Horror film Longlegs boasts creepy vibes and a villainous Nicolas Cage

The ability of viewers to enjoy the new horror/thriller film Longlegs will depend on a variety of factors, with expectations leading the list. The film, which features a young female FBI agent pursuing a serial killer, clearly takes inspiration from Silence of the Lambs. But it also stars Nicolas Cage as the title murderer, giving a very Cage-y performance, something that can work very well or very poorly.

Broken up into three parts, it’s likely that viewers will have different reactions to each of them. At the center of it all is Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), who quickly shows a preternatural ability to track down suspects and decode ciphers. That latter talent plays a big part in her boss, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood), assigning her to the case of the killer known as Longlegs, as cryptic letters signed with that name have been found at the scenes of multiple supposed murder-suicides dating back decades.

The first part of the film, written and directed by Oswald Perkins, is by far the most successful, as it features a succession of well thought-out shots and accompanying music that do a great job at setting the creepy tone. The villain is introduced in a cleverly-conceived segment that gives a flavor of his evil without revealing too much. And, most importantly, it establishes the personality of Harker, one that’s almost devoid of emotion but in such a way that’s somehow unsettling and endearing at the same time.

While the filmmaking maintains its high level for the rest of the film, the storytelling starts to falter. Perkins starts to get caught up in a lot of minutiae and introduces a supernatural element, both of which cause the film to slow down noticeably. He also makes the choice to show Longlegs a lot more, an odd decision given that it would seem to be better to keep someone with such an off-kilter look and voice more mysterious.

The final act is a mixed bag. On one hand, it contains a solid twist that upends much of what has come before without coming completely out of nowhere, and features a gnarly surprise death scene. On the other, the section plays out in a strange manner, culminating in a climactic scene that’s baffling and underwhelming in its resolution of the overall story.

Through it all, though, Monroe remains a compelling presence. Sporting brown hair instead of her usual blonde, the indie horror queen shows off different sides of herself, a performance that may portend even bigger things from her in the future. Underwood, who always seems like he should be a bigger star than he is, digs in nicely to a meaty role. Cage will likely be divisive yet again; there are some moments where he’s very effective, and others where his hammy acting is laughable in a bad way.

Horror aficionados will find a lot to like about Longlegs, from the overall vibe to another great turn by Monroe. While the film’s faults don’t totally negate its positive aspects, it’s disappointing that the great start is not maintained all the way through.

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Longlegs is now playing in theaters.