Neon’s horror-thriller Longlegs is soon to hit theaters and it very well could be the sleeper horror hit of the year. The story follows Maika Monroe’s young FBI agent Lee Harker, who is on the biggest case of her life chasing down a serial killer who has left a series of gruesome discoveries in his wake. The path to the killer known only as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage) is littered with a series of dark occult clues that lead Lee through a nightmarish race to solve the puzzles Longlegs leaves and end his killing spree.
The premise alone sounds promising and the trailers have been excellent. However, promise alone doesn’t necessarily mean a new horror movie will land. Longlegs, however, has what it takes to become a true classic. Here’s why.
Critics Are Comparing It To The Silence of the Lambs
In the trailers, you might have seen the pullquote being splashed around that it’s the best psychological thriller since The Silence of the Lambs. That is incredibly high praise and an even higher bar to set seeing as how Silence of the Lambs was showered with critical and commercial praise, and became only the third film ever to win the “Big Five” at the 1991 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best (Adapted) Screenplay.
And while it’s fair to say critics can sometimes get hyperbolic with their praise coming out of a screening as they’re hoping to be quoted, everything about Longlegs so far suggests they’re not exaggerating here. It’s getting quite good reviews, and it’s been a while since we’ve gotten a solid killer-thriller that doesn’t just descend into pulp.
The Marketing Campaign Is Great
Neon is clearly high up on Longlegs, too, as it’s been taking care to roll out a clever marketing campaign centering on the fear of the characters. Especially smart is the decision to hide Nic Cage’s Longlegs from the trailers and promo material, creating a boogeyman mystique around him that should serve the performance well. It’s one thing to see the monster in theaters after having already seen him in multiple trailers; it’s another to go in blind and feel one’s reaction to the monster for the first time. Neon is choosing the latter route, and it’s a smart one.
Nic Cage Turns In A Performance For The Ages
Those who love a good unhinged Nic Cage performance can revel in the fact that one of Longlegs‘ strongest points of praise is Cage as the serial killer. If you’re wondering why the above picture is so blurry, it’s because, again, Neon is making a point to hide him in all the trailers – that shot is only a fraction of a second and his face is still mostly hidden. It’s best to let him cook, as the saying goes, and they understand this with Cage.
It seems the decision to let Nicolas Cage be Nicolas Cage is a savvy one: his performance is one of his most memorably gonzo performances, over-the-top in a nightmarishly unsettling way. Cage does intense maniac better than just about any actor in Hollywood, and he uses his penchant for tapping into the darkly bonkers part of a role to great effect. In Longlegs, he gives a genuinely disturbing performance that will work its way under your skin. If for no other reason, it’s worth it to go to theaters just to see Cage do his thing.
