Longlegs

Hail Satan! Osgood Perkins delivers a gripping experience for those willing to step out of their comfort zone and dive into 101 minutes of devilish unease and despair. If Longlegs excels at anything, it’s the menacing and depressively suffocating atmosphere that grips you from the first shot and doesn’t let go until the credits roll. The film doesn’t offer a single scene that eases its tension – you might chuckle at a few of Nicolas Cage’s phenomenal moments, but it never undermines the film's oppressive tone. Perkins cements his place among the most intriguing genre filmmakers of today, with his masterful handling of atmosphere and mise-en-scène standing out in a crowded field. Kudos to Neon for their brilliant marketing campaign that smartly made Longlegs the horror event of the year. While some might feel let down by the hype, I approached it with caution and ended up very satisfied with what was delivered on the big screen. (08/06/2024)

While the international acclaim and impressive trailers promised the event of the year and a film with a cult status in the style of Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs, the result is different and it shows in the final rating, which isn't around 80%. I for one have to say that I haven't enjoyed a crime film like Longlegs in a long time. There's more or less everything I love about the genre, the horror label is only there because of the satanic overtones and the supernatural, otherwise it's a proper crime thriller, with an increasingly better Maika Monroe on the hunt for a serial killer who is murdering families. Nicolas Cage doesn't appear until halfway through the film, but his devilishly creepy performance deserves praise. The atmosphere is suffocating and unpleasant, the audio-visuals are perfect (the sounds were very creepy), the acting is top notch, there were some nasty shots, though we don't get to see outright gore. I'm also happy with the ending, it gives the crime genre a completely fresh and original touch. I almost didn't breathe for most of the film despite the slower pace (I also praise the well written dialogues!). Good film. 8/10. (08/29/2024)

There's no denying Longlegs' awesome atmosphere and very impressive individuality, but I actually have more problems with the final film than I feared. Overall, it's kind of off-kilter, so it doesn't have the flow of a traditional horror-thriller film, but it's also literal, more or less predictable, and without any major surprises, so it doesn't even move within the confines of full-on psycho oddity. I found the whole investigative line of inquiry unsatisfying and futile, with Osgood Perkins basically faking a detective procedural with the birth dates and murders, the cryptic letters; it all sounds and looks cool, but what really came out of it and what was the point? I strongly missed those moments here, where the investigator figures something out and the film is able to explain how those findings move closer to the killer. Here, in contrast, the shifts in the investigation just "happen", or the titular Longlegs sends the protagonist a clue... Nicolas Cage is excellent, excellent, until suddenly he stops being excellent (about the time he starts "singing"), then his performance becomes rather distracting. I'm very hesitant to rate it between 3 and 4 stars, I've already clicked a couple of times. I guess the second screening, which won't be burdened by expectations (which were high now), will have to crack it definitively. (08/27/2024)

Osgood Perkins is in complete control of the style, as we learn within the first few minutes, and without a doubt in control of the content, as his satanic-tinged crime horror works very well, is suspenseful, surprising, and is already one of the genre events of the year. I was almost taken aback by how it really grabbed me. Nicolas Cage and his creations are once again the stuff of legends. It's also quite funny that Perkins is able to use in such a focused film the properties that we would attribute more to James Wan (a demonic doll, a character with glowing eyes under a black veil, houses with many dark corners, a recurring pop song), but uses them in a completely measured, non-shallow and clever way (which is also why his next film will be produced by who else but James Wan). A great surprise, a quality horror film, and definitely an achievement worthy of a visit to the cinema. (08/20/2024)

An atmospheric delight. The pacing is murderously slow, but it’s perfect for the bleak story; the vast majority of the film takes place at night, or in the darkness of houses, or - as in, say, The Silence of the Lambs - in the brisk autumn weather with overcast skies. Osgood Perkins works with the picture format in interesting ways and varies it, and it's all complemented wonderfully by the ominous music and shiver-inducing sound design. Admittedly, for the less knowledgeable, it would be a mistake to go into this as a "Nicolas Cage movie", he's only here for about five minutes in total, but his creation is still memorable and wrung to the marrow. Towards the end it was a little too contrived for me, but you can forgive such nits in a film when you're having such a great time. The fact that the main character is a woman then adds an extra layer of tension because you do worry about her. Perkins is a talent, his dad starred in one of the greatest thrillers of all time, and he makes great thrillers, so the cycle has come full circle. I'll continue to watch him, he’s one smart kid. (08/21/2024)