Comparisons of the movie Longlegs to projects like Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon stretch a few major issues. Yes, Hannibal Lector shows up in stories featuring F.B.I. agents and killers who repeatedly stalk victims, including entire families. And yes, Oscar winning actors play the killer—more than that, Anthony Hopkins earned his first Academy Award portraying Hannibal so respectable Shakespearean roots set up no barriers to thrash around in the muddy waters of horror. But while Silence of the Lambs and its relatives feature real F.B.I. protocol and known serial killer behaviors, Longlegs writer-director Osgood Perkins mines a moodier and imaginary note with inspiration from an 80s T-Rex song combined with supernatural and religious elements. Discovering these connections, scream queen Maika Monroe reacts with opaqueness, an unlikely candidate for government officials to trust in solving a string of killings going back decades. Monroe moves as if in a dream, exactly the tone Perkin wants for a nightmarish fright fest that prizes startling images and jump out of your seat moments over logical storytelling. The best of the movie’s jolts come from Nicolas Cage, billed as Longlegs in opening credits because otherwise a vocal style reminiscent of Laugh In’s Tiny Tim plus heavy-duty
prosthetics hide his usual recognizable traits. But then, Cage’s track record includes sidetracking along oddball paths, embracing horror with glee as he did playing Dracula in Renfield. Cage gives Longlegs an extra push in the realm of bizarre, one that stands on its own legs with nightmarish style and creepiness.
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