Oz Perkins’ ‘LONGLEGS’ (2024) – Movie Review

Longlegs has taken the horror world by storm. I was very interested after watching the trailer. Other then seeing the trailer and a few promotional things I decided to go into Longlegs with very little knowledge to avoid spoilers. The real question: was Longlegs worth the hype it has been getting?

This is your warning that this review will contain heavy *SPOILERS*.

Synopsis

FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes an unexpected turn.

The film stars Blair Underwood as Agent Carter, Alicia Witt as Ruth Harken, and Nicolas Cage as Longlegs.

Opening Act

Longlegs opens with a little girl leaving her home after hearing Longlegs call out to her.  Longlegs speaks to the girl before we get a glimpse of him before cutting to the opening credits. I won’t lie the quick first glance of Nicolas Cage as Longlegs made me jump, and I’m not jumpy person by any means.

Once opening credits are finished, we get thrown into the story, where we follow FBI Agent Lee Harker as she investigates a series of murders that all have the same pattern: the murders involve families who have a daughter who is around 9 years old who is born on the 14th of the month. We soon learn the fathers are killing their families before killing themselves, either before the daughters birthday or after. We also learn fairly quickly that Lee has psych abilities.

I went into Longlegs thinking it was going to give Silence Of The Lambs vibes… and I was right to an extent. The first two chapters are amazing with tension created by brilliant cinematography and brilliant sound design. So far, so good.

Second Act

During the film we get small, fast glimpses of Longlegs. It’s not until more than halfway through do we actually see him, though. Nicolas Cage did an absolutely amazing job as Longlegs, and he will now forever haunt my dreams. The film has a lot of wide shots where open doorways are exposed, making you feel like Longlegs could pop out at any moment creating a tense atmosphere.

We discover that Lee Harker has a very strange and very religious mother (this should have been a giveaway for me). As Lee investigates the murders, she soon discovers she was actually the little girl in the opening scene with Longlegs.

Everything is going well with the film. Well, it is a bit of a slow burn, but I was still very much intrigued. The cops bring Longlegs in where Lee is able to question him. This is where the film starts to lose it for me. As Lee is talking to Longlegs, he starts staying how he hails Satan before bashing his own face in and killing himself.

This is when the film went downhill for me. If they had stuck with the plot of detective  and serial killer, this movie would have been amazing. Sadly, it takes a turn.

Final Act

With Longlegs dead, Lee comes to the conclusion that he was working with someone. Someone who the families trusted enough to let into their home. Agent Carter sends Lee away after Longlegs kills himself. Lee goes to see her mother with detective Browning. While Lee’s inside, she discovers that her mother has been helping Longlegs. Lee rushes to the window while seeing her mother kill Agent Browning in the car. Lee confronts her mother where she learns that Longlegs came to kill her when she was a child. To save her life, Lee’s mother agrees to help Longlegs on his mission.

Longlegs has been making these dolls that look like the little girl in the family. Inside of the doll is a silver ball filled with black smoke. The dolls are able to posses the fathers into doing the “Devil’s work” by killing their families.

The film ends with Lee waking up and getting a phone call from Agent Carter saying she’s late to his daughter’s 9th birthday. Lee rushes to the house to find her mother is there with the doll. Lee realizes she’s too late. Carter kills his wife and then goes after his daughter. The film ends with Lee shooting Carter and her mother but she runs out of bullets to shoot the doll.

Final Thoughts

All in all, I really enjoyed the first two acts. It is a bit of a slow burn but that didn’t put me off. Nicolas Cage is amazing as Longlegs. I feel like he really enjoyed playing this part, as it is quite different from characters he normally plays. Maika Monroe did a good job as Lee. The cinematography is quite amazing along with the sound design.

Longlegs lives up to hype during the first two acts but I feel like the writers got a bit lazy near the end of the film. It very much felt like they didn’t know how to end it, so they threw the Devil in the mix, which felt very out of place and ended up ruining the third act for me. With that being said, I’m not a huge fan of religious occult films. I’m much more of a slasher girl, so perhaps you would enjoy the movie if that kind of thing intrigues you.

I’m glad I saw it as the first two acts had me invested. Nicolas Cage as Longlegs was very creepy. I will probably wait for Longlegs to come to streaming before I give it another watch.

What did you think, PopHorror fans? Have you seen Longlegs? Give us your thoughts in the comments!