Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Writer and Director Oz Perkins (“Gretel and Hansel”) did a fantastic job with his latest horror film “Longlegs.” The film opens with an excerpt from the 1971 song “Bang a Gong” by T. Rex, which begins with the lyrics: “Well you’re slim and you’re weak/You’ve got the teeth of the hydra upon you/You’re dirty, sweet and you’re my girl.” This, along with the intense music build-up and a slow fade into a rusty car driving in the snow gets you immediately engaged in waiting for the next scene. 

A highlight of this film is how Perkins sets up the scenes with his slow and methodical camera work. The color and music take viewers back to the nostalgia of the 1990s, yet bring to life the cold shock of tension as we follow one FBI agent’s journey to catch an active serial killer. 

The character of Longlegs (Nicholas Cage, “Dream Scenario”) is an unknown serial killer responsible for the deaths of over 11 families, each time leaving a hidden message that has yet to be decoded by the police. 

FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe, “Watcher”) is one of the many agents put on the Longlegs case. Harker is tasked with connecting various clues left by the killer over the years. She goes door to door in the community, asking people if they have seen Longlegs. However, she is immediately drawn to a particular house when driving by a neighborhood. “It’s that one. He’s in there,” she says to her colleague, Agent Fisk (Dakota Daulby, Fiona) knocks on the door and takes a shotgun to the skull. 

Harker has a great relationship with Agent Carter, played by Blair Underwood (Three Women), who is the head of the case and questions Harker on her psychic premonitions surrounding the investigations. Carter pushes Harker to continue to find different details and patterns within all of the Longlegs murders. 

This film is not overtly scary, but rather creepy, with a primary focus on the storyline. Although the plot did not unfold to its highest potential, it is engaging and a well-put-together movie that has twists and turns that you need a keen eye to discern. 

Maika Monroe’s performance was one of the highlights of this film; it relied on her to set the mood of each scene, using the pantomime technique to express the mysteriousness of her character. This gave her a nearly psychotic undertone, sacrificing much of her life to solve this case. 

Meanwhile, Cage’s Longlegs was also a fascinating character to see unfold throughout the film, slowly seeing more sides of his character and being able to see his intentions for what he did.  A 3.5/5 might sound like a low review for this movie, but this is an above-average film and one of the better horror movies of 2024.

Image from NEON via YouTube