Oz Perkins’ latest film, “Longlegs,” excels in its atmospheric dread. It bides its time using the fear of the unknown during a time period when Satanic panic was in its heyday, and smartly withholds from the audience a full visual look of its titular character. As a 101-minute film divided into three chapters, it’s an overall taut screenplay that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Once the jig is up, however, the film quickly loses steam. Instead, it relies too much on the foundation it methodically established, while heavily borrowing elements from other crime thriller films for its last lap. The result is a horror thriller movie that shoots for the stars, but lands with a thud.
A Serial Killer Writing in Code
“Longlegs” begins with lyrics from a T. Rex song appearing on screen in bright red background:
Well you’re slim and you’re weak
You’ve got the teeth of the hydra upon you
You’re dirty, sweet and you’re my girl
A prologue shot in 4:3 aspect ratio follows this, where a young girl goes outside the house to see who it is that parked their car in front of the girl’s isolated home. Perkins doesn’t let the audience see the stranger’s face, but everything else — the body language from the torso below, the apparent stylish outfit, the voice that vacillates between high pitch and falsetto — suggests someone who’s likely a fan of glam rock.
If anything, the song “Get It On” above vouches for that.
The movie jumps sometime in the mid- to late-’90s in Oregon, where we see FBI rookie agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as she is drawn into a manhunt for a serial killer who targets entire families around town. After conducting an investigation on her first field day — one where her partner ignores her hunch about a specific house directly connected to the murders — Lee undergoes a Bureau-mandated psychological evaluation which confirms her heightened intuition.
With her superior Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) making her a key member of the investigative team on the murders, Lee finds out more about the cold cases. The murders have a few things in common: the husbands killed their wives and children first, before killing themselves using weapons that were already in the house. What’s puzzling, however, is that there aren’t any signs of forced entry, and there are no other DNA prints at the scene of each crime. Even so, in all the murders, a note is left behind, written in cipher and signed ‘Longlegs’.
Devil Worship and Doll-Making
Lee’s investigation of Longlegs leads to her discovery that all the families had one daughter whose birthday fell on the 14th of any month. This coincides with her recurring visions that include snakes and an ominous figure veiled in black watching her from outside her home.
Her intuition (something Agent Carter initially referred to as psychic ability) in full effect, Lee begins to feel the murder cases weighing on her. Monroe portrays Lee as an acutely introverted woman who may have a past too dark to share — let alone remember. Indeed, in one of her phone calls with her religious mother Ruth (Alicia Witt in a pivotal role), the audience sees the dynamic the mother and daughter have. Say your prayers, Lee; they help guard us from evil, Ruth would say. I’m just tired, and I’m investigating nasty stuff I can’t tell you, Lee would reply. I was a nurse; I could handle nasty stuff, Ruth would rebut.
The clues further trace back to a farm family massacre in 1966, where the sole survivor now resides in a psychiatric institution. The woman, Carrie Anne (Kiernan Shipka) identifies Longlegs as a devil worshiper and dollmaker. This, coupled with an earlier scene where Lee receives a coded letter herself, culminates in the eventual capture of the elusive serial killer (Nicolas Cage), who seems to be excited at the prospect of seeing Lee in person.
As Lee and Longlegs finally face, the revelations that follow don’t quite match the intensity, atmosphere, and creeps of the film’s first act.
‘Longlegs’: Deliberately Channeling Se7en, Starling, and Lecter (and Buffalo Bill)
One of the major issues I have with “Longlegs” is its overt attempt to borrow from other successful films such as “The Silence of the Lambs.” Evidently, Perkins was inspired by the Jonathan Demme film, and the homage at times becomes a little too on the nose. Like the latter, the film introduces a young female agent thrust into a manhunt for a brutal killer.
However, “Longlegs” fails to capture the psychological depth and tension that made “The Silence of the Lambs” a classic. Instead, it feels derivative and uninspired, with the execution leaving much to be desired. This is all the more evident during the film’s third act, when Lee makes a shocking discovery that links her family both to Longlegs and to the murders.
“Longlegs” also seemingly tries to borrow elements from “Se7en,” but with little success. While “Se7en” blends grisly crime scenes with a moody atmosphere and psychological complexity, Longlegs stumbles through its attempt to recreate that blend. Instead, Perkins simply incorporates elements of the occult and devil worship — devices that cheat the audiences out of a good horror thriller film by resorting to the supernatural.
An Atmospheric Buildup that Doesn’t Quite Materialize
Despite my misgivings, there are a number of bright moments throughout the film. Andrés Arochi’s cinematography and Zilgi’s music complement Perkins’ screenplay and direction, dialing the creepiness to eleven in no time. As for the performances, I can’t say enough about Maika Monroe, whose film “It Follows” introduced her to the world as a talent to watch out for. And notwithstanding my opinion on the film, “Longlegs” solidifies her stature as a modern icon in the genre.
However, despite Monroe’s best efforts, Lee’s character remained underdeveloped. Her intuitive abilities and traumatic past should add depth, but they come across as clichéd and unoriginal. The suggestion of a family history of mental instability, hinted at through her heavily medicated mother, would have made for better exploration that could have taken the narrative to different — and better — places.
Finally, while he is known for his eccentric performances (from “Pig” to “Mandy”), Nicolas Cage’s portrayal here is more caricature than character. His heavily prosthetic-laden appearance and bizarre voice make it inferior to Buffalo Bill. I mean, never mind that he evokes Marc Bolan and Lou Reed post-midlife crisis; the overall look provides an unnecessary layer of absurdity that detracts from the film’s intended horror.
Ultimately, “Longlegs” is the good kind of bad film: While it doesn’t stick the landing, it’s a film I would openly recommend to other people for the sake of the discourse it can generate. Perkins has shown potential in his previous works, the ability to build tension chief among them. Here, he elects to play safer once he has finished setting up the fundamental blocks of scares. And for what it’s worth, that’s not the right way to conjure creeps to scare your audience shitless. You’ve got to sustain them long after the credits roll.
A self-described cinephile who can’t stop talking—and writing—about films. Paul also moonlights as ghostwriter and editor for a few memoirs. He currently resides in the Philippines.
