Early viewers of Nicolas Cage’s latest film, “Longlegs,” are hailing it as the best serial killer horror movie since “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). Directed by Oz Perkins (“Gretel & Hansel,” “I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House”), the film follows FBI agent Lee Harker, played by Maika Monroe, as she investigates a series of murders linked to a Satanic killer known as Longlegs, portrayed by Cage, set in the 1990s.
“Longlegs” is scheduled for release in the UK and the US on Friday, July 12. Despite the official release date still being weeks away, early screenings have already garnered significant praise for Perkins’ fourth feature.
Matt Neglia, editor of Next Best Picture, wrote on Twitter that “Longlegs” is “one of the best serial killer films in recent memory.” He described it as “psychologically scarring,” “sinister,” and “an unnerving descent into hell that will haunt your mind and soul.”
Another early viewer mentioned that the film left them “on the verge of tears in terror” and advised against watching “Longlegs” alone.
“Longlegs is the best serial killer horror film since ‘The Silence of the Lambs,’” claimed another fan. “Oz Perkins infuses dread and terror into every single frame. Utterly terrifying and unsettling, Maika Monroe is hypnotic, while Nicolas Cage will haunt your nightmares.”
Some audience members reported struggling to shake off the lingering fear after leaving the cinema. One person questioned: “Saw ‘Longlegs’ this morning and now I’m just supposed to… carry on with my day? It’s like Oz Perkins saw ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and thought, ‘Nah, not messed up enough for me.’”
Cage’s transformation into the film’s central killer isn’t fully visible in the trailer. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cage explained this decision was like “driving people towards a freak show at a circus tent.”
“We’ve got the thing behind the curtain, and when there’s enough people gathered around, we’re going to pull the curtain,” he said. “It’s the equivalent of putting a warning label on a jar of nitroglycerin.”
Speaking about his character, Cage added: “The monster is a highly, highly dangerous substance. The way it’s moved, unveiled, deployed has to be treated very carefully. Forget about the movie theater blowing up; the whole city could blow up, nay the country, maybe even the world. He is going to change your reality. Your doors of perception are going to open, and your life is not going to be the same.”
Following the reactions to early screenings, Perkins expressed his surprise at the intense responses. “I’m somewhat surprised that people are so kind of terrified by it and find it to be so intense and so gnarly and so grotesque and so brutal,” he told IndieWire.
“I never set out to make anybody feel bad. I don’t know that any filmmaker necessarily does, although there’s a couple of people who I wonder if their intention is to make people feel bad. I don’t like those movies at all. But for me, honestly, I just tried to make something that was good and that people would want to enjoy.”
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