Longlegs (2024)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Killing Effect

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

A cat-and-mouse thriller in the grand tradition of the great serial killer movies, Osgood Perkins's Longlegs uses familiar elements, but ramps them up to nightmarish levels with its stark angles and chilling rhythms.

After demonstrating psychic abilities, FBI Special Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is transferred to the case of the serial killer known as "Longlegs" (Nicolas Cage). It's the 1990s. According to Lee's supervisor, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood), Longlegs has been at large for decades, responsible for murdering families with daughters whose birthdays are on the 14th of the month.

Worse, Longlegs somehow influences the fathers of the families to do the killings, leaving no trace of his own involvement, other than coded letters that no one has been able to crack. Lee gets a mysterious envelope from the killer, promising to murder her mother (Alicia Witt) if she tells anyone she's been contacted. But, as Lee continues to find new clues, the case grows stranger and stranger.

Written and directed by Osgood "Oz" Perkins — the son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins — Longlegs goes a long way toward proving his status as a top maker of horror. It begins with what looks like old 8mm home movie footage, with just a suggestion of what's to come. (Nicolas Cage appears only from the mouth downward, and his sudden shriek is truly disquieting.)

The frame stretches out to wide, and makes nerve-rattling use of its choice of composition, sound, and cutting, so expertly crafted that standard jump-scares play more like genuine shocks. The puzzle is crafty and clever, keeping us riveted, although — unlike its spiritual inspirations The Silence of the Lambs, Seven, and Zodiac — Longlegs flirts with the supernatural, which sometimes works and sometimes feels like a shortcut.

The performances are solid, especially a heavily-made-up Cage as an even more demented character than we could have possibly imagined from him. Maika Monroe also delivers, although her character — by its nature — comes across as a bit chilly and gives the movie a distancing quality. But the end result is still brutally effective, effortlessly worming its way into your brain where the dark things live.