LONGLEGS

US, 2024, 101 minutes, Colour.

Maika Monroe, Nicholas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee.

Directed by Oz Perkins.

Longlegs was an immediate success on its release, very much spurred on by clever marketing, advertising the film starring Nicolas Cage but no images of him. For many bloggers, the marketing and promotion seems to have backfired for them, one not finding Longlegs as striking as hyped and hoped for. But, many, like this reviewer, find Longlegs very effective in what it sets out to do and its effect on its audience.

Basically, this is an FBI investigation film, Maika Mnroe as Lee Harker, a young agent, invited in to investigate the death of a family, the suicide of the father after killing his family. She seems to have some kind of clairvoyant power and is given the files of previous similar murders occurring over some time and is able to make all kinds of connections. She is working with an FBI chief, played by Blair Underwood, who relies on her conclusions.

However, the opening of the film, a car driving through the countryside, a little girl inside a house with a camera, going out to look at the visitor who does not get out of the car, then encountering a strange character tantalising and menacing at the same time. The audience gets a partial glimpse of Longlegs, leaving the full visuals until the second part of the film. Longlegs is played by Nicolas Cage who has played is fair share of manic characters. This one must be near the top of the list.

The screenplay by writer-director, Oz Perkins (son of Anthony Perkins, horror-menace influence) introduces the touch of the supernatural, Longlegs being a Satan worshipper.

Lee Harker is very serious about her role with the FBI and her investigations, her powers enabling her to decode strange letters in messages left by Longlegs, to work out his motivation, to lead to his arrest. But, she has her own difficulties in her relationship with her mother. And this will be integral to the development of the narrative.

While there are some very eerie moments, a sense of menace, the advantage of the screenplay is that there is, eventually, a coherent explanation of each of the characters, their interactions, the influences, leading to a dramatic finale that may or may not bring Longlegs’ activities and influence to a close. (And a recommendation that the film is best seen in the darkened cinema.)

1. The title, the central character? Serial killer? Satan worship? Investigation?
2. The settings, the 1970s to the 1990s, rural America, the American town, the FBI headquarters, homes, the countryside? The musical score?
3. The prologue, the little girl, watching out the window, the car in the countryside, the occupant not getting out, her going out, the confrontation with Longlegs, her mother?
4. Lee Harker, her background, phone calls with her mother, her mother’s erratic responses? As an FBI agent? Present at cases, viewing bodies? Her powers, making connections, being given the range of cases, the files, family deaths, the father killing the families, the letters, the lettering, the signature of Longlegs? The room, her rearranging the files, insights? Deciphering the code? The messages? The focus on the girls’ 9th birthdays on the six days surrounding the birthday? Working out the triangle, the missing date? The mystery of the identity of Longlegs? Speculation about his using an assistant?
5. Agent Carter, working with Lee Harker, his limitations, relying on her, the visits to families, the family and decaying bodies, his reaction? His own family, wife and daughter, friendly with Lee Harker, her visit?
6. The searching the house, the finding of the doll, the mysterious substance and its effect? Lee Harker and the finding of her mother’s photos, identifying Longlegs, his arrest, standing at the bus stop, the visuals of Longlegs, voice, face, white-mask, hair, sinister, satanic? At the bus stop, waiting for the arrest? The interrogation?
7. Longlegs as a dollmaker, in the basement, the gifts for the girls, the doll of Lee Harker?
8. Lee Harker, lonely, in her house, the desk, sinister sense of presence? Her mother’s calls?
9. Longlegs, motivation, behaviour, the killings, the doors of the paper, the murderous father and suicide? Longlegs being uncovered, the issue of an assistant, living downstairs, bashing his head, his death?
10. Lee Harker visiting her mother, with her associate, the mother killing the associate? The doll, its effect on her, her mother as the assistant? Her bargain with Longlegs to do his work, a Faustian pact?
11. The visuals, the mother dressing as a nun, bringing the dolls, received into homes, the deadly effect?
12. Agent Carter, his family, his daughter’s birthday, Lee Harker hurrying, the doll, the little girl attached, the behaviour of Carter, killing his wife in the kitchen, threatening his daughter, Lee Harker’s reaction, saving the little girl?
13. But…? The attempt to shoot the doll, no bullets, the voice singing happy birthday?