When it comes to filmmaking, crafting the atmosphere and tone can make or break a film. A few creative choices when it comes to building the atmosphere and conveying tone can make the difference in a movie being Shaft or Dolemite. This is vital when it comes to horror films, and Longlegs shows how a masterfully crafted tone and atmosphere can lead to one of the most thrilling horror films of the year.
Directed by Oz Perkins, Longlegs follows Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), a pseudo-psychic and emotionally detached FBI agent who is assigned to investigate a string of murder-suicide cases that are all connected via letters left behind by a mysterious figure known only as “Longlegs”. As Harker dives deeper into the case, she discovers that these cases are contacted in a much more sinister way, and it’s up to her and her partner Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) to find Longlegs before he strikes again.
The titular “Longlegs” is played by Nicolas Cage, who continues to remind people that he is one of the most versatile and fascinating actors we have right now. Cage brings a dementedly dark energy to the role, with his pale face, manic mannerisms, and utterly terrifying voice performance. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Maika Monroe portrays Lee Harker as a quiet and reserved FBI agent who is no stranger to the evils of the world, staring into the void with a cold glare and gun at the ready. Harker’s cold demeanor is a very interesting choice for a protagonist, as usually, the leads in these stories are a bit more energetic and expressive. I find that this role could have come off as extremely flat if it were not for Monroe’s subtle facial performance throughout the film. She’s not your typical scream queen or your run-and-gun, dynamic detective. Instead, she’s this emotionally distant, driven investigator who is as competent as she is perceptive.
Blair Underwood’s agent Carter is your standard investigator with a pragmatic attitude toward solving this case but is still willing to crack a few jokes along the way. Alicia Witt plays Ruth Harker, Lee’s mother, a religious shut-in who has made their family into a landfill of family “treasures” and memories. While Cage is going out of his way to chew some of the scenery, he is joined by Witt who is equally going for it in some scenes, which I found to be very entertaining.
The most successful aspect of the film has to be its absolute mastery of tone. Every scene is carefully designed on all levels to make the audience feel uneasy, dreadful, and uncomfortable. Scenes are framed in these wide frames with lots of empty space, which persuades the viewer to let their eyes wander to see what evil could be lurking in the background. Additionally, the sound design invokes sounds that will make you squirm in your seat, and the editing is so unpredictable that you begin to get anxious as to what visual could possibly come next. There’s a scene early on where all of these filmmaking techniques came together so perfectly, that I jumped in fear when someone just casually opened a door because my mind and body were sure something terrible was about to happen. Perkins and every member of his creative team proved they knew exactly what buttons to press to make their audience squirm in their seats in terror. This control extends beyond simple scare tactics. There are moments in Longlegs that invoke such a sense of discomfort you feel the need to laugh because no other reaction feels right. Some scenes feel as though they are geared to be intentionally funny, while others are just so tonally bizarre that your brain short circuits. All of this coalesces into a film that forces its audience to consistently endure a rollercoaster of emotions.
While the tone is masterfully crafted, the story is not. Without going into spoilers, the plot falls apart in the third act, which is rather disappointing. There’s a major plot point in the beginning of the film that helped flesh out the importance of the main character and provided a rather interesting twist in this type of story more or less disappears after the first act. There’s a rather annoying use of the recent trend of putting chapter markers in the film, which I found to be rather pointless. They don’t hurt the film, but feel like an unnecessary accessory that if taken out would go unnoticed. Additionally, Longlegs seemingly lacks any thematic depth beyond maybe the “corrupting power of evil”? This is consistent with Perkins’s previous work Gretal and Hansel which I found visually interesting but lacked any real substance to chew on after the film washed over me. While Longlegs feels akin to other classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the obviously comparable The Silence of The Lambs, I fear its lack of depth might hold it back from becoming a contemporary in the realm of iconic horror films.
Longlegs feels like going to a pool in the dark. You tread carefully, scared of how deep the water is, the lack of light makes you feel like anything could be in this bowl with you. As you move deeper the water rises slowly engulfing you as your feet feel around to gauge the depth of the pool. Eventually though, once your eyes have adjusted and your body has become comfortable with the space, you realize the pool is only 5ft deep. Sure going through the experience was scary, but in hindsight, you were only reacting naturally to the event unfolding in front of you, not because of anything psychological or metaphysical.
That being said, Longlegs is a masterfully crafted, terrifying thrill ride that will make your skin crawl with every long shot, musical cue, and line of dialogue that creeps out of Nicholas Cage’s dry, pale face. One of the most effective films this year in terms of creating an atmosphere and tone that will engulf you in paranoia as you walk back to your car from the theatre, so be sure to lock your doors and remember to say your prayers.
Longlegs: 4 out of 5 stars
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