Imagine SEVEN meets SILENCE OF THE LAMBS with a supernatural element, and you’ve got LONGLEGS, an entertaining horror film featuring one of Nicholas Cage’s best performances.
In this police procedural horror film, FBI agent Lee Harker is recruited to a task force working a case involving a bizarre series of murder-suicides–each involving a father killing his family and himself and leaving a coded letter signed “Longlegs.” She finds herself pursuing a serial killer who kills by implanting homicidal madness in otherwise upright families. As she goes deeper into the case, memories begin to surface that suggests she has met this sinister figure before.
The movie has a wonderful brooding atmosphere going for it, elevated by Cage’s gonzo performance as Longlegs. The supernatural element is a lot of fun. On the downside, it’s awfully derivative of stronger films, though I didn’t mind that all that much as I had a good time. Probably my biggest criticism is Harker has almost no personality, appears constantly on edge, and makes some really terrible decisions, especially at the end, but hey, it’s a horror movie.
Overall, it’s not exactly what was sold in the marketing, particularly in its messy last act rife with odd decisions and strange continuity errors, but I liked it and it is a lot of fun, and it’s honestly worth watching for Cage’s creepy performance alone.
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