Review: In the chilling thriller 'Longlegs,' Maika Monroe cuts like a knife (2024)

A chilling, half-remembered encounter from childhood looms over “Longlegs,” Osgood Perkins’ stylishly composed 1990s-set horror film about a young FBI agent (Maika Monroe) whose past seems to hold a key to a decades-long serial killer suburban spree.

In the opening flashback scene of “Longlegs,” a young girl walks out of her house to meet a stranger on her snow-covered yard. We never see more than the bottom half of his face, but the sense of creepiness is overwhelming. The image, with a scream, cuts out before “Longlegs” properly gets underway.

Twenty five years later, that girl (Monroe’s Lee Harker) is now grown and brought into the investigation. She’s preternaturally good at decoding the serial killer’s choreographed targets, but her psychological astuteness has a blind spot. In Osgood’s gripping if trite horror film about an elusive boogeyman, the most unnerving mystery is the foggy, fractured nature of childhood memory.

“Longlegs,” which opens in theaters Thursday, is arriving on its own wave of mystery thanks to a lengthy, enigmatic marketing campaign. Is the buzz warranted? That may depend on your tolerance for a very serious procedural that’s extremely adept at building an ominous slow burn yet nevertheless leads to a pile-up of horror tropes: satanic worship, scary dolls and an outlandish Nicolas Cage.

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It’s a credit to the harrowingly spell-binding first half of “Longlegs” — and to Monroe — that the film’s third act disappoints. After that prologue – presented in a boxy ratio with rounded edges, as if seen through an overhead projector — the screen widens. Harker, a terse, solitary detective, is part of a large task force to track down the killer behind the deaths of 10 families over the course of 30 years. Sent to knock on doors, she gazes up at a second floor window and knows immediately. “It’s that one,” she tells a partner (Dakota Daulby) whose lack of faith in her intuition quickly proves regrettable.

Harker is brought in for a psych evaluation that demonstrates her strange clairvoyance. Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) gives her all the accumulated evidence, which suggests the same killer — every murder scene has a coded letter left signed by Longlegs — but at the time points to no intruder within the homes of the murdered. Carter is reminded of Charles Manson. “Manson had accomplices,” Harker reminds him. Also troubling: all of the victims have a daughter with a birthday of the 14th of the month, a trait Harker, naturally, shares.

Families are prominent in the narrative, too. Harker occasionally visits her shut-in mother (Alicia Witt) and their brief interactions suggest a knowingness with the cruelty of the world. One time on the phone, Harker tells her she’s been busy with “works stuff.”

“Nasty stuff?” the mom asks. “Yep,” she answers.

Scenes of dread follow as they hunt the killer in rural Oregon. They frequent the usual spots: an old crime scene, a locked up barn, an old witness in a psychiatric hospital. Longlegs (Cage) is skulking about, too, and leaves a letter for Harker. We see him fleetingly at first. He’s a bleached, pale figure who, with long white hair, looks increasingly clownish the nearer we get to him. If Manson belonged to the ’60s, Longlegs, with his Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue white face, seems a product more in the ‘70s. T.Rex opens and closes the film and the album cover of Lou Reed’s “Transformer” sits above his mirror.

Perkins (“Gretel & Hansel”), is the filmmaking son of Anthony Perkins, who famously played one of the movies’ most unsettling characters in Norman Bates of “Psycho.” The roots of “Longlegs,” which Perkins also wrote, have personal connections for the director, Perkins has said, about his own upbringing and his father’s complicated private life. But something deeper struggles to pierce “Longlegs.” Its sense of horror seems to come mainly from little besides other movies. “Se7en” and “The Silence of the Lambs” are clear touchstones. Longlegs ultimately feels like more of a stock boogeyman and big-screen vessel for Cage.

In any case, this is Monroe’s movie. Her compelling screen presence in movies like “It Follows” and “Watcher” has earned her the title of today’s preeminent “Scream Queen.” But she’s much more than a single-genre talent. Again and again in “Longlegs,” Monroe’s Harker confronts a singularly disturbing scenario and walks right in. It’s not that she isn’t nervous; her heavy breathing is part of the artful sound design by Eugenio Battaglia. Monroe, steely and strong, cuts like a knife through this almost cartoonishly severe film. Nasty stuff? Yep.

“Longlegs,” a Neon release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for bloody violence, disturbing images and some language. Running time: 101 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

Review: In the chilling thriller 'Longlegs,' Maika Monroe cuts like a knife (2024)

FAQs

Review: In the chilling thriller 'Longlegs,' Maika Monroe cuts like a knife? ›

Again and again in “Longlegs,” Monroe's Harker confronts a singularly disturbing scenario and walks right in. It's not that she isn't nervous; her heavy breathing is part of the artful sound design by Eugenio Battaglia. Monroe, steely and strong, cuts like a knife through this almost cartoonishly severe film.

Is Longlegs horror or thriller? ›

Longlegs is a 2024 American horror thriller film written and directed by Osgood Perkins. It stars Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage, who also produced the film through his Saturn Films production company.

What are longlegs about? ›

Is Longlegs based on a true story? ›

'Longlegs' isn't based on a true story, but it has a surprising connection to one famous murder. The buzzy new horror movie "Longlegs" starring Nicolas Cage isn't based on a true story. The studio Neon's marketing included a website about "The Birthday Murders" — but they're not real.

Is Longlegs too scary? ›

It is scary — only because of how it is presented formally, not necessarily thanks to any of the basic actions or imagery on screen — and it is thrilling because Perkins announces from the outset his audacious approach to tone as well as his mastery of cinematic technique to create suspense.

Is Longlegs a good movie? ›

Longlegs has its moments, and is readily watchable, however, by the end, youll likely be disappointed and perplexed at how such a visually unique and well-acted film—one that, at least in its superb marketing, appeared as sweeping as it was enigmatic—could end up reducing itself to such a simple, formulaic premise.

Is Longlegs gory? ›

Bloody and graphic. A group of people are killed by a man with an ax. Blood sprays when they are hit, and then splatters on the wall. A bit gory.

Is Longlegs paranormal? ›

While it is implied from the beginning that there may be some supernatural elements to the story, such as Lee's psychic visions, it's gradually revealed that real Satanic elements are afoot. This is where Longlegs completely lost me.

Is mommy Longlegs a horror game? ›

Mommy Long Legs, also known as Marie Payne or Experiment 1222, is a major antagonist in the indie horror franchise Poppy Playtime, serving as the main antagonist of the first game's second chapter, Fly In A Web, and a playable Monster in the multiplayer prequel Project: Playtime.

Is there a difference between horror and thriller? ›

Thrillers should be fast-paced and involve intricate plots, twists and turns – just like a rollercoaster. While they might create a bloody scene with a dead body or a monster, thrillers tend to rely less on blood and gore than horror movies, instead focusing on building anticipation and suspense.

Are there jumpscares in Longlegs? ›

No one dies, there are no jump scares, and there's not even anything particularly disturbing onscreen, but I had a full-blown stomachache by the end, sheerly from anxious anticipation.

What category is Daddy Long Legs? ›

Daddy longlegs, or harvestmen, are familiar Missouri animals. They are not spiders, but opilionids. Unlike spiders, they have a fused body form and lack silk and venom glands. In harvestmen, the body is a simple oval, and it's usually hard to tell where the “head” ends and the segmented “abdomen” begins.

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