Charlie Malick’s review published on Letterboxd:
To start with the positives, Longlegs strikes it out of the park when it comes to acting. Maika Monroe is the star, serving up a brilliant performance as the lead role of Lee Harker, an awkward workaholic detective who goes down a dark path as she tries to solve a mystery tied to a serial killer and his victims. Blair Underwood is a great co-lead as her boss and fellow FBI agent, a character who injects some much-needed comedy into what's a pretty dour movie. As expected, Nicolas Cage is brilliant at playing the aforementioned killer, with his high-pitched voice and off-kilter dialogue adding to the horrifying nature of his character. The supporting performances are also excellent, ranging from an unhinged slideshow of characters to impactful minor characters who command the minutes of screen time that they have.
Creatively, the movie also fires on all lids. Oz Perkins is someone who knows how to create horror, every scene has a layer of dread hanging over it. His use of close-ups and dimly lit interiors creates a feeling of claustrophobia for the viewer, suffocating them as they become paranoid of their surroundings and immersing them in a truly harrowing environment. From beginning to end, the viewer is left shaken and on edge, and that's a feeling that will stick with them during and after the viewing. It's an excellent way to establish the tone of the movie through unique direction and cinematography.
Yet for all these positives, they couldn't hold up the weak spots of this movie. Without wading into spoiler territory, I can say that certain elements of the story go from super predictable to almost Scooby Doo level of story writing. For a movie that was such an intelligent and sharply written detective story, there were aspects of it that didn't sit well with me, and ones that had me more confused instead of shocked. Maybe just a small touch-up or rewrite could've alleviated these problems, because there are so many good ideas that I wish hit their full potential.
I walked into Longlegs with pretty high expectations. Every person who saw this claimed that it was one of the best horror movies of all time, something that was like a 2024 version of Silence of the Lambs that would have the viewers shaking in their seats and welshing their trousers. The marketing highlighted the performances of Nicolas Cage as the titular serial killer, obstructing his face to instead show the effect he had on the cast members who worked with him and how horrifying the experience of shooting the movie was. So, I went into this pretty excited and was ready to see a classic in the making. But, after finishing this, I'll be honest and admit that I'm pretty underwhelmed. For all its merits, Longlegs is a movie that has a few big flaws that drag it down, and sadly that makes it a decent horror flick instead of the classic that everyone made it out to be.
Added 1/2 star for Bill Clinton
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