Longlegs Gets ‘Scarier With Each Step,’ As The Nicolas Cage Horror ‘Leaves A Mark’ On Critics
Nicolas Cage has an extensive and unique catalog of roles in his career, with just the past few years including projects like Dream Scenario, Renfield and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Next up Cage is portraying the titular serial killer in the thriller Longlegs, which is set to hit theaters July 12. Critics have screened the movie, which sees an FBI agent discover a personal connection to the Satanic murderer she’s investigating, and they are downright unnerved by the upcoming horror movie.
Maika Monroe stars as Lee Harke of the FBI, and along with Nicolas Cage, Longlegs also stars Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee and Dakota Daulby in the movie that debuted at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. In our sister site GamesRadar’s review of Longlegs, Neil Smith rates the movie a perfect 5 out of 5, noting that a little bit of Cage goes a long way in this authentically scary dance with the devil. The critic writes:
The horrors, like Cage himself, are largely kept off-screen for much of the movie’s duration. Yet with its eerie soundscape and sepulchral visuals, Longlegs nevertheless succeeds as a deeply disconcerting experience, one that burrows into the brain as insidiously as the innocuous means its villain employs to disseminate his evil.
Sophie Butcher of Empire gives it 4 out of 5 stars, telling moviegoers to submit to the demonic darkness for a horrific sensory experience. The director immediately lets you know what you’re in for in the opening sequence, Butcher explains:
The first few minutes of Osgood Perkins’ unsettling new psychological thriller Longlegs are some of the most effective in recent memory. Playing with sound, sharp cuts and curiosity-inducing creepiness, Perkins delivers a series of jump-scares that get your heart pounding out of your chest. Trust us, you’ll feel it. It’s a hell of an opening, that says: this is a film to simultaneously lean into and wince away from; a film prepared to pull the rug from under you at any point; a film that delights in playing with your senses to provide maximum shock value.
William Bibbiani of The Wrap calls Osgood Perkins the modern master of dread, with his fourth project being the “scariest-looking film in recent memory.” Fear and oppression are the only emotions present in the atmosphere of this disquieting film, the critic says, writing:
Longlegs doesn’t want you to get your bearings. I watched it over a week ago and I’m still searching for mine. What’s clear is that as a stylist, Perkins is at the top of his game. Maybe even the top of anyone’s game. As a storyteller, he’s either a bold innovator or just slapping dream logic onto old-fashioned pulp. Either way Longlegs is a horrifying motion picture, if not Perkins’ best than at least his most striking. And when it strikes it leaves a mark.
Jacob Oller of Paste gives Longlegs an 8.5 out of 10 user rating, saying he needed a shower after his screening, as the movie drenches you in evil that can be felt in your hair, on your clothes and buzzing in the back of your mind. Nicolas Cage is “unforgettable” as the killer, Oller says, writing:
Cage moves like an aged rocker, once lithe and fluid, his strange gestures flitting between choreography and ritual. Swollen and makeup-caked like a KISS member’s corpse, Cage mugs and clowns with his Bogdanoff face, tearing at your psyche before finally relenting with some more traditionally vicious evil. Perkins allows Cage to max the volume out, clawing at the limits of the human voice until it tears free into the screeches of Zilgi’s score. Cage may have famously been cast as Superman, but he’s given the Joker performance of a lifetime. It’s big, and it’s a nightmare.
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast agrees with the critics above, calling Longlegs the most terrifying movie of the year. Nothing makes total sense in the best way possible, Schager says. In his words:
This saga of Satanic secrets and mommy dearests pulsates, from its chilling opening to its deviant finale, with nasty, misshapen malevolence. Firmly establishing the writer/director as a genre craftsman with few equals, it’s a thriller that grows fouler and scarier with each step toward damnation, as well as providing an unforgettable showcase for Nicolas Cage as a zealous maniac unlike any other.
Since receiving a perfect score when it debuted on Rotten Tomatoes, Longlegs has dipped only slightly to 91% Fresh from the opinions of 80 critics. If you want to see Nicolas Cage in what is by all accounts an unsettling and horrifyingly devilish experience, check your local theater for viewings starting Friday, July 12, and also be sure to check out our 2024 movie release calendar to see what else is coming.
