A chilling, half-remembered encounter from childhood looms over 鈥淟onglegs,鈥� Osgood Perkins鈥� stylishly composed 1990s-set horror about a young FBI agent (Maika Monroe) whose past seems to hold a key to a decades-long serial killer suburban spree.
In the opening flashback scene of 鈥淟onglegs,鈥� a young girl walks out of her house to meet a stranger on her snow-covered yard. We never see more than the bottom half of his face, but the sense of creepiness is overwhelming. The image, with a scream, cuts out before 鈥淟onglegs鈥� properly gets underway.
Twenty five years later, that girl (Monroe鈥檚 Lee Harker) is now grown and brought into the investigation. She鈥檚 preternaturally good at decoding the serial killer鈥檚 choreographed targets, but her psychological astuteness has a blind spot. In Osgood鈥檚 gripping if trite horror film about an elusive boogeyman, the most unnerving mystery is the foggy, fractured nature of childhood memory.
鈥淟onglegs,鈥� which opens in theaters Thursday, is arriving on its own wave of mystery thanks to a lengthy, enigmatic marketing campaign. Is the buzz warranted? That may depend on your tolerance for a very serious procedural that鈥檚 extremely adept at building an ominous slow burn yet nevertheless leads to a pile-up of horror tropes: satanic worship, scary dolls and an outlandish
It鈥檚 a credit to the harrowingly spell-binding first half of 鈥淟onglegs鈥� 鈥� and to Monroe 鈥� that the film's third act disappoints. After that prologue 鈥� presented in a boxy ratio with rounded edges, as if seen through an overhead projector 鈥� the screen widens. Harker, a terse, solitary detective, is part of a large task force to track down the killer behind the deaths of 10 families over the course of 30 years. Sent to knock on doors, she gazes up at a second floor window and knows immediately. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that one,鈥� she tells a partner (Dakota Daulby) whose lack of faith in her intuition quickly proves regrettable.
Harker is brought in for a psych evaluation that demonstrates her strange clairvoyance. Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) gives her all the accumulated evidence, which suggests the same killer 鈥� every murder scene has a coded letter left signed by Longlegs 鈥� but at the time points to no intruder within the homes of the murdered. Carter is reminded of Charles Manson. 鈥淢anson had accomplices,鈥� Harker reminds him. Also troubling: all of the victims have a daughter with a birthday of the 14th of the month, a trait Harker, naturally, shares.
Families are prominent in the narrative, too. Harker occasionally visits her shut-in mother (Alicia Witt) and their brief interactions suggest a knowingness with the cruelty of the world. One time on the phone, Harker tells her she's been busy with 鈥渨orks stuff.鈥�
鈥淣asty stuff?鈥� the mom asks. 鈥淵ep,鈥� she answers.
Scenes of dread follow as they hunt the killer in rural Oregon. They frequent the usual spots: an old crime scene, a locked up barn, an old witness in a psychiatric hospital. Longlegs (Cage) is skulking about, too, and leaves a letter for Harker. We see him fleetingly at first. He鈥檚 a bleached, pale figure who, with long white hair, looks increasingly clownish the nearer we get to him. If Manson belonged to the 鈥�60s, Longlegs, with his , seems a product more in the 鈥�70s. T.Rex opens and closes the film and the album cover of Lou Reed鈥檚 鈥淭ransformer鈥� sits above his mirror.
Perkins (鈥淕retel & Hansel鈥�), is the filmmaking son of Anthony Perkins, who famously played one of the movies鈥� most unsettling characters in Norman Bates of 鈥淧sycho.鈥� The roots of 鈥淟onglegs,鈥� which Perkins also wrote, have personal connections for the director, Perkins has said, about his own upbringing and his father鈥檚 complicated private life. But something deeper struggles to pierce 鈥淟onglegs." Its sense of horror seems to come mainly from little besides other movies. 鈥淪e7en鈥� and 鈥淭he Silence of the Lambs鈥� are clear touchstones. Longlegs ultimately feels like more of a stock boogeyman and big-screen vessel for Cage.
In any case, this is Monroe鈥檚 movie. Her compelling screen presence in movies like 鈥淚t Follows鈥� and has earned her the title of today鈥檚 preeminent 鈥淪cream Queen.鈥� But she鈥檚 much more than a single-genre talent. Again and again in 鈥淟onglegs,鈥� Monroe鈥檚 Harker confronts a singularly disturbing scenario and walks right in. It鈥檚 not that she isn鈥檛 nervous; her heavy breathing is part of the artful sound design by Eugenio Battaglia. Monroe, steely and strong, cuts like a knife through this almost cartoonishly severe film. Nasty stuff? Yep.
鈥淟onglegs,鈥� a Neon release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for bloody violence, disturbing images and some language. Running time: 101 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
