I was sitting in the back of a sold out theater watching Longlegs for the second night in a row. Special Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) and Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) are driving up to a farmhouse. A wide continuous shot shows a growing storm at dusk with flashes of thunder in the clouds as our Investigators exit the vehicle, draw flashlights and head into an old barn. I recognized this as my favorite shot in the film; Harker and Carter heading into darkness as a storm closes in, knowing they’ll find something but having no clue what lies ahead. Or beneath, for that matter.
With distributor NEON going full tilt in its incredible promotion for the film one could hardly make it through a day without seeing a billboard, a poster, social media ads, teasers and trailers- building up for months; statements including, “The Most Terrifying Horror Movie Of 2024”, “The Best Serial Killer Horror Film Since The Silence Of The Lambs‘” and, “The Scariest Film Of The Decade” are sprayed across them all like blood from a smashed nose. These accolades do director Oz Perkins’ fourth feature film a disservice. They stop the film from growing inside the viewer’s mind, becoming what it actually could be: a haunted fucking rock n roll song played backwards. The Devil’s music turned all the way up.
This movie really does have it all: grisly murder, coded messages left at the crime scenes, gunfire, the music of T. Rex, large haunted dolls, long handled axes, Satan Worship. Did I mention T.Rex? Who doesn’t love Marc Bolan? Nicolas Cage’s portrayal of an acid-washed out glam-rocker/satanic death disciple is absolutely pulling the visage of Bolan from the 1972 ‘The Slider’ album cover, an image you see plastered on the wall of Longlegs’ red lit lair. Cage’s prosthetics are genuinely disturbing. A master of his craft; his voice, his gestures, his eyes – those evil eyes – all on point.
Monroe’s excellent performance as a tormented and terrified FBI agent draws apparent parallels to Clarice Starling but with an added depth of Stephen King’s Holly Gibney or Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. Subtle, cautious yet confident, it is the perfect balance to antagonist Longlegs. Blair Underwood excels at providing moments of levity when the audience needs it most and can just as easily gain our attention when he demands it. Alicia Witt’s Mother Harker compels you to feel for her without ever blinking her eyes. The actors have all cylinders firing.
And not just the Actors. The score from ZILGI (possibly the only component from this film still hiding in the shadows) adds to the dread that builds from the first frame. Cinematographer Andres Arochi does excellent work keeping Cage’s Longlegs at the fringes of your view until it’s time for him to be right in your face. Wide shots galore. Low angles.
Crisp views of one’s surroundings leave you with no place to hide and no safe shelter. A shot composing two windows bleeding in the orange glow of a work light creating the same look as a returning image of the glowing eyes beneath a black veil; the devil always watching. Stunning work for what little appears on Arochi’s credited resume.
Yet with all that Longlegs delivers I still finished both viewings feeling cheated. But from what? The second viewing allowed myself to forgo the onslaught of forced comparison to horror predecessors and self praise pushed hard by the promotion from NEON. It delivers a perfect first act that one can’t help but grin with excitement for what it could have in store. Nonetheless, following Harker and Longlegs’ tension-laced face to face off the film stops asking you to follow its trail and instead tells you exactly what hasbeen hidden.
It shows it in a way that is visually gripping but much like the advertising it strips away the thrill of the chase, choosing instead to have a character quite literally explain the twist. Only to then show it again for the final act; limiting the impact of what could have been a mighty (ride a white) swan song. The devil’s music, indeed, turned all the way up. And just before we are blasted with all 1000 watts someone turns the volume down. All the way down. I hope that someday this film is passed around like an urban myth; “If you watch this after midnight, HE will come for you…” Longlegs certainly has secrets hiding.
Longlegs is now playing in theaters.
