It has been a while since I last saw a more serious thriller or horror film. I'll admit that it's not really my thing to watch more modern entries within these genres. I prefer the more dated, atmospheric feeling of thrillers and horrors, where effects are likely cheap, and the thrills come from the environment and cheesy performances over jump scares and violin s screeching here and there. So it took me a while to decide to check out Longlegs, even though I saw a lot of positive things about it over the last few months. When I took a look at Oz Perkins and his prior works, I definitely am not the audience for the majority of his creations, which also led to me having a little less curiosity over Longlegs. Though his interests definitely pertain to the horror genre, and sooner or later it does make sense that he might finally strike some luck and make something that stands out a little more. Longlegs definitely seems to be the film that leads to his popularity, to which I found myself quite pleasantly surprised by it even from the first few opening scenes. Still, I found myself uncertain as to what I was getting myself into, having ensured I didn't read too much into the film with all the discussions online -- quite a few people have posted reviews on the film here on Hive! That said, it is the Halloween month, after all!
The month of October is one of my favourites in the year, and it's because of the whole fun of the Halloween atmosphere. It's with this that I tend to lean a little more open to the horror and thriller genres in search of new things to watch throughout the month, rather than relying on the same few titles I have seen throughout the years over and over. So, expect me to be posting about quite a few of these horrors and thrillers throughout the month, and maybe even a Movies & TV Shows community contest around Halloween. But hey, this is a review about Longlegs, not just some backstory on my love for Halloween and why I decided to check out a more modern horror despite not being the typical audience for them. So keep in mind that this post from here on may contain some spoilers, though I try to keep major aspects of a film's narrative from these reviews. So, I set things up, and got cozy with some coffee to sit down and watch Longlegs, finally. And this was quiet a fun film, one I didn't expect a whole lot from, nor did I know what to expect for that matter. With some rather interesting cinematography, as well as solid performances that kept the slower nature of the film going forward. Unlike the typical horror genre's titles which tend to lack a bit of the atmosphere and world building.
The first thing that stood out to me in Longlegs is by far its directing. I thoroughly enjoyed the directing which took a more psychological and cinematic look at the narrative. I really liked the use of wider focal lengths that stretched out the perspectives. Which is definitely a bit ironic given the film's title: Longlegs. For the most part the film details a detective and her case against someone named Longlegs, who is famed for killing numerous people throughout the years. The whole Longlegs situation is one that is strange, eerie and pulling us from various uncomfortable situations. Our protagonist works for the FBI in trying to figure out the story behind the killings, to which it soon becomes known that her past is deeply rooted in it. This was no major spoiler, as for it was told to the audience in the very opening scene of the film, in which we see a rather pale looking man in strange whiter clothing talking to a young girl. It's shot in a more horrifying manner to which we don't really see his face for most of the scene, only at the end of it before the scene changes and we get that time jump to the adult FBI agent. But the momentum continues from there.
The directing really gives the film a slow look. A lot of beautifully lit environments, from interiors to exteriors. I loved how it was shot in regards to the lighting. Really beautiful silhouettes and perspectives which had unique compositions. Characters framed in interesting ways, often with some relation to the surroundings. Framing in particular, where a character will be sitting with a genuine square lit frame in front of them. Their head placed directly in the middle. Scenes like this added to the atmosphere of the story, the attempts to solve the case, the dialogue between that showed a genuine attempt to dig deeper into the story rather than having our protagonist constantly in motion. It added more believability to it in how we see others in the FBI talking about the case, holding meetings and sharing intelligence. That kept things grounded with the Longlegs situation, to which we don't really know much more beyond it, aside from a strange language and series of patterns in the killings. I quite liked that build up with Longlegs as a result, it felt a bit similar to that of Seven, in which we don't really see much of the killer until later on. Instead the police chasing the past and present in attempt to find things out.
A great surprise to me was noticing that Longlegs was actually portrayed by Nicolas Cage. A really good performance from him that I really didn't expect. His unsettling look was really good, to which I found his dialogue to be an extra in creating that atmosphere. Particularly when he began to sing songs and act out more theatrical performances that just felt completely off. Especially when the whole idea of birthdays is amplified by him, in a strange way that almost implies a joyful and gentle nature. Something more akin to a clown. Though the makeup didn't go that overboard in his design, to which I also quite liked. Much of the film isn't one that has a whole lot going for it. Its directing is often still, fixed perspectives with the characters framed in the middle. Not a whole lot of movement. It's a film with a more artistic look to it. And for that I definitely enjoyed it a lot more.
Oz Perkins came out of nowhere with this one, and I think he did a great job with it. I can understand why the film received so much attention, because it definitely stands out quite a bit. Though, I feel a more Halloween oriented released would've given it that extra boost in attention.
First of all, it made me laugh about the sound of the violin in horror movies nowadays.
I thought Longlegs was great, I really enjoyed the movie; Perkins' work is very good along with the performances.
I thought Cage and his songs were great, I visualized him as a singer of some rock band of the eighties because of the clothes and makeup, but the lyrics of his songs with the pain he suffered and the pain he wants to generate, reminds me of songs from the 90's.
Longlegs was a success at the box office, it did well with a small budget, but I think the problem is how it was promoted and that the current audience, the young people may not be very connected with this kind of films, we will have to wait how much they remember it in the future, at least I will remember it.