Longlegs (2024)

Cinema Visit of 2024 - 23

Longlegs is a film that seems to have been getting quite a lot of buzz which is unusual for a horror film that isn't a familiar property like Halloween. I went in to this film not knowing much apart from the fact that Nicholas Cage is in it and its directed by Osgood Perkins who is the man that directed Gretel & Hansel and The Blackcoat's Daughter. The set

THE GOOD
One thing that Perkins is very good at is atmosphere. The plot isn't a million miles from what we would see on some criminal procedural drama but in the hands of Perkins, it is made to feel like its greater than it actually is. The slow pace is also something that I liked as it something that will always win me over if its done in the right way. There is slow and then painfully slow and this film never did that. There are also the performances from Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage. I went to see this film with a friend and he thought that Monroe was a bit wishy washy but I found to be really good. There is a slight awkwardness to her and I thought the scene where she is on Ruby's bed and its clear that she is struggling to find things to say is a brief moment of comedy that I enjoyed. Nicolas Cage is amazing. I didn't realise it was him underneath all the make up and prosthetics. I think this is what he would look like if he had a really bad reaction to bee stings. Before you say anything I realise he got stung in The Wicker Man. There are a couple of moments where we get top tier Nic Cage in terms of over the top acting and for this role in this movie, that was easily one of the best parts.

THE BAD
The telepathy aspect of the plot got dropped pretty quickly. I know that it was a plot device but it seems like the fact it was never mentioned or referred to again made it feel like a slightly lazy form of story telling that I wouldn't expect from Osgood Perkins. There is also the fact that the plot seemed rather ordinary. It was the sort of thing that you would see on a procedural drama which doesn’t mean the story was bad or that there is anything wrong with cop dramas but when the trailer makes it seem like it is Silence of the Lambs and we get something that definitely isn’t that film then anything is going to disappoint.

OVERALL
I think that this film will probably go down as a disappointment for most people as its been billed as something that it ultimately wasn't. This is a big reason why I generally don't watch trailers (unless they are at the cinema). I didn't find Longlegs disappointing but neither did I find it as good as I wanted it to be. Not sure whether its worth seeing at the cinema but its definitely worth seeing in the dark at home maybe around Halloween.