A good horror movie will scare you. You know the ones. The films with around half a dozen or so jump scares that cause audiences to leap out of their skin, throw their popcorn up in the air, and then laugh nervously that they allowed themselves to be manipulated in that way by the filmmaker.
A truly *great* horror movie is the type that stays with you long after you leave the cinema. The type that has you double checking that the front door is locked. That compels you to turn a light on after dark. The ones that chill you to the bone and leave you with sleepless nights.
Osgood Perkins has conjured up such a dread-inducing film in Longlegs. An insidious experience that burrows under your skin and gnaws away at your subconscious until you find yourself consumed by its darkness.
A task that FBI special agent Jay Harker must try and overcome if she is to solve the mystery of a serial killer known only as Longlegs, who is seemingly able to kill entire families by will alone.
Let’s address the elephant in the room straight away. A hunt for a serial killer being led by a young female FBI agent set in the early Nineties? Yes, it is impossible not to draw parallels with The Silence Of The Lambs and its lead character Clarice Starling. Harker even wears a similar jacket at times to the one that Starling wears during her interviews with Hannibal Lecter.
However what is presented here is its own distinct (horned) beast. As though writer-director Perkins saw Lambs back in 1991 and said, “Not fucked up enough for my taste”.
Perkins cut his teeth in 2015 with the underseen and underrated The Blackcoat’s Daughter, and has remained within the genre since then. He has honed his craft and this is a director firing on all cylinders. Every element has been fine tuned for maximum torment to the characters and audience.
The score is unnerving and discombobulating. Low discordant tones quickly turning into high pitched shrieks. It works in a similar way to the music in The Shining. Designed to put the audience on edge and off balance. Its true stroke of genius, is that it manages to make the moments where the score is not present somehow even scarier. The silence causes the tension to skyrocket as the audience fears the worst. That awful feeling in the pit of their stomach slowly crawling up their throat in a silent scream.
Combine this with Perkins and cinematographer Andres Arochi deliberate use of framing to really turn the screw on the audience.
The prologue takes place within a tight, square 8mm-esque box that cuts away at the prospect of the full sight of Longlegs. Even the camera is too afraid. Cutting to a deep red that bleeds out to fill the screen. Flashbacks to murders take place within the box, trapping its victims with their killer. The rest of the film is in that stark widescreen format. Often positioning Harker in the foreground. The audiences’ eyes feverishly scan the frame into the dark corners and doorways for any sign of impending danger.
Whether it was The Guest, It Follows or Watcher, when it comes to the horror/thriller genres, Maika Monroe has always understood the assignment. Her haunted expression is transfixed by coded letters and gruesome crime scene photos. Her body stiffens and bristles when in the company of her fellow agents and family. This is a woman who is seemingly more comfortable interacting with the dead than the living.
Every great detective needs a great villain. Every hunter needs a target… although one could argue who is who in this scenario.
To talk too much about Nicolas Cage’s performance would do it a disservice. It should be experienced first hand within the confines of the darkened auditorium but safe to say, that in a long, storied career of memorable characters, this is truly one of his most unsettling performances.
Longlegs is a killer who does not have to physically be in the immediate proximity to torment and terrorise their victims. Remember that when you leave the cinema. Because their terrifying presence will be near impossible to shake off.
Just like Harker’s investigation, the script and its execution is measured and methodical. Cold, calculated and precise. The result is one of the most chilling and frightening films of the recent years. Perkins casts a dark spell that feels like a nightmare you cannot wake up from.
Longlegs is in cinemas from July 12
Rating: 
Director: Osgood Perkins
Stars: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt
Runtime: 101 minutes
Country: USA
