By John Corrado

The latest film from writer-director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel and Hansel), Longlegs is a deeply unsettling mix of horror movie and police procedural, unfolding with a suffocating atmosphere that keeps us invested right from the chilling opening flashback.

Maika Monroe (The Guest, It Follows) stars in the film as Lee Harker, a rookie FBI agent who gets put on the case of a serial killer who calls himself Longlegs (played by Nicolas Cage). The case has gone somewhat cold, until Lee’s involvement brings up a series of new leads involving a number of bizarre murder-suicides.

The victims are all families with young daughters, with the fathers seemingly being pushed to kill their entire families before taking their own lives. Longlegs leaves behind letters written in code at all of his crime scenes. But stranger still is the fact that there are no signs of forced entry at any of the homes.

The son of horror icon and Norman Bates actor Anthony Perkins, Perkins is a filmmaker who knows a thing or two about the genre, and Longlegs is an aesthetically accomplished work that proves he is the real deal. Working with cinematographer Andrés Arochi, the film uses steady wide shots, with characters or objects often framed in the centre of the screen. This allows the film to make use of negative spaces, as we wait for something to invade the emptiness in the frame.

The square-with-rounded-edges polaroid (or “ViewMaster”) aspect ratio of the eery opening scene gives the film a nostalgic feel. The 1990s setting and authentic production design also helps. The film taps into primal fears from childhood, like shadowy figures lurking outside windows or late night knocks on the door. The grisly images and moments of visceral gore are used somewhat sparingly, to have more of an impact when they do appear.

The film works as a methodical detective movie, unfolding at a deliberate pace that allows the audience to discover clues alongside Lee. There are obvious elements of The Silence of the Lambs, as well as David Fincher’s serial killer films Se7en and Zodiac. But partway through it becomes apparent that Longlegs is forging its own path; the film almost feels like a pitch black fairy tale, a proper 1990s serial killer thriller that also weaves in elements of the Satanic Panic.

Monroe is excellent, bringing incredible focus to her portrayal of Lee, who is described as “semi-psychic” and operates on instinct. The character’s flat effect and methodical way of doing things is a key aspect, with Monroe captivatingly portraying her meticulous approach to police work. Cage (who also produced the film) is at his most disturbing, putting every bit of himself into a demented performance that shows real control and skill to pull off so convincingly. Keeping the actor’s face partially hidden in many early scenes (and in the film’s marketing) is a stroke of genius; Cage is almost unrecognizable under a layer of makeup, a figure out of nightmares who contorts his voice and behaves erratically.

There’s just something about Longlegs that feels haunted and even cursed in a way that really gets under your skin, and Perkins does an excellent job of maintaining this tense, creepy atmosphere throughout. It builds to something that feels relentless, not because of endless jump-scares (though there are a few), but simply because of how genuinely disturbing it is. The film taps into something visceral, something real; something that feels, for lack of a better word, demonic. I don’t want to speak too soon, but this feels like a new horror classic.

Film Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)

Longlegs opens exclusively in theatres on July 12th. It’s being distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures.