By – Nick Adrian

For fans of slow burn horror, 90s FBI procedurals, and Nicolas Cage

Director Osgood Perkins was literally born into the world of horror film culture – he’s the son of Psycho’s Anthony Perkins. To make a name for himself, however, he’s directed a string of unique horror movies – the most recent being the Satanic serial killer mystery Longlegs. Perkins’ strengths as a writer-director culminate in this effort, giving us a refreshing and truly terrifying new horror that is sure to go down as a classic.

The film follows new FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as her peculiar psychic abilities secure her a strange case involving a series of murder-suicides across 1990s Oregon. Though the victims are unrelated, the crimes are not: every family had a nine year old daughter born on the fourteenth of the month, the murders occurred within six days before or after their birthday, the father was always the murderer, and each scene had a calling card left behind belonging to someone named “Longlegs” (Nicolas Cage). Lee, having a religious background due to her overprotective mother (Alicia Witt), sees Satanic connections in the codes Longlegs leaves behind and even fears she might have a personal connection with the man himself.

Monroe has long been a face in the horror genre but might have delivered a definitive performance here. Much like Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs, Monroe plays the character in a shy, reserved way that hypnotizes. She knows something – the only hint may rely solely on her facial expressions, but she knows something. Cage delivers a performance that might finally convince his naysayers but to his true defenders, it’s simply another masterful turn for the craftsman, weaving evil, comedy, and glam rock all into one character. The true MVPs of the film lie in Witt and Blair Underwood as Lee’s superior. Underwood serves as the heart and logic of the film, criminally overshadowed by the flashier roles but an incredible turn nonetheless.

Longlegs had one of the most impressive marketing campaigns for a film I have seen in recent years: a series of short teaser trailers periodically appearing online that only showed glimpses of the murder scenes along with coded messages. Because of this, the hype for the film was heavy and audiences were ready for the next bloody, violent, chaotic horror film. Rather, Perkins directs with subtlety, the film playing out slowly and menacingly. He uses negative space to enhance the terror – there are empty doorways behind Lee very often that look like someone could pop up in them at any minute. Its pace and music create a sense of dread and suspense that leaves your stomach on edge from the first frame. In short, with Longlegs Perkins has cemented himself as a sole individual in the world of horror and I personally can’t wait to see what he does next.