Longlegs Review

Directed By: Osgood Perkins
Written By: Osgood Perkins
Runtime: 101 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated R for bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.

Maika Monroe – Agent Lee Harker
Nicolas Cage – Longlegs
Blair Underwood – Agent Carter
Alicia Witt – Ruth Harker
Michelle Choi-Lee – Agent Browning
Carmel Amit – Anna Carter
Kiernan Shipka – Carrie Anne Camera
Dakota Daulby – Agent Fisk
Lauren Acala – Young Lee Harker

Osgood Perkins takes a dark journey into the macabre with the unsettlingly bleak horror film, Longlegs. Perkins excels in building a dark, creepy vibe throughout the experience, but despite a uniquely artistic style and presentation, the story throws in disappointing, predictable, procedural mystery elements. Ultimately, Perkins fails to bring home his multi-chapter story with an organically satisfying conclusion.

Maika Monroe stars as FBI Agent Lee Harker. Despite a distant, aloof demeanor and a socially awkward personality, Harker gets promoted to work with Agent Carter (Underwood) to get to the bottom of a series of dark family homicides. Harker appears to have the gift of clairvoyance, or at least, a strong investigator’s intuition. She also excels in working with numbers, making her well-suited to assist Carter with the case. The homicides show a connection to a mysterious assailant connecting to the murders, an insane individual who calls himself “Longlegs” (Cage).

As Agent Harker deepens her investigation, Longlegs appears to take a growing interest in her involvement. She unlocks Longlegs coded message, discovering a twisted, occult, Satanic origin. Unfortunately, the revelations that Harker and Carter seek grow increasingly more disturbing and terrifying.

Monroe asserts herself well, portraying a lead character who is very quiet, offbeat, and socially awkward. Nicolas Cage looks utterly unrecognizable as the deranged Longlegs, an individual with a sick obsession for all things satanic, as well as girls with a birthday on the 14th day of the month, a shared connection between all the family victims. It’s hard to say Cage, who is also credited as a producer, is playing against type, but he does physically disappear into the role of Longlegs. His performance is undeniably unnerving, a feeling that Cage captures well.

The mystery surrounding Longlegs has a Satanic theme, a style that Osgood Perkins imbues throughout the film’s presentation, starting with the opening moments to the closing credits. The corrupting, inverting, twisted nature of Longlegs permeates the entire cinematic experience. Longlegs isn’t only stalking Agent Harker, but it feels like the audience as well.

While Longlegs starts in an interesting manner, it features some telegraphed narrative turning points. Unfortunately, they were not mere red herrings meant to throw the audience off the trail. The final act unfolds in a rather underwhelming, predictable manner that upends most of the film. It lacks a stronger sense of suspenseful urgency despite the horror that is about to be unleashed.

Other elements of the FBI’s investigation surrounding Longlegs defy any sense of logic or suspension of disbelief, especially when Harker finally meets Longlegs face-to-face. While Perkins does a decent job of building a naturally unsettling ambiance, he does throw in some typical, cheap horror trope jump-scares.

Andres Arochi’s cinematography provides a similar mixed bag. Arochi and Perkins favor an excessive amount of wide-angle shots where everything looks perfectly centered and symmetrical. In certain instances, the shot layouts look eerie. Other times, the shot staging appears gimmicky, and the convention becomes frustrating to watch. Perkins seeks a type of arthouse-horror style, but it lacks cinematic immersion. It takes the audience out of the story, but that might have been the filmmaking intent.

Hardcore horror cinephiles will likely find a lot to enjoy throughout Longlegs. It has its moments despite a woefully predictable procedural story. However, it never quite reaches the elevated heights it seems to be aiming for. Longlegs debuts in theaters from Neon on July 12.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Osgood Perkins succeeds in building a dark, deeply unsettling atmosphere throughout Longlegs, which features some solid performances by Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage as the terrifying, eponymous killer. However, the story suffers from a predictable, procedural mystery script and a clunky final act. The twisted visual style looks fascinating, adding to the film's unnerving tension. Unfortunately, at times, the visual style comes off as frustrating and gimmicky. Horror fanatics can expect to find much to enjoy here. Longlegs is dark, bleak, and scary, but it never quite reaches the lofty heights it's aiming for.