Longlegs

UK Release Date. 12 July 2024
Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 41 mins
Director. Osgood Perkins
Cast. Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt.
Rating. 71%

Review.

The official theatrical trailer triumphantly heralds Longlegs as "The best serial killer horror film since The Silence Of The Lambs."

Osgood Perkins' film centres on a determined, young female FBI agent, Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) enlisted by an older male mentor to help investigate a series of brutal, unsolved murders. It certainly sounds like the plot of The Silence Of The Lambs.

Herein lies Longlegs problem - the inevitable comparison with other films that straddle the procedural serial killer and psychological horror genres. Longlegs clearly borrows heavily from films like The Silence Of The Lambs, Se7en, Cure, Fallen, Zodiac and Hereditary.

A muted, washed-out prologue, evidently from the 1970s, introduces the audience to a young girl who is approached outside her home by a disturbing and potentially sinister individual. His face concealed, this is apparently the eponymous Longlegs, portrayed by a grotesque Nicolas Cage. The opening title credits proclaiming “Nicolas Cage as Longlegs” don’t leave much room for doubt, but Cage is afforded surprisingly minimal screen time. Given his propensity for over-acting, perhaps this is no bad thing?

The film itself, post-prologue, is divided into three chapters. The early part of the film is captivating and Perkins' deliberate direction establishes an ominous sense of malevolence. Intriguingly constructed and breathlessly atmospheric the first two chapters of Longlegs promise much. A film that is both ambitious and assured.

But in the final chapter, Perkins irrevocably loses his grip on the atmosphere he has skillfully crafted in the opening chapters and delivers a lacklustre ending that descends into a satanic, supernatural car crash.