Longlegs

Rating – 4/4

**SPOILERS**

         Happy Birthday! Wait, it isn’t your birthday? Well, happy almost birthday! And Hail Satan! I call this movie, Silence of the Lambs with Satan. It’s creepy, unsettling, dark, and with Nicolas Cage playing the titular serial killer, it’s also disturbingly hammy that lets him go all out. It’s part mystery, part occult horror, and wraps you in its darkness.  

         In the 1990’s, young FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is assigned to catch an elusive and cryptic serial killer known as Longlegs, who kills his victims before their birthdays and always on the fourteenth day of the month. And it’s a race against time to stop him before he kills again. And when Harker discovers that she has personal connections to Longlegs, the plot thickens.

         It’s a tense and claustrophobic movie and it’s a puzzle that needs to be solved and you’re right in the middle of it. Where is Longlegs? What’s his motive? And who is the next victim? Every moment feels like someone’s around the corner or somebody’s watching and the danger never ceases. That’s the power of this film: to feel the stress and the frustration of trying to stop a killer.

         I’ve mentioned this before, but while fictional characters like Freddy and Jason don’t exist, people like Longlegs do, and it makes it even scarier. Someone out there is truly out for innocent blood.

         That’s why I’m not in law enforcement.

         Also helping the atmosphere is the tight direction and cinematography, the shadows hiding whatever could be lurking in the darkness and the unsettling mood supported by the lighting and colors. It’s a bleak and serious tone that reminds us just how high the stakes are.

         I also forgot to mention that this film features creepy dolls as well. And you know I hate dolls so it was even more scary for me.

         But let’s address the serial killer in the room: Longlegs. Played by the wonderful Nicolas Cage. If you’ve seen movies like The Wicker Man (2006) or Vampire’s Kiss, or Willy’s Wonderland, you know he can ham it up. But in Longlegs, he doesn’t just chew the scenery, he DEVOURS it in all of its Satanic glory. But instead of laughing at the unintentional comedy, it just adds to the creepiness. Longlegs isn’t…quite there, to put it mildly. Everything he says is beyond cryptic and everything he does is just a game. And how can you get through to someone who thinks everything is just a joke?

         Cage is clearly having the time of his life in this role and it was made for him. And this time, his penchant for hamminess and exaggerated facial expressions adds to the creep factor, although it can garner a few laughs as well.

         But what would you do if you met someone like him? I don’t think you’d be laughing. I know I wouldn’t.

         While this film might be about birthdays, the only thing to celebrate is how creepy and how tense it is. I don’t believe dead families and the Dark Lord are things to be celebrated. There are no piñatas or cake, but rather cold-blooded murders and a ham and cheese performance by Nicolas Cage. But if there is a present for us, it’s one of the best films of the year.

         Happy Birthday! Hail Satan!