"Longlegs" Film Review

Longlegs

Rating: 5/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    The marketing and the hype for Longlegs has been insane. By releasing cryptic messages and barely showing Nicolas Cage in the promo for the film, it has cast this terrified sense of curiosity over the film, which also boasts itself to be the "scariest movie of the decade". I'll be honest - I was genuinely scared to go see this movie after hearing all the reactions for it and following every promo this film released. However, at the same time, I was worried that the internet had hyped this film up way too much and it would let me down. Thankfully, this film, in my opinion, is a horror masterpiece, doing everything it needs to do to be the scariest film so far this year and easily crawling under the viewer's skin and staying there. 

    Now, let me define "scary" in the context of this film. If you're going in expecting jumpscare after jumpscare, you're going to be sorely disappointed; I'm honestly very happy this isn't what the film is like. If you have been following my reviews for horror films for the past couple years, it is obvious I am sick and tired of the same old build-ups and jumpscares that these aspiring horror directors craft. It all feels very redundant and old after a while, and none of these movies really stick with me after watching them. Then, we had Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen earlier this year that showed how a horror film could succeed and work effectively without the unnecessary jumpscares every ten minutes. It was creepy and easily got under my skin, and I still think about that movie to this day after seeing it a couple months ago.

    Writer and director Osgood Perkins, son of Anthony Perkins, who garnered massive fame as Norman Bates in the Hitchcock classic, pretty much elevated everything Stevenson's film did. Now, I don't want to compare the two too much as they are nearly very different films in a way, but Perkins shows how he understands how to genuinely creep out the audience and make them squirm in their seat. The way he writes and directs this picture is the work of a master, with the film becoming unsettling and claustrophobic from the first frame and doesn't let you go till the end credits start rolling. This movie is a nightmare in the absolute best way possible, and it genuinely freaked me out a lot. I even had trouble going to sleep last night after I got home from a 7 o'clock showing. 

    The film revolves around Maika Monroe's Lee Harker, a federal agent who might possess some supernatural ability to find serial killers or criminals the FBI are looking for. When serial killer Longlegs (played by an unrecognizable Nicolas Cage in perhaps one of his best performances in his career) starts to make a return with another round of family murder-suicides, Harker is assigned to the case with Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) to try and find this psychotic man. I'm just going to leave the plot synopsis there as by saying much more, I'm afraid I will spoil parts of the movie that are best left for the viewer to find out in the dark theater. 

    I first want to comment on the performances here. Monroe is absolutely amazing in this role. She plays a sort of Clarice Starling character, who is haunted by memories of her past and from things she has seen on the job. Because of that, her character is very standoffish and cold, unable to really try to form attachments with other people in her life. She is a workaholic, and finds that work is the only thing that really separates her from her real life and her past. Monroe is fantastic in horror, as evident in her breakout role in It Follows, but we see this truly new and fantastic performance from her that is not only unsettling in her own right, but makes the viewer root for her from beginning to end. 

    Then, we get Mr. Cage's performance, which is absolutely haunting and thrilling. He is introduced to the audience fairly early into the film, in a scene that literally made my heart rate spike to 135 bpm. From there, he really lingers over the movie in such a fantastically sinister way, really making the viewer queasy in terms of when he is going to pop up again and how he will act. Cage is unrecognizable in this role, and he really gives it his all. He is the standout of this movie, as I predicted he would be, and really keeps the viewer under his thumb until his very last scene in the film. Not only was I very impressed with what he is able to do throughout the film, but it really shows how great of an actor he truly is and how he should be appreciated more in the film community. 

    The writing from Perkins is very tight and concise, leaving no room to allow the viewer to breathe and try to relax. His characters are fleshed out really well, and his direction just perfectly translates Perkins' story to the big screen. He makes sure the film feels very claustrophobic and makes the viewer feel uncomfortable and disturbed in every scene. A huge way he achieves this is through the cinematography by Andres Arochi, who literally crafts every scene so beautifully. 

    There are two moments I want to mention here that I think are literally the definition of perfection in a horror film. The first comes when Harker looks through some old photographs. There is a brief moment here that is very unexpected and, frankly, terrifying that brought chills and goosebumps down my body. I have honestly never felt this before watching a movie, but a sort of "fight or flight" response filled my body and kept me there disturbed throughout the rest of this film. The second scene is when Longlegs meets Harker for the first time. Perkins shoots this scene perfectly, with terrifying imagery and cinematography that the viewer can't escape, even if they tried. For both of these scenes, they wouldn't have worked without Cage's fantastic and terrifying performance. 

    I'm so incredibly happy that this film lived up to the hype, and then even went on to impress and terrify me even further. This is hands-down not only the best horror movie I have seen in years, but also the scariest and most disturbing. Perkins and his cast of actors, which also includes fantastic minor performances by Underwood, Kiernan Shipka, and Alicia Witt, prove they have what it takes to make such a damn good horror film, and I think this will go down as a masterpiece in the horror genre.