Judy Schoeffling-Morris’s review published on Letterboxd:
The director succeeded in creating a super eerie atmosphere throughout the film. It pulled me in immediately and when I first saw Nicolas Cage as Longlegs, I got chills down my spine. It was definitely creepy! I was really glad that I avoided seeing his look in advance, as well as seeing too many previews before heading to the theater to watch this one. Nic Cage’s performance is what I’ve grown to expect from him, nothing short of incredible. He embodies the character of Longlegs. Though he isn’t on screen much at all, I do wish there was more of him. Much of the horror is actually kept off-screen but the eerie soundscape really succeeds in keeping that feeling of dread with the viewer throughout the film. I will not give away any details of the plot, as I don’t want to accidentally give any spoilers!
This was not completely what I expected, but I really enjoyed this. I knew nothing of the director, Osgood Perkins, until after I saw this. That’s when I found out he is the son of Anthony Perkins and he has a very interesting story.
I read an interview with him in Indiewire where he says this script, which he wrote, has an autobiographical touch, something he’s wanted to do for a while. He put into Longlegs what he says “is the core truth: A mother can lie, and can lie out of love.” It turns out his mother had lied to him, his brother and the world about his father. Anthony Perkins was a closeted homosexual and he had died from complications of AIDS in 1992. She kept that secret from her kids and the public, to protect her family. His mother was Berry Berenson, a model and actress, who married his father in 1974, after he tried conversion therapy. She stayed with him all those years and right to the end. She passed away some years later, as she was sadly in the first American Airlines plane that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11.
He went on to say this is his most personal story yet. In a strange way, an ode to the secret his mother kept and the tensions that came out of lying to her children for so long. Osgood’s brother, Elvis Perkins, is a musician and I actually saw he did the score for this film. (Which I thought was pretty damn good!)
Overall I enjoyed this film very much. At the same time the last 20 minutes of the story I’m still not completely sure of. I’m just not 100% convinced it works to close it out, at least for me. I didn’t hate the last part, I just really had to think about it for a while to know how I felt overall. (I’m writing this on 7/19 even though I saw the film on 7/13) So, for me, the last part wasn’t my favorite part but it didn’t alter my entire experience of the film, I still found it very entertaining and would highly recommend it, especially to horror fans. I’ll add that this one stays with you, both the visuals and sounds you see and hear may start turning up in your dreams….or your nightmares.
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