📼Jonathan Mike📼’s review published on Letterboxd:
“Daddy! Mommy! Un-make me, and save me from the hell of living!”
If I had to sell you on this movie, just imagine if The Exorcist III: Legion & Silence of the Lambs had a weird satanic baby…then you’ve got Longlegs!
Oz Perkins is back! I’ve been a fan of his since The Blackcoat’s Daughter and I always felt he’s deserved the same type of recognition as other modern horror filmmakers like Mike Flanagan, Ari Aster, Robert Eggers & Jordan Peele. That being said, I acknowledge that his films are an acquired taste. Sometimes his films can be a little bit tough to access, with I am the Pretty Thing Living in the House being almost universally hated audiences. Heres hoping that the popularity and praise of Longlegs puts him more into the public eye. I’ve seen a lot of reviewers dismiss the movie entirely for not living up to the hype of the trailer’s & marketing which is a little fair, but to completely disregard it is just silly. I went in expecting an Oz Perkins movie, and I got the best movie he’s made since his debut film The Blackcoat’s Daughter.
Longlegs itself felt like a strong mixture of the works of William Peter Blatty & Thomas Harris. There’s this foreboding, almost never ending sense of dread throughout the entire runtime. It reminded me so much of Blatty’s The Exorcist: Legion because of this constant tension that seemingly never ends. There’s also the similarities with the subject matter of the very real world of police work trying to justify the existence of something beyond comprehension. As for the similarities to Thomas Harris novels is the excellently crafted police procedurals of the film that just get under your skin. The way everything is presented and written, it felt very much like a homage to Silence of the Lambs. There’s one scene involving an absolutely chilling phone-call that left me feeling uneasy to say the least. I think Oz Perkins did a terrific job both writing and directing, and this film is unmistakably his own. Cinematographer Andres Arochi’s style of center framing, shallow focus & lots of negative space make this film fit right in with Perkins’ other works. Hard to believe this was his first feature film as a cinematographer because his work is just phenomenal. Hope Perkins continues to work with him in the future.
Maika Monroe is superb here continuing to show that she’s one hell of an actress. Her performance is subdued, subtle and very effective. I also felt like Blair Underwood have a very strong performance as well often giving gravitas to every scene he’s in. Not enough people are talking about Alicia Witt‘s excellent performance here, because she’s just so good in her role. But the gigantic show stealer in this film is Nicolas Cage as the titular Longlegs, who I found extremely unnerving. Oz Perkins knew how to effectively use Nicolas Cage in this film. In films like Renfield & Arcadian they just sort of have Nic Cage laid up 60% of the movie and save him for the last act. Yet in this film, despite Cage not being in it a lot, the characters’ presence is felt throughout the entire film. From the very haunting first moments of his introduction to when the credits role, Longlegs looms large over the film. The performance itself is disturbing to watch and there’s even a little bit of humor thrown in occasionally but as soon as you’re chuckling, he does something that automatically shuts you up. His appearance is that of a hair metal band member who suffers from body dysmorphia and has the shrill voice that gets under your skin.
Overall, Longlegs was worth the wait as an effectively chilling horror thriller. It’s Oz Perkins at his very best, the cast are all top notch, the filmmaking here is utterly incredible and it’s easily one of the best films of the year.
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