience is targeted for a immediate gratification through shock and aesthetic almost camply so this is personified by Nicholas Cage's mask like Prosthetics and over-the-top manner of speech and behavior and the film's climax which devolves into a bloodbath of horror movie tropes we see the possessed detective Carter and his wife eerily cheerful and friendly while one hacks the other Lee moving at an infuriatingly slow pace both literally and figuratively eventually shoots Det detective Carter and her accomplice to Satan mother to save the detective's young daughter turning her attention to the true culprit Lee tries to shoot the doll holding Satan's evil will but she can't letting the audience know the guy downstairs really is at play here okay Lee and the detective's daughter Retreat to safety and all is dealt with long leg shines best in its prologue filled with quiet tension the opening places Us in the shoes of a young Lee and tigating A stranger's presence on a snowy isolated property the film excels at creating tension through wide shots and relative quietness making us hyper aware this prologue sets expectations for tone purpose and action however beyond the introduction its Clear Long Legs is more interested in theatrics rather than substance marketed as a mystery horror long legs is more accurately a supernatural horror film focused on cool shots and performance this shift changes the entire film a good mystery is purposeful respects its audience's intelligence and is thoughtfully crafted the supernatural in contrast often relies on visual shock value without mystery there is no movement once Lee recognizes the pattern of long-legged killings and his subsequent suicide the mystery element is overtaken by the Supernatural and Ault audiences are suddenly EXP expected to accept the devil as the true antagonist abandoning the initial mystery setup Lee is not escaping man or devil but is simply dragged Along by poor writing leading us to an ending filled with loud cliches that could pass as an American Horror Story b-plot it will be very hard to talk about OSG good perkins's latest film long legs without revealing a single element from its story and characters from my understanding I don't watch trailers when they drop online only when they appear in front of movies I see in cinemas the marketing has shrouded its story and Nicholas Cage's role and secrecy it even censored his face with a black box to keep his appearance as long legs a mystery until the audience sits in the theater and Witnesses it for the first time it's an ingenious tactic because few trailers nowadays want to be mysterious they prefer to reveal everything or paint a far different film than the finished product this approach dissuades the audience from wanting to see a film as cold as possible this marketing tactic worked in the film's favor as buying a ticket to see it in sneak previews is currently impossible due to Mother Nature flooding Montreal highways I had to wait one more day to finally see the horror movie everyone has been touting as the scariest film of the year and a serial killer Thriller on par with Jonathan Dems The Silence of the Lambs Michael man Manhunter is a superior film in every conceivable way but that's a story for another time and when the film began in a 1.33 one aspect ratio briefly showcasing Cage's physical transformation as long legs before cutting to its red title card sequence slowly expanding in its Ultra wide 2.39 one frame my interest was peaked we then meet our protagonist Lee Harker makam Monroe an FBI a test by Agent Carter Blair Underwood always terrific to solve a series of killings by a satanic worshipper known as long legs Nicholas Cage the conceit is simple enough and murders begin to pile up as she gets closer to catching long legs who has been playing with Harker all along he's been sending cryptic letters to her house and talking to potential suspects she will soon be interrogating this makes the game of cat and mouse fairly interesting since the the antagonist is always one step ahead of Harker who is constantly and unknowingly falling into his trap the ultra wide tracking shots of Harker hunting down long legs with her Relentless hyperventilating scared out of her mind are Immaculate to observe on the big screen Perkins and Director of Photography Andre zarach create an enveloping aesthetic design to crawl under your skin as more Revelations on the killer arise it makes perfect sense to be as wide as possible and constantly play with a background designed to eat its characters up as they position themselves within the frame but why does it insist on taking such a silly Direction with an enveloping Visual and oral aesthetic like this and a conceit that could potentially rival the greatest serial killer movies ever made never mind the blatant references to better filmmakers that Perkins can't appropriate effectively and wear on his sleeves to create his own singular style note per 's major problem is that he can't seem to focus on one specific storyline which in this case is the descent into literal and figurative Madness for Harker as she tries to uncover long legs this character study made a film like the Silence of the Lamb's effective jod Foster's Claris Starling is at the front and center of the picture descending further into the rabbit hole while hunting down a serial killer this obsessive Chase in tracking down the killer at all costs before or any more innocent lives are at stake consumes the protagonist whole seeing it fully realized on screen makes the entire thing scary especially when the agent unknowingly plays into the Killer's hand as further details are badly revealed Perkins decides to forgo this Arc and morph the movie into a study of satanic worship this isn't entirely bad but he never delves deep enough into the subject to truly envelop Us in the antagonist's obsession with such a demon figure an FBI officer says to Harker and us that satanic worship isn't illegal in the United States and that's about as far as it goes before switching another gear by focusing on Nicholas Cage's character doing whatever the hell he's doing the entire marketing campaign of long legs has been built around the idea that you've never seen Nicholas Cage like this hiding him at every turn for a performance so terrifying it must be seen to be believed whoever developed this marketing tactic is clearly a genius because you have seen Nicholas Cage like this in countless other movies only this time it's as if Tommy WEAU became Marilyn Manson that's long legs and there isn't a moment where it's working not even during a tense interrogation seen between Harker and Long Legs which apparently made mea monro's heart rise to 170 BPM which leads to the single worst decision the film could do to dampen its character study on a detective consuming herself by the burden of this case Cage's comical performance is a bad Omen for the rest of long legs derailing into even sillier inexplicably uninteresting territory instead of slowly creeping into a powerful reveal Perkins presents a Twist so profoundly misguided and badly stitched together that it completely SNS what the Half Baked character study was leading toward it surely gives the movie A sharp turn but an entirely unwelcome one especially when the aesthetic has been miscalculated this entire climax feels like it belongs in a different entirely new movie where satanic worship consumes our souls Into Darkness instead of Harker's obsession with the case perhaps some will say they communicate with each other this could be an argument made if the ending didn't become so spiritual when the film slightly twists biblical imagery and mostly Strays away from it but never in such an iny your way as the last few scenes do but it's also hard to discern exactly what long legs is talking about when Perkins doesn't develop any of the story lines he presents on screen even from a visual perspective the clinical aesthetic works when the film is a full on police procedural but the 16mm parts act more like distracting flourishes than en rapturing Parker's path into Obsession and when the central protagonist is barely developed past her fear and anxiety riddled self one can't expect the antagonist to be properly fleshed out either even if cage tries his damus to be ultra expressive but fails even to draw one moment that doesn't feel like an unintentional gag as a result Perkins Ambitions fall way short of meeting any form of expectation this has plagued all of his filmography from the poetically dull I am the pretty thing that lives in the house to the ridiculous the black coat's daughter he presents an rapturing visual Style with each picture this sets an atmosphere designed to crawl under your skin however he can't execute this setting properly because he's constantly deviating his simple premises for silly reveals and poorly thematic underpinning it didn't work in his previous films and still doesn't work in Long Legs it's an idea that has been explored in countless movies evil Lies Beneath the surface of our everyday lives we may not always see it or in counter it but subconsciously we're all aware of the fact that the world we live in is indeed inhabited by the darker side of Mankind's truth this is a great starting point for a horror film to exploit our knowledge of and often times ignorance of the terrible things that happen in our communities that are covered up and brushed away to bring us face Toof face with this reality can certainly be shocking and provocative it's why films such as Halloween and get out are so effective it's frightening to think about evil within our peaceful lives neighborhoods and larger environments because we know it exists despite our best efforts to maintain peace and happiness unfortunately there is only so far a film can go with this basic groundwork without having to bring in a deeper more specific layer especially with the purpose of being something unique and original enter long legs a movie that was being build as the scariest film of the decade during its promotion as well as being compared to Classic police procedural Thrillers such as the Silence of the Lambs and c7n these are not insignificant claims and despite my inevitable excitement I was worried that the movie would simply not be able to deliver on its bold promises I was overjoyed to discover that long legs is not only a scary movie but one that I found decently profound in its presentation of themes regarding its message that evil is real long legs follows semi clairvoyant eth bi Agent Lee Harker make Monro as she is assigned to the case of the titular man played by Nicholas Cage who has been linked to a series of satanic murders suicides within families as she starts to investigate the case and put pieces together about what ties these horrific events together her own past catches up with her and before she knows it nothing about her life is as it seems to explain plot events much further would give away spoilers that should truly be revealed during the viewing experience so I'll leave it at that long leg starts out as a slow burn cop Thriller in the vein of the films it has been compared to and ends as an explosive balls to the wall frenzy of Despair some viewers found the first half to be promising and the second half the ending in particular to be a let down but I personally found the opposite to be true after an intriguing first scene and a cool opening title sequence I became slightly restless with the relatively quiet tone of the film and it's slightly hard to follow police procedure dialogue I could understand however that dread was being built up and fortunately it all paid off so nicely around the halfway mark reveals about the characters and their circumstances begin to uncover one by one and the tone changes into something much more riveting and yes scary this probably isn't the scariest movie of the decade or whatever but I would be lying if some of the scare moments did get to me you know that feeling you get after a good jump scare where your body is in shock for a few seconds at one point I realized I was having that sensation throughout an entire seat what's really great about long legs is how it for lack of a better phrase goes so incredibly hard it's not afraid whatsoever of making decisions that will provoke you and not in a cheap way a lot of tricks are pulled out of its sleeves and the majority of them stick their Landings in a a satisfying way don't get me wrong this movie is dark and discomforting but I would go as far as to call it a fun watch I left the theater in a good mood because long legs rocks I watched it in a packed house full of restless young people and this movie shut everybody up director OSG good Perkins did not come to play games and you can tell he really put his heart into making this a truly awesome horror movie I hope that this joins the Canon of films that have gone down as Classics for Kids sleepovers when they stay up late and watch a risky movie to scare themselves because it absolutely deserves to everyone is saying it but yeah Nick Cage absolutely kills it his performance is equal parts creepy and funny and he's clearly having so much fun Hamming it up as this deranged madman that you feel comfortable laughing at his delivery of the material this unexpected comedic aspect adds well to the layered tone of the entire affair in a way that is scarcely pulled off that being said my favorite performance is that of make Monroe who is so perfect for this genre she brings such a personal air and depth to her character and this movie really wouldn't be what it is without her I also want to quickly talk about the use of the tea Rex song Bang a Gong get it on in this film long legs opens with a quote on the screen pulled directly from the lyrics of the song well you're slim and you're weak you've got the teeth of the Hydra upon you you're dirty sweet and you're my girl it's seemingly such a random choice to use this as the first thing the audience sees but I think it very much ties into what I took away as the theme of the film as well and it's take on the idea that evil is all around us long legs doesn't simply point out that murder and Satanism can often lurk underneath the surface but asks the audience to remember times early in their lives when they would have encountered such things but pushed the memories away children sometimes catch a glimpse into a much darker world than they are ready to comprehend and often times these glimpses are thrown away into the deep recesses of the subconscious we grow up and forget about experiences we had but later in life perhaps we realize that something was not right about a situation we were in this movie asks you to remember and reflect on a time a stranger came up to you and said something weird or a time you saw something off in the distance but weren't quite sure what it was for example it's hard to fully articulate and it's almost hyp specific but the film gets into your mind in this regard it made me rethink some of my memories just as the main character did as children maybe we had the teeth of the Hydra upon us without even knowing it and to think about that is scary to think that we grew up in a world where evil did exist and we were closer to it than we ever knew all we can do do is our best when it comes to protecting children this is why I love horror so deeply nothing gets a reaction out of you quite like a good horror movie it's so powerful that a film can bring its audience back to Memories supposed to be forgotten to the vibration of the world around us that maybe we aren't supposed to even think about I'm not saying long legs is an absolutely perfect film also using hail Satan as a widely distributed tagline was probably too bold of a choice but I really love what it has to offer it certainly belongs among the films from the past 5 years or so that will go down as Classics of the genre and it delivers such a specific feeling that is so hard to shake and deeply uncomfortable but the film is so electrifying that you can't help but respect the roller coaster right it takes you on Long Legs relies heavily on its formidable feeling of mood which creeps up on you in a way that you can't even describe until it's too late it's like the sensation of an insect crawling on your skin only to check and realize that there's nothing there The Bleak color palettes on top of the wintry backdrop build an excellent sense of Mala creating suspense out of the mundane through slow zooms and steady camera work if that isn't enough Perkins occasionally throws in some Sublime and Abstract imagery of snakes bubbling goo and shadowy figures that give you a turbocharged version of the heie gbi's long legs always keeps you on your toes until your heart is practically thumping out of your chest the amount of momentum Perkins can maintain throughout is Stupify it's such a breezy hundred minutes that I was a bit surprised when the film cut to the credits despite a thematically satisfying finale the ending may be unsatisfying for some but I managed to appreciate what Perkins was trying to say after some thinking half of the beauty of long legs is the experience when you're watching it the the other half is how it haunts you long after you've left the theater while I wasn't horrified to the DraStic extent that other viewers were long legs is certainly not for the faint of heart akin to the laundry list of predecessors like c7n the Silence of the Lambs cure and True Detective long legs exists within a favorite sub jener of mine within the crossroads of horror police procedurals and thrillers it's not like your usual horror film where your jump scared to hell and back it's a slowly moving crawl into the disconcertingly macabra while the sparse jump scares certainly startled me I was much more taken aback by the sheer presence of long legs the horror slowly encroaches to a point where I didn't even notied something scary had happened until someone in my theater screamed aside from one or two well-placed jump scares many of the horror elements happen without warning they're simply there waiting for you to notice them cinematographer Andre zarach shoots the film with very wide lenses that emit a persistent feeling of paranoia where even the safest spaces seem like they could be soured in an instant the visual language that arachi and Perkins managed to accomplish is always engaging with lots of open space and an everchanging aspect ratio every open door frame is an invitation for whatever lurks around the corner and the vastness of exterior shots feel like they could go on for miles in any Direction unlike most horror films long legs doesn't Force its presence onto the viewer through generic tropes that have been recycled for decades rather than relying on the elements of horror that I find the most IR rolling Perkins has enough confidence in his screenplay and direction for every dastardly element to fall into Its Right Place knowing that he's the son of Anthony Perkins the late and great actor who played Norman Bates and psycho it's safe to say that the found ations of horror course through OSG Good's veins his precise camera work steady Framing and wide angles illustrate an Immaculate sense of disqui while cementing him as an incredibly strong voice within the genre his previous features while still formally impressive lacked The X Factor that long legs has in Spades a lot of that X Factor comes from the ever so idiosyncratic Nicholas Cage as the titular character which is a role that I feel like only he could could pull off there's such an astonishing level of confidence in Cage's menacingly off-kilter performance as long legs I see a very strong Oscar Contender within this role the film's viral marketing campaign did the character a lot of favors by not showing cage in his full makeup as the result is truly a sight to behold it's certainly not a pretty one though like the film itself there's a quietly bubbling Darkness to Long Legs where cage simultaneously feels disarming eerie and exceedingly dangerous there's an uncannily infantile quality to his mannerisms which is much more spine chilling than your average Mastermind serial killer antagonist the quieter moments with long legs are much more effective than his occasional outbursts as you're stuck shivering in anticipation for this maniac to snap with or without the ghastly makeup Nicholas Cage is utterly unrecognizable in this role make Monro who I've been familiar with since her breakout turns in 2014's it follows and the guest turns in a career best performance as Lee Harker a newly recruited and exceptionally intuitive FBI agent who is assigned to Long Legs case this comparisons to jod Fosters Clara Starling are act Foster's performance in the Silence of the Lambs felt much more controlled and subdued than monro's performance as Harker who perpetually seems like she hasn't slept in weeks on top of a SE seemingly unsolvable serial killer case Parker struggles with a healthy portion of religious baggage brought on by her mother which reemerges as Harker Dives deeper into the satanic clues that long legs has left for her Monroe does an outstanding job at illustrating Harker on the precipice of her Breaking Point playing a quietly intelligent detective who is thrown into the darkest recesses of Satanism monro's performance unravels at the same speed as the case does with her Steely eyes carrying much of her unspoken emotional weight as things go from bad to worse to Dreadful Monroe visibly becomes more disheveled and exhausted culminating in an explosive conclusion that left me breathless in a just world I would see her being nominated alongside Nicholas Cage but I have a bad feeling that the academy will gloss over such a mesmerizing performance long legs knowingly wears its predecessors on its sleeve before taking a mind bending sharp turn into something that the marketing has hidden exceptionally well Perkins deliberately presents long legs as one thing before subverting it into something else entirely as he is well aware of genre trappings and how to avoid them a delightfully Sinister throwback to the serial killer films of the 9s long legs is unpredictable foreoing sometimes funny and a richly textured horror experience with an incredibly Moody aesthetic if Osgood Perkins wasn't a fil filmaker to watch then he surely is now Perkins other films have been worthy though not as worthy examples of prestige horror but the only explanation for such good notices for Long Legs is that there has been some sort of mass hypnotism among the people who watched it and only a few stalwart minds are free from it the title character is played by Nicholas Cage and what might have been kept as a nice surprise is ruined by the choice to reveal it in the opening credit not just that cage is in the movie but that he plays long legs nonetheless Perkins gives us only glancing views of his stringy-haired monster with a sing songy voice actually a man nothing Supernatural as if trying to withhold the horror of his antagonist like he with a shark in Jaws then at some point without Fanfare Perkins just starts showing him to us and pity that because cage looks like Robert Smith of the Cure bleached white and age 10 years in for the hammiest extremes of his range in a vain attempt to scare or even disquiet us someone like long legs should be scary as he appears to have been responsible for ordinary men going crazy and killing their whole families over a period of decades at set intervals that have to do with the birthdays of a young girl in the family he targets girls turning 9 years old on the 14th of the month though he doesn't repeat any months and confusingly the murders don't actually take place Su a 14th but within a few days on either side this week's sauce numerology has something to do with killing in the shape of an inverted triangle over all those years though we don't discover that until later on the case is FBI agent Lee Harker mea Monroe who makes Claris Starling look like a downright extrovert Lee seems to have some sort of extra sensory perception because while knocking on doors with her partner she gets a feeling that the Killer is in the house on the other side of the street he isn't but a man who appears to have killed his whole family is likely under the influence of longle how Lee knew this is touched on but generally discarded like so much of the loose spaghetti that doesn't stick to the wall in this movie since the 14th of a new month is coming up and since Lee's analysis of the pattern has determined that another killing is due even though sometimes they are years apart Lee investigates with a senior Agent Carter Blair under wood who is constantly sitting under a portrait of Bill Clinton in his office just in case you forget for 5 minutes that this is the 1990s his role is to throw cold water on all her hunches but still be supportive don't you know you never distrust the hunches of the closed off young FBI agent who had a trauma in her Youth and emerged as a brilliant Savant investigator as a result the first disappointment to get over while watching long legs is the idea that you thought it might be a horror movie Perkins has experience with body Horror in his previous efforts as there are some particularly Grizzly moments involving human viscera in his film gredle and Hansel for example you can tell he wants to go there here with a few moments that are meant to shocks us or churn our stomachs the thing is anyone who saw c7n knows that these are also signature aspects of the serial killer movie and the lingering exhaustion from the way these tropes played out 30 years ago is enough to explain why you don't see a lot movies with these basic buiting blocks anymore if it seemed like Perkins were intentionally trying to revive that form that would be something it does not seem like that it seems like Perkins dredged up a lot of tired signifiers props and other serial killer ephemera with the idea that he was producing something new and then gave it to us with a straight face asking for our minds to be blown by a person who can communicates in code and seems to have a personal relationship with the FBI agent for a Time long legs disguises its ineptness through Moody moments and a general competency with the core aspects of film making like editing and camera work ultimately we realize this is part of the inep any pretty pictures we see here are gussing up old tired ideas that were in such shallow hibernation we point at them and call out their very insipidness the most moment they identify themselves there are major aspects to the story that have not been revealed out of a general professional courtesy but suffice it to say that they only complicate the already murky Clarity of all the symbols numbers tired religious iconography and insert shots of slithering snakes that compete for our attention the final indignity is that long legs concludes on a note where you may have to ask yourself what was supposed to have just happened even when the filmmaker means for that to be the ending it can be frustrating when a film is made as halfhazard as long legs it's just laughable OSG good Perkins long legs will haunt you I know this because I have been haunted first coming out of seeing the film I was impressed by its unrelenting atmosphere and exceptional performances but also the movie wouldn't let me go while I didn't experience any nightmares my mind constantly drifted back to the dark space of the work in the day that followed replete with disquieting memories of Nicholas Cage's horrifying physical transformation and reflections of the story's disturbing turns and conclusions after less than a week I inquired about getting to see it again which I did and I have plans to see it a third time as soon as possible I am haunted by long legs in that I am captivated by it it has familiar Parts but it's Unique in how it makes you feel both while you're in it and removed it's sticks fingers in the folds of your brain and does a nice bit of mushing and it's a remarkable expression of what it is that I love about horror movies you might be seated in a comfy chair eating some candy and watching a rapid series of images projected as light onto a screen but it nonetheless with your amigdala and leave you uneasy about the world it sets its tone immediately and never interrupts its Devotion to evoking Terror following past outstanding work the genre with films like the guest it follows and Watcher mam Monro advances her growing scream Queen Legacy as Lee Harker a young FBI agent in Oregon hunting Killers during the Clinton Administration when a surprise bit of psychic intuition leads her to capture the target of a Manhunt it's decided by agents Carter Blair Underwood and Browning Michelle choye that her skills may be useful in a case that has been puzzling authorities for years there has been a slew of family murders and while there is never any direct evidence of outside influence they are all linked together by two things the celebration of a child's birthday and letters left at the scenes written in Cipher and signed long legs with nothing else in her life beyond the voice of Her mentally adrift mother Alicia wit on the other side of a phone line Lee's Mind Falls deep into the search until it literally comes home to her as she works to decode the messages from longlegs Nicholas Cage investigates past crime scenes and interviews the Lone Survivor of the serial killers spre kierin shipka however her discoveries get more and more disturbing and she begins to recognize the rules of reality as she knows them bending around the case while it's trendy to dismiss jump scares as cheap nowadays long legs opens the gates with an amazing example that sets the tone for the whole piece a young girl living in a remote house on a snowy day is surprised to to see a strange car parked on the property and as she approaches it gets turned around and confused by a mysterious cuckoo call when the child does finally find the stranger he appears suddenly sending your heart into your throat and half of Nicolas Cage's shocking Visage is obscured by the top of the frame he C's excitement to be with the almost birthday girl but lament having brought his long legs with a curious what if I this goose pumps inducing presence begins to bend his knees and the scene cuts to black on red credits driven by the grung of psychedelic sound of Jewel by T rex it's a diamond sharp hook that pierces you and keeps you deeply locked in for the next 90 minutes of your life ocard Perkins further evolves the dark aesthetic of his previous features and while his script will quickly draw comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs with a bit of a push provided by the period setting the narrative is matched it with a green brown and gray heavy pet reminiscent of David Fincher's work and evokes connections to zodiac and the series mind Hunter its grounded and Steely Vibe itself sells a realistic serial killer Centric mystery but influencing the audience to keep a foot planted in that assumed reality allows the movie to trip you up and slam you down with its shocking explorations of great evil expertly navigated the movie even has the pre- interet setting ad an extra layer of spookiness even putting aside the growing presence of the supernatural in the film computers and cell phones taken out of the mix has the effect of heightening Lee's isolation and making her investigation more tactile as she gets hypnotized by the files and crime scene photos that she spreads out on the floor in front of her one of the movie's Most Fascinating choices is forgoing the typical tough as Nails FBI agent Trope and it's incredibly effective in large part because of mea monro's outstanding performance Lee Harker is smart determined and capable but she is also far from ignorant about the horrors in the world in which she lives and her professed and expressed fear is palpable and contagious in the movie's most intense moments as she pulls out her gun and stalks around for threats her breathing is heavy and loud and her fear becomes our fear as she carefully turns corners and sees demonic shadowy forms in the night monro's performance is full of atypical choices and it's exceptional Nicholas Cage's turn is a completely different Beast entirely and unlike anything we've ever seen before from the actor which is impressive unto itself given his Decades of big screen ubiquity with his ghostly pale complexion stringy white hair gaunt features and pitched voice long legs is a ghoulish unpredictable and terrifying presence even when OSG good Perkins is only a allowing us fleeting glimpses and obscured views and the Ultimate Reality is that while he doesn't actually do all that much his presence and appearance alone is chilling cage has made many great contributions to horror Cinema throughout his career including his starring role in last year's dream scenario but it can be said immediately and without hesitation that this is the part for which genre fans will forever remember him while I found myself with a couple of gripes about plot developments in Long leg following my first screening of the film they dissipated with my second as while there are some conveniences in the story they are forgivable in light of how the movie plays with a nature of evil and the supernatural at the end of the day I haven't been this captivated and stunned by a new horror release since Jennifer Kent unleashed the Boba on the world a decade ago and like with that movie I don't expect it to stop haunting me for a long long time the summer movie season is is officially washing over us with its full force as we are treated to new titles every week though it's July and my thermometer says 100 everyday it is not too early to be treated to some spooky little horror flicks cutting right to it we have long legs to consume directed by horror royalty Oz Perkins and starring make Monroe with Nicholas Cage long legs has been showing off its distinct style and design for months the marketing campaign has been an expertly crafted plan in creating hype and setting the tone of the film I happen to be a horror man so of course the marketing was being noticed by me and even helped long legs become my most anticipated of 2024 does long legs leave much to be desired or does it live up to its Stellar campaign my friend I was in my pants without totally unrooting the surprises see it blindly long legs revolves around a young FBI agent make a Monroe task with solving a series of family murders disturbing right off the bat Monroe is fantastic in this giving a deeply troubled and traumatized performance while also carrying herself as a strong Leading Lady as we follow her along the bread trail of Clues the film offers us a genuine mystery from a law enforcement angle that grips you the entire runtime without spoilers Nicholas Cage is absolutely batchet wild in this cage has always been a Fearless performer and he is channeling his energy into one of the scariest character performances I've seen in years even when he is offscreen his dark presence is felt in a viewer's bone marrow which is also complimentary of the tone that is set throughout Monroe and cage both contribute to the distinct dread that is unlocked with every frame there were times that meam Monro was so scared shitless that it started to induce Panic within me they both both are powerhouses that keep the motor running hot The Supporting Cast also seamlessly provides so many memorable and unsettling scene it's a testament to the vision that director Oz Perkins has and it shows that everyone completely bought in Long Legs would not work as well as it does without the collaboration that it displays long legs will and has been compared to the likes of c7n and the Silence of the Lambs in the sense of it being a serial kill mystery director Oz Perkins gives us a True Detective procedural like those films but flips it into a hellish nightmare that shortens your breath and increases your heart rate from the opening credits to the end credits long legs slithers its way into your nervous system and its presence will be felt long after you walk out the auditorium I absolutely applaud Perkins here for his confident horror Direction and vision the script is hot and cold but every frame edit music sting camera pan and color grading was downright Artful Oz Perkins visual storytelling at times is admirable and impressive the tone and style is unlike most horror films making it an absolute standout the sense of dread that is felt in every frame is a contribution from the cinematographer and editors Andre's arachi Masters terrifying wide angles with tons of empty space behind characters and subjects he instills the feeling of something sinister and dark is always lingering and watching Greg n g and Graham foron edit the out of this movie by making this the scariest sounding horror I've seen since hereditary the entire theater was vibrating and I could feel it all in my core in a technical sense long legs looks and sounds terrific adding to the nightmarish dreaded in forces truly experience it on the big screen to feel all of The Angst and Terror I am truly So Satisfied with long legs and everyone involved with it it provides a great blend of FBI Thriller elements and religious horror that isn't presented as such the direction is confident as hell it's a technical Marvel and it gives us fantastic and nuanced performances and it's all so damn frightening too since the marketing for this movie began long legs has been burrowing its way into the cinema world as a major horror for force that will surely acquire staying power this is certainly going into the personal October movie rotation the script is nothing to bow for and sometimes the plot doesn't reach its full FBI mystery potential but this is a damn good movie this is absolutely a theater watch to see the entirety of each intense frame and to feel the uneasy vibrations from the sound design naturally I've been yearning for a horror movie that leaves me with as much dread and fear after watching hereditary 2018 even more so I've been antsy for a mystery that is as satisfying as Zodiac 2007 unfortunately long legs feels more like a Happy Meal toy cheaply manufactured watered down and a potential choking hazard ask yourself after watching If This Were a limited miniseries would I feel satisfied with the story's conclusion before getting into the film as a disclaimer it is important to note that my critique is shaped by my perspective as a writer I assess a film's quality by its movement the intentional use of purpose and action rather than plot points that are un acted upon a film that has empty space or lacks character motivation and movement where characters passively let things happen to them is to me not made with love to off quote Anton ego I don't like movies I love it 15 minutes into long legs I knew I was going to be The Annoying contan due to its overt godess prioritization of Aesthetics and the painfully inactive plotline and characters the devil made me do it really this line sums up my main issue with long legs in place of depth the audience is targeted for immediate gratification through shock and aesthetic almost camply so this is personified by Nicholas Cage's mask like Prosthetics and over-the-top manner of speech and behavior and the film's climax which devolves into a bloodbath of horror movie tropes we see the possessed detective Carter and his wife eerily cheerful and friendly while one hacks the other Lee moving at an infuriatingly slow pace both literally and figuratively eventually shoots detective Carter and her accomplice to Satan mother to save the detective's young daughter turning her attention to the true culprit Lee tries to shoot the doll holding Satan evil will but she can't letting the audience know the guy downstairs really is at play here okay Lee and the detective's daughter Retreat to safety and all is dealt with long legs shines vest in its prologue filled with quiet tension the opening places Us in the shoes of a young Lee investigating A stranger's presence on a snowy isolated property the film excels at creating tension through wide shots and relative quietness making us hyper aware this prologue sets expectations for tone purpose and action however beyond the introduction it's clear long legs is more interested in theatrics rather than substance marketed as a mystery horror long legs is more accurately a supernatural horror film focused on cool shots and performance this shift changes the entire film a good mystery is purposeful respects its audience's intelligence and is thoughtfully crafted the supernatural in contrast often relies on visual shock value without mystery there is no movement once Lee recognizes the pattern of long legs killings and his subsequent suicide the mystery element is overtaken by the Supernatural and ult audiences are suddenly expected to accept the devil as the true antagonist abandoning the initial mystery setup Lee is not escaping man or devil but is simply dragged Along by poor writing leading us to an ending filled with loud cliches that could pass as an American Horror Story B plot it will be very hard to talk about OSG good Perkins latest film long legs without revealing a single element from its story and characters from my understanding I don't watch trailers when they drop online only when they appear in front of movies I see in cinemas the marketing has shrouded its story and Nicholas Cage's role in secrecy it even sens Ed his face with a black box to keep his appearance as long legs a mystery until the audience sits in the theater and Witnesses it for the first time it's an ingenious tactic because few trailers nowadays want to be mysterious they prefer to reveal everything or paint a far different film than the finished product this approach dissuades the audience from wanting to see a film as cold as possible this marketing tactic worked in the film's favor as buying a ticket to see it in sneak previews is currently impossible due to Mother Nature flooding Montreal highways I had to wait one more day to finally see the horror movie everyone has been touting as the scariest film of the year and a serial killer Thriller on par with Jonathan Dems The Silence of the Lambs Michael man's Manhunter is a superior film in every conceivable way but that's a story for another time and when the film began in a 1.33 one aspect ratio briefly showcasing Cage's physical transformation as long legs before cutting to its red title card sequence slowly expanding in its Ultra wide 2.39 one frame my interest was peaked we then meet our protagonist Lee Harker makam Monroe an FBI agent tasked by Agent Carter Blair Underwood always terrific to solve a series of killings by a satanic worshipper known as long legs Nicholas Cage the conceit is simple enough and murders begin to pile up as she gets closer to catching long legs who has been playing with Harker all along he's been sending cryptic letters to her house and talking to potential suspects she will soon be interrogated this makes the game of cat and mouse fairly interesting since the antagonist is always one step ahead of Harker who is constantly and unknowingly falling into his trap the ultrawide tracking shots of Harker hunting down long legs with her Relentless hyperventilating scared out of her mind are Immaculate to observe on the big screen Perkins and Director of Photography Andre zarach create an enveloping aesthetic design to crawl under your skin as more Revelations on the killer arise it makes perfect sense to be as wide as possible and constantly play with a background designed to eat its characters up as they position themselves within the frame but why does it insist on taking such a silly dire C with an enveloping Visual and oral aesthetic like this and a conceit that could potentially rival the greatest serial killer movies ever made never mind the blatant references to better filmmakers that Perkins can't appropriate effectively and wear on his sleeves to create his own singular Style no Perkins major problem is that he can't seem to focus on one specific storyline which in this case is the descent into literal and figurative Madness for Harker as she tries to to uncover long legs this character study made a film like the Silence of the Lamb's effective Jodie Foster's Claris Starling is at the front and center of the picture descending further into the rabbit hole while hunting down a serial killer this obsessive Chase in tracking down the killer at all costs before any more innocent lives are at stake consumes the protagonist hole seeing it fully realized on screen makes the entire thing scary especially when the agent un knowingly plays into the Killer's hand as further details are badly revealed Perkins decides to forgo this Arc and morph the movie into a study of satanic worship this isn't entirely bad but he never delves deep enough into the subject to truly envelop Us in the antagonist's obsession with such a demonic figure an FBI officer says to Harker and us that satanic worship isn't illegal in the United States and that's about as far as it goes before switching another gear by focusing on Nicholas Cage's character doing whatever the hell he's doing the entire marketing campaign of long legs has been built around the idea that you've never seen Nicholas Cage like this hiding him at every turn for a performance so terrifying it must be seen to be believed whoever developed this marketing tactic is clearly a genius because you have seen Nicholas Cage like this in countless other movies only this time it's as if Tommy weow became Mar Manson that's long legs and there isn't a moment where it's working not even during a tense interrogation seene between Harker and Long Legs which apparently made mea monro's heart rise to 170 BPM which leads to the single worst decision the film could do to dampen its character study on a detective consuming herself by the burden of this case Cage's comical performance is a bad Omen for the rest of long legs derailing into even sillier inexplicably uninteresting territory instead of slowly creeping into a powerful reveal Perkins presence a Twist so profoundly misguided and badly stitched together that it completely syncs what the half-baked character study was leading toward it surely gives the movie A sharp turn but an entirely unwelcome one especially when the aesthetic has been miscalculated this entire climax feels like it belongs in a different entirely new movie where Satan worship consumes our souls Into Darkness instead of Harker's obsession with the case perhaps some will say they communicate with each other this could be an argument made if the ending didn't become so spiritual when the film slightly twists biblical imagery and mostly Strays away from it but never in such an iny yourface way as the last few scenes do but it's also hard to discern exactly what long legs is talking about when Perkins doesn't develop any of the storylines he presents on screen even from a visual perspective the clinical aesthetic works when the film is a full on police procedural but the 16mm parts act more like distracting flourishes than en rapturing Harker's path into Obsession and when the central protagonist is barely developed past her fear and anxiety riddled self one can't expect the antagonist to be properly fleshed out either even if cage tries his damus to be ultra expressive but fails even to draw one moment that doesn't feel like an unintentional gag as a result Perkins Ambitions fall way short of meeting any form of expectation this has plagued all of his filmography from the poetically dull I am the pretty thing that lives in the house to the ridiculous the black coat's daughter he presents an enrapturing visual Style with each picture this sets an atmosphere designed to crawl under your skin however he can't execute this setting properly because he's constantly deviating his simple premises for silly reveals and poorly thematic underpinnings it didn't work in his previous films and still doesn't work in Long Legs it's an idea that has been explored in countless movies evil Lies Beneath the surface of our everyday lives we may not always see it or encounter it but subconsciously we're all aware of the fact that the world we live in is indeed inhabited by the darker side of Mankind's truth this is a great starting point for a a horror film to exploit our knowledge of and often times ignorance of the terrible things that happen in our communities that are covered up and brushed away to bring us face Toof face with this reality can certainly be shocking and provocative it's why films such as Halloween and get out are so effective it's frightening to think about evil within our peaceful lives neighborhoods and larger environments because we know it exists despite our best efforts to maintain peace and happiness unfortunately there is only so far a film can go with this basic groundwork without having to bring in a deeper more specific layer especially with the purpose of being something unique and original enter long legs a movie that was being build as the scariest film of the decade during its promotion as well as being compared to Classic police procedural Thrillers such as the Silence of the Lambs and c7n these are not insignificant claims and despite my inevitable excitement I was worried that the movie would simply not be able to deliver on its bold promises I was overjoyed to discover that long legs is not only a scary movie but one that I found decently profound in its presentation of themes regarding its message that evil is real long legs follows semi Clairvoyant FBI agent Lee Harker makea Monroe as she is assigned to the case of the titeler man played by Nicholas Cage who has been linked to a series of satanic murders suicides Within family as she starts to investigate the case and put pieces together about what ties these horrific events together her own past catches up with her and before she knows it nothing about her life is as it seems to explain plot events much further would give away spoilers that should truly be revealed during the viewing experience so I'll leave it at that long leg starts out as a slow burn cop Thriller in the vein of the films it has been compared to and ends as an explosive balls to the wall frenzy of Despair some viewers found the first half to be promising and the second half the ending in particular to be a let down but I personally found the opposite to be true after an intriguing first scene and a cool opening title sequence I became slightly restless with the relatively quiet tone of the film and it's slightly hard to follow police procedure dialogue I could understand however that dread was being built up and fortunately it all PA off so nicely around the halfway mark reveals about the characters and their circumstances begin to uncover one by one and the tone changes into something much more riveting and yes scary this probably isn't the scariest movie of the decade or whatever but I would be lying if some of the scare moments didn't get to me you know that feeling you get after a good jump scare where your body is in shock for a few seconds at one point I realized I was having that sensation throughout an entire seat what's really great about long legs is how it for lack of a better phrase goes so incredibly hard it's not afraid whatsoever of making decisions that will provoke you and not in a cheap way a lot of tricks are pulled out of its sleeves and the majority of them stick their Landings in a satisfying way don't get me wrong this movie is dark and discomforting but I would go as far as to call it a fun watch I left the theater in a good mood because long legs rocks I watched it in a packed house full of restless young people and this movie shut everybody up director OSG good Perkins did not come to play games and you can tell he really put his heart into making this a truly awesome horror movie I hope that this joins the Canon of films that have gone down as Classics for Kids sleepovers when they stay up late and watch a risky movie to scare themselves because it absolutely deserves to everyone is saying it but yeah Nick Cage absolutely kills it his performance is equal parts creepy and funny and he's clearly having so much fun Hamming it up as this deranged madman that you feel comfortable laughing at his delivery of the material this unexpected comedic aspect adds well to the layered tone of the entire Affair in a way that is scarcely pulled off that being said my favorite performance is that of make Monroe who is so perfect for this genre she brings such a personal air and depth to her character and this movie really wouldn't be what it is without her I also want to quickly talk about the use of the te Rex song Bang a Gong get it on in this film long legs opens with a quote on the screen pulled directly from the lyrics of the song well you're slim and you're weak you've got the teeth of the Hydra upon you you're dirty sweet and you're my girl it's seemingly such a random choice to use this as the first thing the audience sees but I think it very much ties into what I took away as the theme of the film as well and its take on the idea that evil is all around us long legs doesn't simply point out that murder and Satanism can often lurk underneath the surface but asks the audience to remember times early in their lives when they would have encountered such things but pushed the memories away children sometimes catch a glimpse into a much darker world than they are ready to comprehend and often times these glimpses are thrown away into the Deep recesses of the subconscious we grow up and forget about experiences we had but later in life perhaps we realized that something was not right about a situation we were in this movie asks you to remember and reflect on a time a stranger came up to you and said something weird or a time you saw something off in the distance but weren't quite sure what it was for example it's hard to fully articulate and it's almost hyp specific but the film gets into your mind in this regard it made me rethink some of my memories just as the main character did as children maybe we had the teeth of the Hydra upon us without even knowing it and to think about that is scary to think that we grew up in a world where evil did exist and we were closer to it than we ever knew all we can do is our best when it comes to protecting children this is why I love horror so deeply nothing gets a reaction out of you quite like a good horror movie it's so powerful that a film can bring its audience back to Memories supposed to be forgotten to the vibrations of the world around us that maybe we aren't supposed to even think about I'm not saying long legs is an absolutely perfect film also using hail Satan as a widely distributed tagline was probably too bold of a choice but I really love what it has to offer it certainly belongs among the films from the past 5 years or so that will go down as Classics of the genre and it delivers such a specific feeling that is so hard to shake and deeply uncomfortable but the film is so electrifying that you can't help but respect the roller coaster right it takes you on Long Legs relies heavily on its formidable feeling of mood which creeps up on you in a way that you can't even describe until it's too late it's like the sensation of an insect crawling on your skin only to check and realize that there's nothing there The Bleak color pettes on top of the wintry backdrop build an excellent sense of malaise creating suspense out of the mundane through slow zooms and steady camera work if that isn't enough Perkins occasionally throws in some Sublime and Abstract imagery of snakes bubbling goo and shadowy figures that give you a turbocharged version of The heie jebi Long Legs always keeps you on your toes until your heart is practically thumping out of your chest the amount of momentum Perkins can maintain throughout is Stupify it's such a breezy 100 minutes that I was a bit surprised when the film cut to the credits despite a thematically satisfying finale the ending may be unsatisfying for some but I managed to appreciate what Perkins was trying to say after some thinking half of the beauty of long legs is the experience when you're watching it the other half is how it haunts you long after you've left the theater while I wasn't horrified to the DraStic extent that other viewers were long legs is certainly not for the faint of heart akin to the laundry list of predecessors like c7n the Silence of the Lambs cure and True Detective long legs exists within a favorite suben of mine within the crossroads of horror police procedurals and thrillers it's not like your usual horror film where you're jump scared to hell and back it's a slowly moving crawl into the disconcertingly macabra while the sparse jump scares certainly startled me I was much more taken aback by the sheer presence of long legs the horror slowly encroaches to a point where I didn't even notice something scary had happened until someone in my theater screamed aside from one or two well-placed jump scares many of the horror elements happen without warning they're simply there waiting for you to notice them cinematographer Andre zarach shoots the film with very wide lenses that emit a persistent feeling of paranoia where even the safest spaces seem like they could be soured in instant the visual language that arachi and Perkins manag to accomplish is always engaging with lots of open space and an everchanging aspect ratio every open door frame is an invitation for whatever lurks around the corner and the vastness of exterior shots feel like they could go on for miles in any direction unlike most horror films long legs doesn't Force its presence onto the viewer through generic tropes that have been recycled for decades rather than relying on the elements of horror that I find the most IR rolling Perkins has enough confidence in his screenplay and direction for every dastardly element to fall into Its Right Place knowing that he's the son of Anthony Perkins the late and great actor who played Norman bats in Psycho it's safe to say that the foundations of horror course through ood's veins his precise camera work steady Framing and wide angles illustrate an Immaculate sense of disqui while C pres ing him as an incredibly strong voice within the genre his previous features while still formally impressive lack the X Factor that long legs has in Spades a lot of that X Factor comes from the ever so idiosyncratic Nicholas Cage as the titular character which is a role that I feel like only he could pull off there's such an astonishing level of confidence in cage menacingly off-kilter performance as long legs I see a very strong Oscar contender within this role the film's viral marketing campaign did the character a lot of favors by not showing cage in his full makeup as the result is truly a sight to behold it's certainly not a pretty one though like the film itself there's a quietly bubbling Darkness to Long Legs where cage simultaneously feels disarming eerie and exceedingly dangerous there's an uncannily infantile quality to his mannerisms which is much more spine chilling than your average Mastermind serial killer antagonist the quieter moments with long legs are much more effective than his occasional outbursts as you're stuck shivering in anticipation for this maniac to snap with or without the ghastly makeup Nicholas Cage is utterly unrecognizable in this role make Monro who I've been familiar with since her breakout turns in 2014 it follows and the guest turns in a career best performance as Lee Harker a newly recruited and exceptionally intuitive FBI agent who is assigned to Long Legs case this comparisons to jod Foster Clara Starling are apt Foster's performance in the Silence of the Lambs felt much more controlled and subdued than monro's performance as Harker who perpetually seems like she hasn't slept in weeks on top of a seemingly unsolvable serial killer case Harker struggles with a healthy portion of religious baggage brought on by her mother which reemerges as Harker Dives deep her into the satanic clues that long legs has left for her Monroe does an outstanding job at illustrating Harker on the precipice of her Breaking Point playing a quietly intelligent detective who is thrown into the darkest recesses of Satanism Monro performance unravels at the same speed as the case does with her Steely eyes carrying much of her unspoken emotional weight as things go from bad to worse to Dreadful Monroe visibly becomes more disheveled and exhausted culminating in an explosive conclusion that left me breathless in a just world I would see her being nominated alongside Nicholas Cage but I have a bad feeling that the academy will gloss over such a mesmerizing performance long legs knowingly wears its predecessors on its sleeve before taking a mind bending sharp turn into something that the marketing has hidden exceptionally well Perkins deliberately presents long legs as one thing before subverting it into something else entirely as he is well aware of genre trappings and how to avoid them a delightfully Sinister throwback to the serial killer films of the 9s long legs is unpredictable forboding sometimes funny and a richly textured horror experience with an incredibly Moody aesthetic if Osgood Perkins wasn't a filmmaker to watch then he surely is now nonetheless Perkins gives us only glancing views of his stringy-haired monster with a sing songy voice actually a man nothing Supernatural as if trying to withhold the horror of his antagonist like he were a shark in Jaws then at some point without Fanfare Perkins just starts showing him to us and pity that because cage looks like Robert Smith of the Cure bleached white and aged 10 years reaching for the hamiest extremes of his range in a vain attempt to scare or even disquiet us someone like long legs should be scary as he appears to have been responsible for ordinary men going crazy and killing their whole families over a period of decades at set intervals that have to do with the birthdays of a young girl in the family he targets girls turning 9 years old on the 14th of the month though he doesn't repeat any months and confusingly the murders don't actually take place on the 14th but within a few days on either side this week's sauce numerology has something to do with killing in the shape of an inverted triangle over all those years though we don't discover that until later on the case is FBI agent Lee Harker meam Monroe who makes Claris Starling look like a downright extrovert Lee seems to have some sort of extra sensory perception because while knocking on doors with her partner she gets a feeling that the Killer is in the house on the other side of the street he isn't but a man who appears to have killed his whole family is likely under the influence of long legs H Le knew this is touched on but gener Al discarded like so much of the loose spaghetti that doesn't stick to the wall in this movie since the 14th of a new month is coming up and since Lee's analysis of the pattern has determined that another killing is due even though sometimes they are years apart Lee investigates with a senior Agent Carter Blair Underwood who is constantly sitting under a portrait of Bill Clinton in his office just in case you forget for 5 minutes that this is the 1990s his role is to throw cold water on all her hunches but still be supportive don't you know you never distrust the hunches of the closed off young FBI agent who had a trauma in her Youth and emerged as a brilliant Savant investigator as a result the first disappointment to get over while watching long legs is the idea that you thought it might be a horror movie Perkins has experience with body Horror in his previous efforts as there are some particularly Grizzly moments involving human visera in his film gredle and Hansel for example we can tell he wants to go there here with a few moments that are meant to shocks us or churn our stomachs the thing is anyone who saw c7n knows that these are also signature aspects of the serial killer movie and the lingering exhaustion from the way these tropes played out 30 years ago is enough to explain why you don't see a lot movies with these basic buiing blocks anymore if it seemed like Perkins were intentionally trying to revive that form that would be something it does not seem like that it seems like Perkins dredged up a lot of tired signifiers props and other serial killer ephemera with the idea that he was producing something new and then gave it to us with a straight face asking for our minds to be blown by a person who communicates in code and seems to have a personal relationship with the FBI agent for a Time long legs disguises its ineptness through Moody moments and a general comp y with the core aspects of film making like editing and camera work ultimately we realize this is part of the ineptness any pretty pictures we see here are gussing up old tired ideas that were in such shallow hibernation we point at them and call out their very insipidness the moment they identify themselves there are major aspects to the story that have not been revealed out of a general professional courtesy but suffice it to say that they only complicate the already murky Clarity of all the symbols numbers tired religious iconography and insert shots of slithering snakes that compete for our attention the final indignity is that long legs concludes on a note where you may have to ask yourself what was supposed to have just happened even when the filmmaker means for that to be the ending it can be frustrating when a film is made as haphazardly as long legs it's just laughable OS good Perkins long legs will haunt you I know this because I have been haunted first coming out of seeing the film I was impressed by its unrelenting atmosphere and exceptional performances but also the movie wouldn't let me go while I didn't experience any nightmares my mind constantly drifted back to the dark space of the work in the days that followed replete with disquieting memories of Nicholas Cage's horrifying physical transformation and reflections of the story's disturbing turns and conclusions after less than a week I inquired about getting to see it again which I did and I have plans to see it a third time as soon as possible I am haunted by long legs in that I am captivated by it it has familiar Parts but it's Unique in how it makes you feel both while you're in it and removed it sticks fingers in the folds of your brain and does a nice bit of mushing and it's a remarkable expression of what it is that I love about horror movies you might be seated in a comfy chair eating some candy and watching a rapid series of images projected as light onto a screen but it nonetheless with your amigdala and leave you uneasy about the world it sets its tone immediately and never interrupts its Devotion to evoking Terror following past outstanding work in the genre with films like the guest it follows and Watcher meam Monro advances her growing scream Queen Legacy as Lee Harker a young FBI agent in Oregon hunting Killers during the Clinton Administration when a surprise bit of psychic intuition leads her to capture the target of a Manhunt it's decided by agents Carter Blair Underwood and Browning Michelle Choy that her skills may be useful in a case that has been puzzling authorities for years there has been a slew of family murders and while there is never any direct evidence of outside influence they are all linked together by two things the celebration of a child's birthday and letters left at the scenes written in Cipher and signed long legs with nothing else in her life beyond the voice of Her mentally adrift mother Alicia wit on the other side of a phone line Lee's Mind Falls deep into the search until it literally comes home to her as she works to decode the messages from longlegs Nicholas Cage investigates past crime scenes and interviews the Lone Survivor of the serial killer spre kierin shipka however her discoveries get more and more disturbing and she she begins to recognize the rules of reality as she knows them bending around the case while it's trendy to dismiss jump scares as cheap nowadays long legs opens the gates with an amazing example that sets the tone for the whole piece a young girl living in a remote house on a snowy day is surprised to see a strange car parked on the property and as she approaches it gets turned around and confused by a mysterious cuckoo call when the child does finally find The Stranger he appears suddenly sending your heart into your throat and half of Nicholas Cage's shocking Visage is obscured by the top of the frame he CS excitement to be with the almost birthday girl but laments having brought his long legs with a curious what if I this Goosebumps inducing presence begins to bend his knees and the scene cuts to black on red credits driven by the grung of psychedelic sound of Jewel by T rex it's a d Diamond sharp hook that pierces you and keeps you deeply locked in for the next 90 minutes of your life osid Perkins further evolves the dark aesthetic of his previous features and while his script will quickly draw comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs with a bit of a push provided by the period setting the narrative is matched it with a green brown and gray heavy pallet reminiscent of David Fincher's work and evokes connections to zodiac and the series mind Hunter its grounded and Steely VI Vibe itself sells a realistic serial killer Centric mystery but influencing the audience to keep a foot planted in that assumed reality allows the movie to trip you up and slam you down with its shocking explorations of great evil expertly navigated the movie even has the pre- internet setting add an extra layer of spookiness even putting aside the growing presence of the supernatural in the film computers and cell phones taken out of the mix has the effect of heightening Le's is ation and making her investigation more tactile as she gets hypnotized by the files and crime scene photos that she spreads out on the floor in front of her one of the movie's Most Fascinating choices is forgoing the typical tough as Nails FBI agent Trope and it's incredibly effective in large part because of make monro's outstanding performance Lee Harker is smart determined and capable but she is also far from ignorant about the horrors in the world in which she lives and her professed and expressed fear is palpable and contagious in the movie's most intense moments as she pulls out her gun and stalked around for threats her breathing is heavy and loud and her fear becomes our fear as she carefully turns corners and sees demonic shadowy forms in the night monro's performance is full of atypical choices and it's exceptional Nicholas Cage's turn is a completely different Beast entirely and unlike anything we've ever never seen before from the actor which is impressive unto itself given his Decades of big screen ubiquity with his ghostly pale complexion stringy white hair gaunt features and pitched voice long legs is a ghoulish unpredictable and terrifying presence even when OSG good Perkins is only allowing us fleeting glimpses and obscured views and the Ultimate Reality is that while he doesn't actually do all that much his presence and appearance alone is chilling cage has made many great contributions to horror Cinema throughout his career including his starring role in last year's dream scenario but it can be said immediately and without hesitation that this is the part for which genre fans will forever remember him while I found myself with a couple of gripes about plot developments and Long Legs following my first screening of the film they dissipated with my second as while there are some conveniences in the story they are forgivable in light of how the movie plays with the nature of evil and the supernatural at the end of the day I haven't been this captivated and stunned by a new horror release since Jennifer Kent unleashed the babadook on the world a decade ago and like with that movie I don't expect it to stop haunting me for a long long time the summer movie season is officially washing over us with its full force as we are treated to new titles every week though it's July and my thermometer says 100 everyday it is not too early to be treated to some spooky little horror flicks cutting right to it we have long legs to consume directed by horror royalty Oz Perkins and starring make a Monroe with Nicholas Cage long legs has been showing off its distinct style and design for months the marketing campaign has been an expertly crafted plan in creating hype and setting the tone of the film I happened to be a horror man so of course the marketing was being noticed by me and even helped long legs become my most anticipated of 2024 does long legs leave much to be desired or does it live up to its Stellar campaign my friend I was in my pants without totally unrooting the surprises see it blindly long legs revolves around a young FBI agent make a Monro Tas with solving a series of family murders disturbing right off the bat Monroe is fantastic in this giving a deeply troubled and Trauma ized performance while also carrying herself as a strong Leading Lady as we follow her along the bread trail of Clues the film offers us a genuine mystery from a law enforcement angle that grips you the entire runtime without spoilers Nicholas Cage is absolutely batchet wild in this cage has always been a Fearless performer and he is channeling his energy into one of the scariest character performances I've seen in years even when he is off screen his dark presence is felt in the viewer's bone marrow which is also complimentary of the tone that is set throughout Monroe and cage both contribute to the distinct dread that is unlocked with every frame there were times that meam Monroe was so scared shitless that it started to induce Panic within me they both are powerhouses that keep the motor running hot The Supporting Cast also seamlessly provides so many memorable and unsettling seeds it's a testament to the vision that director Oz Perkins has and it shows that everyone completely bought in Long Legs would not work as well as it does without the collaboration that it displays long legs will and has been compared to the likes of c7n and the Silence of the Lambs in the sense of it being a serial killer mystery director Oz Perkins gives us a True Detective procedural like those films but flips it into a hellish nightmare that shortens your breath and increases your heart rate from the opening credits to the end credits long legs slithers its way into your nervous system and its presence will be felt long after you walk out the auditorium I absolutely applaud Perkins here for his confident horror Direction and vision the script is hot and cold but every frame edit music sting camera pan and color grading was downright Artful Oz Perkins visual storytelling at times is admirable and impressive the tone and style is unlike most horror films making it an absolute standout the sense of dread that is felt in every frame is a contribution from the cinematographer and editors Andre's arachi Master's terrifying wide angles with tons of empty space behind characters and subjects he instills the feeling of something sinister and dark is always lingering and watching Greg n g and gram foron edit the out of this movie by making this the scariest sound horror I've seen since hereditary the entire theater was vibrating and I could feel it all in my core in a technical sense long legs looks and sounds terrific adding to the nightmarish dreaded in forces truly experience it on the big screen to feel all of The Angst and Terror I am truly So Satisfied with long legs and everyone involved with it it provides a great blend of FBI Thriller elements and religious horror that isn't presented as such the direction is confident as hell it's a technical Marvel and it gives us fantastic and nuanced performances and it's all so damn frightening too since the marketing for this movie began long legs has been burrowing its way into the cinema world as a major horror force that will surely acquire staying power this is certainly going into the personal October movie rotation the script is nothing to bow for and sometimes the plot doesn't reach its full FBI mystery potential but this is a damn good movie this is absolutely a theater watch to see the entirety of each intense frame and to feel the uneasy vibrations from the sound design naturally I've been yearning for a horror movie that leaves me with as much dread and fear after watching hereditary 2018 even more so I've been antsy for a mystery that is as satisfying as Zodiac 2007 unfortunately long leg feels more like a Happy Meal toy cheaply manufactured watered down and a potential choking hazard ask yourself after watching If This Were a limited Min series would I feel satisfied with the story's conclusion before getting into the film as a disclaimer it is important to note that my critique is shaped by my perspective as a writer I assess a film's quality by its movement the intentional use of purpose and action rather than plot points that are un Ed upon a film that has empty space or lacks character motivation and movement where characters passively let things happen to them is to me not made with love to off quote Anton ego I don't like movies I love it 15 minutes into long legs I knew I was going to be The Annoying contan due to its overt godess prioritization of Aesthetics and the painfully inactive plot line and characters the devil made me do it really this line sums up my main issue with long legs in place of depth the audience is targeted for immediate gratification through shock and aesthetic almost camply so this is personified by Nicholas Cage's mask likee Prosthetics and over-the-top manner of speech and behavior and the film's climax which devolves into a bloodbath of horror movie tropes we see the possessed detective Carter and his wife eerily cheerful and friendly while one hacks the other Lee moving at an infuriatingly slow pace both literally and figuratively eventually shoots detective Carter and her accomplice to Satan mother to save the detective's young daughter turning her attention to the true culprit Lee tries to shoot the doll holding Satan's evil will but she can't letting the audience know the guy downstairs really is at play here okay Lee and the detective's daughter Retreat to safety and all is dealt with long legs shines best in its prologue filled with quiet tension the opening places Us in the shoes of a young Lee investigating A stranger's presence on a snowy isolated property the film excels at creating tension through wide shots and relative quietness making us hyper aware this prologue sets expectations for tone purpose and action however beyond the introduction its Clear Long Legs is more interested in theatrics rather than than substance marketed as a mystery horror long legs is more accurately a supernatural horror film focused on cool shots and performance this shift changes the entire film a good mystery is purposeful respects its audien's intelligence and is thoughtfully crafted the supernatural in contrast often relies on visual shock value without mystery there is no movement once Lee recognizes the pattern of long legs killings and his subsequent suicide the mystery element is overtaken by the Supernatural and Ault audiences are suddenly expected to accept the devil as the true antagonist abandoning the initial mystery setup Lee is not escaping man or devil but is simply dragged Along by poor writing leading us to an ending filled with loud cliches that could pass as an American Horror Story b-plot it will be very hard to talk about OSG good perkins's latest film long legs without revealing a single element from its story and characters from my understanding I don't watch trailers when they drop online only when they appear in front of movies I see in cinemas the marketing has shrouded its story and Nicholas Cage's role in secrecy it even censored his face with a black box to keep his appearance as long legs a mystery until the audience sits in the theater and Witnesses it for the first time it's an ingenious tactic because few trailers nowadays want to be mysterious they prefer to reveal everything or paint a far different film than the finished product this approach dissuades the audience from wanting to see a film as cold as possible this marketing tactic worked in the film's favor as buying a ticket to see it in sneak previews is currently impossible due to Mother Nature flooding Montreal highways I had to wait one more day to finally see the horror movie everyone has been touting as the scariest film of the year and a serial killer Thriller on par with Jonathan Dems The Silence of the Lambs Michael man's Manhunter is a superior film in every conceivable way