This July 12th the new horror movie of the summer dropped: “Longlegs,” a horror-thriller surrounding serial murders in Oregon throughout the decade of the 1990s. These fictional events are investigated by the main character, FBI agent Lee Harker played by Maika Monroe. Harker spends the entire movie figuring out who “Longlegs” is, as well as learning how he operates and the terrible secret of how the murders happen.
The definitive high point of the movie is the extremely entertaining but creepy acting of Nicolas Cage as Longlegs. The character of Longlegs is displayed as a white-faced, long greasy-haired individual with a very extravagant personality. He is described as a satanist, and he often has attacks of loudness by singing in an off-putting way in the middle of silent scenes. Cage makes an excellent portrayal of such a disturbing little character and makes it very off-setting for most viewers. I believe this is a character that needs to be acted by someone who can fully immerse in its weirdness, and Cage achieved it flawlessly
This movie resembles other criminal thrillers done in the past, especially reminding me of “Zodiac” directed by David Fincher. I can see many references or hints throughout the movie that make a connection between both movies, such as Longlegs leaving secret codes at the scene of crimes that must be deciphered, or how the relationship between him and the detectives works. I believe that if you liked “Zodiac” or are usually interested in these types of criminal movies you will enjoy “Longlegs” if you don’t mind the tiny bit of horror involved in it.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves surrounding the movie. From the marketing and the way the movie was described I was expecting a much more horror-filled movie. As simple as it may sound, I did not find it that scary, apart from some strong highlights regarding the murders and the fantastic editing done with scenes of the crimes. I went into the film expecting a completely different experience, and even though I still liked the result, I just think they could have done some aspects of it differently, emphasizing the chronology and the length of some scenes.
Apart from this, another highlight of the movie is the amazing camerawork and cinematography featured throughout the whole film. The movie was recorded in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, adding to the old-school vibe that it tries to recreate, with incredible shots and quick-paced editing in the more intense scenes, and very clean shot compositions. Usually, we don’t see modern horror films and understand the world they are set in, and how they produce horrifying but beautiful imagery to accompany the movie, but “Longlegs” does an amazing job.
Finally, the common themes of satanism and the devil can often be very cliché in most horror films, but how “Longlegs” plays with the power of Satan and describes it as such an intimidating and almost all-powerful creature, with very interesting ways of executing the murders makes the addition of this theme feeling very well introduced into the last act of the film.
Overall, “Longlegs,” even if it did not exceed my expectations, was still a very fun watch with friends, and I would recommend it to anyone reading.
Longlegs is still available in some film theaters and streaming services.
