Longlegs (2024)

  Spoiler-ish

'Longlegs', the new horror film written and directed by Osgood Perkins, the son of 'Psycho' star Anthony Perkins, has been getting good critical notices and has already taken in more then five times what it cost to make. So I was curious and decided to give it a try.

The movie 'Longlegs' has been most often compared to is 'The Silence of the Lambs' and I think that is appropriate because this movie really wants to be that movie. Set in mid 1990's Oregon, Maika Monroe is a young FBI agent (who may be mildly psychic) on the trail of "The Longlegs Killer', a memorably creepy serial murder (who may have supernatural abilities of his own) played by Nicolas Cage under heavy makeup.

The films got a creepy vibe and a strong sense of horror movie structure, playing mildly with conventions. Monroe does some good work playing her character (though the words never spoken) as autistic. While Cage's portrial is very odd. I was mostly with this movie till the last 20-25 minutes or so, but that ending, that would be Shaymalan twist, too neat, "save Martha" ending, really rubbed me the wrong way. 

Blair Underwood was good as the senior FBI agent until near the end, then he breaks character and while this is explained I found it unsatisfying. Kiernan Shipka lays it on too thick in her cameo role and I did not like Alica Witt in this, I'm usually fine with her but I'd have recast her part. There were too many horror movie tropes being brought together at the end and it just made me mad. I liked the set up, I just wish there had been a better payoff. So most of the movies *** but that ending is *, so I'm reluctantly going with a ** rating. My high hopes were disappointed.