In the age of the internet, Longlegs may be the closest the world ever gets to seeing another Blair Witch Project. While no one was questioning whether or not it was a documentary, Longlegs was able to mimic Blair Witch's ability to generate interest in the film without anybody ever really learning anything about it. Neon cleverly marketed the film with a string of vague teasers and creative viral stunts like sending out a phone number that played creepy messages from the titular serial killer portrayed by Nicolas Cage when somebody called it and putting coded messages in The Seattle Times dating all the way back to early February. This slowly escalating, largely ambiguous ad campaign along with a flood of glowing reviews that started in May when Neon screened the film early for genre critics/influencers created a level of prerelease buzz that was extraordinary. Once Longlegs got out in the world and the veil of mysteriousness got shattered, the reactions were understandably divisive as the film had to contend with the bad end of the double-edged sword it created by selling a movie solely on an aura of creepiness and arguably hyperbolic praise, but the campaign served its purpose to get in butts seats masterfully as it's already well on its way to becoming the most successful film in the indie distributor's 8-year history.
What I will say to anyone reading this that has yet to see Longlegs is try your best to erase all of the positive things you've heard about it from your mind before you sit down to watch it. Going in expecting some kind of terrifying masterpiece that will cause you to have 36 heart attacks and disrupt your sleep pattern for the next 7 years because your so god damn disturbed by what you witnessed on screen will almost certainly cause some degree of disappointment, especially if you're unfamiliar with the stylings of writer/director Oz Perkins (The Blackcoat's Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). It's a bleak slow burn of a movie that is also every bit as much of a procedural mystery as it is a horror film. There will be people that really gel with what Perkins is doing here and others that will be calling this movie trash every time someone invokes its name for the rest of time. Your feelings may even fluctuate between these two sides as the film unfolds and the answers to its mystery are provided! I know it can be difficult to tune out the noise when people won't stop praising something, but being able to do so will allow you to enter Longlegs with the clear eyes you need to fairly assess the film.
As somebody who despised all of Perkins' previous work behind the camera, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Longlegs. The movie is never quite able to match the chilling dread of its opening 15 minutes where the audience is provided with disturbing introductions to both Cage-who extends his recent hot streak with a deeply unsettling knockout performance and protagonist Agent Lee Harker (the reliably good scream queen Maika Monroe) before it really leans into the FBI's investigation of the Longlegs killings and the "big" reveals surrounding the murders give way to a deeply silly final act that does some significant damage to the ominous spell Perkins casts, but the hopelessness of the world is so suffocating that its sins can be (somewhat) forgiven.
With its stoic people, pronounced lack of color and the constant threat of gruesome violence surrounding every corner, this is a world where everything is fucked up and nobody seems to care. A serial killer has terrorized an Oregon community for decades and everybody has just accepted that darkness rules over them. There's no mourning for the dead or solace for the living, just the piercing void of emptiness washing over everyone that has yet to find themselves murdered in their own homes. The actual meat of the story here is very tropey and predictable, but the bleakness of its world and how strongly its conveyed through sight, sound and mood is what makes Longlegs a worthy addition to the serial killer horror flick library.
Grade: B
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