With his upcoming horror flick Longlegs delighting critics and earning praise like “repulsive,” “a masterpiece,” and “terrifying,” Nicolas Cage looks to have struck another home run.
After impressing (and frightening) every single one of its on-record viewers thus far, the new film has also earned a remarkable 100% on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.
In the horror film, Cage, 60, plays the terrifying part of a serial murderer who is being hunted by FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), who leaves notes marked “Longlegs” near the dead at his crime locations.
Harker finds a personal connection to the murderer and needs to take immediate action to put an end to his horrifying killing spree as the inquiry gets more intricate and occult evidence is found.
Osgood Perkins wrote and directed the film Longlegs, which also stars Blair Underwood and Alicia Witt. Kiernan Shipka, who played Longlegs’ lone survivor in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, produces the film along with Renfield actor Cage.
The movie is slated for release in the US in July, making it ideal for a summertime horror feast. However, audiences in the UK will have to wait a little longer since we are still awaiting word on the Neon horror’s UK release.
It appears that fans that enjoy being genuinely terrified will not be let down, either.
Among its rave reviews, Slashfilm gushed of Longlegs: ‘It’s the most terrifying horror movie of 2024, a film that gets under your skin and may never get out.’
Meanwhile Bloody Disgusting observed that the movie immerses viewers ‘so thoroughly in the repulsive, discomforting nature of evil through terrifying imagery and a tactile atmosphere that it’s unshakable’.
Flickering Myth also praised it as ‘easily the scariest film of the decade’, while other critics dubbed it ‘the most terrifying horror movie of 2024’ and ‘an unholy, horrifying confluence of high art and anxiety’.
‘It’s as if Oz Perkins’ cinematic freak-fest was forged in Hell by Satan, who brought it as an artifact into our world as a gift,’ suggested critic Courtney Howard for Fresh Fiction.
Thus, you have been forewarned.
In the movie’s trailer, Longlegs also takes pains to keep Cage’s killer mostly hidden, giving viewers just fleeting views of the man’s drastically changed appearance and dishevelled hair.
It also uses his creepy narration to underscore the teaser, with Cage’s Longlegs initially heard softly telling Harker: ‘I know that you’re not afraid of a little bit of dark – because you are the dark.’
He reprimands her for not “playing nice with him” as well. “I will be waiting,” he said, sounding a little menacing.
Oscar-winning Throughout his lengthy and varied career, Cage has starred in a number of highly regarded horror films, including Mandy, Vampire’s Kiss, and The Wicker Man.
As the son of actor Anthony Perkins, who portrayed Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Perkins too has a strong horror heritage.
In 1983’s Psycho II, Perkins Jr. portrayed the 12-year-old version of Bates in his debut acting role. Since then, he has written and directed the horror films The Blackcoat’s Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and Gretel & Hansel in addition to acting in Legally Blonde, Secretary, and Alias.
Longlegs is out in the US on July 12. A UK release date is yet to be announced.
