Review: LONGLEGS is pure evil in film form

“Are you still saying your prayers? Our prayers protect us from the devil.”

LONGLEGS is one of the most truly evil movies that I’ve ever seen.

Neon’s Osgood Perkins-directed horror film LONGLEGS released this past weekend, becoming one of the indie studio’s biggest releases in their history and setting the stage for Neon to potentially overtake the horror landscape.

The film follows newly-recruited FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe; IT FOLLOWS) in 1990’s Oregon as she tracks down the satanic serial killer dubbed “Longlegs” (an unrecognizable Nicolas Cage) who has been linked to several disturbing murder-suicides “The Birthday Murders” where the victims are all 9-year-old girls born on the 14th of a month.

Harker’s journey to bring Longlegs to justice, however, yields horrifying results as the audience is taken into the bloody and black heart of evil itself.

Made for less than $10 million dollars, LONGLEGS has so far grossed well over $30 million and while audience response has been split, the critics and most fans of the genre (myself included) are hailing it as an absolute win.

Osgood Perkins, the son of the late Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates; 1960’s PSYCHO) cut his teeth directing other horror projects such as THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER and I AM THE PRETTY THING THAT LIVES IN THE HOUSE as well as the more recent GRETEL & HANSEL, but Perkins’ definitely has cemented himself in the conversation of modern horror greats with this one.

From the chilling opening, LONGLEGS exudes a sinister, otherworldly quality. Throughout the entire run-time, you get the feeling that you are watching a movie you aren’t supposed to be seeing.

Incredibly atmospheric, Perkins shoots LONGLEGS in a variety of chilling angles, making use of symmetry and triangles to perpetuate the film’s deeply disturbing occult content. Color is used magnificently here as well with striking reds, blinding whites, and murky, eerie, darks. Every element of what you see on screen is off-putting. Nothing is ever “right”.

Many have compared the film in the pre-release hype train to movies like SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or SE7EN, but I don’t think those comparisons are fair. If anything, I would compare the constant sense of dread and unease to a different Fincher picture, ZODIAC, specifically the iconic “basement” scene. It is that hair-raising eerieness that permeates the entire film.

Another apt comparison would be David Lynch’s similarly-harrowing 1992 film FIRE WALK WITH ME, a prequel-sequel to the TV series “Twin Peaks”.

In the film’s 3rd act, the mouth-covering terror and true sense of Satanic evil come in one of the most hard-to-watch scenes I’ve had the displeasure of seeing in recent memory using imagery of a nun to evoke pure terror.

A strength of LONGLEGS, for me, comes from the unexplained element of the film.

Harker is somewhat clairvoyant, and this is taken as a real and tangible thing within the FBI. Longlegs is an emissary of the Devil itself, and this is taken at complete face value. There are terrifying dolls that, we are told, are blessed by Satan himself which contain mysterious glass orbs than apparently harness pure evil.

I love the sense of unknown in this movie, and love the occult tone and atmosphere on display here.

Videogame fans will definitely draw favorable comparisons here to Remedy’s “Alan Wake II”, which was one of the main reasons I was so excited for this.

LONGLEGS is a sinister film that isn’t for the easily spooked, and the film also gives birth to a horror movie legend with the titular character played by Nicolas Cage who goes full-on terrifying with this glam-rock, pale-faced, genuinely disturbing villain who will stay with you long after the credits roll.