The inspirations are evident, but the effectiveness of Osgood Perkin’s horror is undeniable
The marketing campaign has been a triumph. A mystery code on billboards and posters, haunting imagery and sounds, the promise of unrelenting horror coupled to an FBI hunt for a serial killer. As potent as it’s been, it’s also been prolonged, and with release this week it’s finally time for Longlegs to show it’s mettle. Despite grandiose claims of it being a new type of horror, writer/director Osgood Perkin crafts a film where the structure and inspirations are plainly evident, but the mood and impact of Longlegs are what makes it incredibly distinct.
Our hunter is FBI agent Lee Harper (Maika Monroe, Watcher, It Follows), who after a successful (but bloody) assignment tracking down a murderer is found to have an unnerving sense of intuition (half psychic?). She is subsequently assigned to a special taskforce under Agent Carter (Blair Underwood, adding both head and heart to the film), one that has been on a decades long hunt for a man referring to himself as Longlegs. As suspect, they believe, in a series of murders. Starting in the 70s, each horrific to behold and unusual in nature. On the surface, each sees a family consumed by violence, with the father brutally killing his wife and children. Each house showed no sign of forced entry, the weapons used came from the home. But each case occurred around the birthday of one of the child victims, and the murder scene was always marked with a card, covered with a cryptic message, signed by Longlegs. Harper is brought into the fold to see if her abilities can shed new light on a case now running into the 90s, and with over a dozen families lost to this man who somehow orchestrates these evil acts. As she dives into the notes, the case begins to unlock, a path seemingly laid out for her to follow that might offer insight into the motives and madness of this man, a means to track him down, and answers to her questions as to why Longlegs has taken such an interest in her after remaining hidden for decades.
As a procedural, it’s familiar but engrossing fare. Macabre crimes scenes and mysterious letters, a broken cryptic leading to one haunting clue after another, and a ever deeper immersion in this occult-tinged mystery. More than just murder, it becomes apparent that there is a grand plan at play, a maneuvering of people, including Agent Harper, towards an evil end game. Comparisons will be made to Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs, but better ties can be made to David Fincher’s Seven, in terms of the Biblical lilt, as well as the darker, meaner spirit that perfuses the film. Longlegs is the type of horror that expertly carves out a visceral niche, with an impressive sense of suspense and discomfort.
Cinematography from Andrés Arochi weaves together amber hues atop a desaturated palette, showcasing a rurally-tinged area, immersing us in a grim Americana. Grey skies, dark corners, closed off wood-paneled houses, and the basements of the FBI. Presentation and place conveys the sense that this story should never see the light of day. A macabre sense of unease that permeates every frame, conjured from precise camera positioning, framing and blocking. Diffuse imagery is overlaid on screen, drawing the eye and leaving you vulnerable to a plot point or a sharp splice of unsettling imagery. None of this is in service of cheap scares, but rather generating a continual feeling of being off-kilter. All this is aided by impactful sound design and a discordant score from Zilgi (suspected to be a pseudonym for Elvis Perkins) that is evocative of those distinct noises so instrumental in building unease in episodes of The X-Files.
Much of the film rests on Monroe, rendering Harper as (at least initially) a studied, somber type, clearly weighed down by some psychological baggage and a somewhat stilted relationship with her mother (a lynchpin of a performance from Alicia Witt). It’s pivotal work as she reflects the ongoing events in the film gradually whittling down her defenses and assaulting her senses. As cool and collected as Monroe’s Harper is, the opposite is true of Nicolas Cage as Longlegs. An unspooled ball of chaos that feels like a walking malignancy. This is a prosthetic heavy transformation which is disturbing enough, but the physical movement and vocal shifts are what truly brings immortalizes this monster. As both burnish their status as genre icons, the real star here is Osgood Perkins, who after promising efforts with Gretel and Hansel, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, it seems like Perkins final has the creative grasp (and perhaps freedom) to bring he ideas to bear. A cumulation of his efforts to craft a film steeped in lore, horror and mystery, here distilled down into high-grade nightmare fuel. Beyond the look and feel of the film, Longlegs lingers long in the mind because of how it explores the idea of evil. This is not some typical horror where evil is clearly defined or easily vanquished, its about the persistence of evil, its changing nature, and its ability to fester within the corner of the soul. Evil can corrupt a person, a family, and even a home. There are some leaps and plot threads in the closing act that could frustrate some, but they work in service of this more bleak worldview, a cruel and twisted denouement about the unrelenting nature of evil.
Longlegs worms its way into theaters on July 12th
