LONGLEGS
(director/writer: Oz Perkins; cinematographer: Andres Arochi; editors: Graham Fortin, Greg Ng; cast: Maika Monroe (Agent Lee Harker), Nicolas Cage (Longlegs), Blair Underwood (Agent Carter), Alicia Witt (Ruth Harker), Kiernan Shipka (Carrie Ann Camera), Lauren Acala (Young Lee Harker), Erin Boyes (Young FBI agent), Michelle Choi-Lee (Agent Browning), Lisa Chandler (Mother Camera), Vanessa Walsh (CSI Agent), Dakota Daulby (Agent Fisk); Runtime: 101; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Nicolas Cage, Dave Caplan, Chris Ferguson, Dan Kagan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones; Neon; 2024)
“A macabre supernatural horror pic.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Oz Perkins (“Gretel & Hansel”/”The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” the son of actor Anthony Perkins) directs and writes this scary, hypnotic and despairing serial killer tale. The sinister tale has been inspired by “Silence of Lambs” and “Se7en.” It plays out as a slow-burn police procedural film that morphs into a macabre supernatural horror pic.
FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a new recruit who excels at her job because of her unique psychic gifts. Agent Carter (Blair Underwood), her superior, recruits her to partner with him to catch the elusive on the loose dangerous serial killer known as “Longlegs” (Nicolas Cage). He has been operating for decades without being caught. The brutal killer slaughters only families who have a daughter, leaving behind cryptic notes that can’t be decoded.
Lee has a testy relationship with her prodding religious mother, Ruth (Alicia Witt). A creepy incident from Lee’s youth that’s been repressed is brought up when an adult. In a flashback to Lee’s childhood (played by Lauren Acala), the mature Lee recalls a visit by a perv garbed in cream-colored clothing. A witness who survived the encounter, Carrie Anne Camera (Kiernan Shipka), is now residing in a mental institution.
The film is set in the Pacific West during the ’90s, of the Clinton presidency. There are references to incidents in the ’60s and ’70s. The stoical Lee lives a lonely and grim life in a remote country log cabin, experiencing painful psychic visions.
Cage is into his usual weirdo act, this time as a terrifying manipulative killer, sporting a crazed hellish look through plastic surgery and speaking menacingly in whispers. While Witt, on the other hand, becomes aged and unrecognizable as a strung-out nurturer–a mother who could be both loving and distant.
It’s a haunting occult horror pic–with stunning performances by Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage and Alicia Witt, and with disturbing bleached images by DP Andres Arochi that get under your skin.
REVIEWED ON 6/22/2024 GRADE: A-