Longlegs

As a lover of horror/thriller movies I cannot even stress how disappointed I was with this movie. The way plot was convoluted, the dialogue was lame and it was one of the worst movies I have ever seen! I actually left before the end because I was so bored. How anyone could compare this to silence of the lambs in greatness, astounds me. I tried to make sense of the film but just couldn't. I really can't even say there is one redeeming element of the movie, it fell flat on all aspects of a horror/thriller movie. I am shocked it has had so many good reviews. I have seen scarier true crime shows than what this was.

I am really open to all shenanigans, but this was unimaginative, acted badly and the story was completely incoherent. After a somewhat promising lukewarm start it just descended into nothingness.

Manila Monroe did her best to add a bit of acting towards it, but it wasn't enough. Nicolas Cage unfortunately was Completely consumed by his silly mask and one could have put any Hollywood star behind it without making a difference. So disappointing. Again a movie that was hyped by a clever marketing campaign and will be forgotten in a heartbeat. The only positive were the sometimes aesthetic and atmospheric camera shots.

Longlegs is an interesting film. It's sometimes good, sometimes scary, and sometimes laughably goofy. The marketing for the film was undoubtedly the greatest thing about it. It was so overhyped and well sold that I was convinced I'd be seeing a movie completely different than the one I just saw a few hours ago. The end result wasn't bad at all, it's just.. not the ultimate horror fright fest it was made out to be. The critics, filmmakers, and Nicolas Cage all raved about how Cage is unrecognizable and how he gives a skin crawling performance that you wouldn't be able to tell was him. I'm just gonna break the news and say that you can definitely tell it's Cage and he absolutely makes it a very Nicolas Cage role. He did a great job but I really wasn't quite sure if I was supposed to find him hilarious or terrifying. It was a memorable performance but I was way more puzzled and confused than scared. The rest of the movie is beautifully shot, scored, and paced. The story is riddled with plot holes galore and the twist veers into pretty silly territory. It's a good movie but it's not the scariest film of the decade or even the whole year.

Just got back from the film. Here's my quick breakdown of the positives and negatives without spoilers.

Pros: Cage is great for the time he's in the film. Great cinematography if you're into visual flare and style. Some decent elements of horror that are very interesting.

Cons: Hardly any visceral horror or gore whatsoever, feels incredibly "safe" for a film like this. Story is really competent and well-written until the very last act of the film and feels like a cliched trope we've seen in too many horror films in the last few years.

Overall, you'll have a good time. It's got moments of pure horror that can be easily expanded on or brought to light more, but the story itself takes a massive nosedive that just felt really jarring and too on the nose as if the audience wasn't intelligent enough to figure it out themselves. Just felt too safe to me to be considered the horror film of the year. There are significantly far better horror films that easily can make Longlegs run for its money and honestly the hype glorified this too much to be enjoyed as it set out to be. It's got great moments that show the potential of what it could have been, but it just detoured into something that everyone has seen already.

To say I was excited for this movie was an understatement. I watched all the trailers, the reviews, and was SOOO excited. A somewhat arthouse serial killer horror film, that's also satanic? With NICHOLAS CAGE? Hell yes!

And to be fair, there is a lot of stuff I loved in this movie. The cinematography is GORGEROUS, if you like cinematic films, this is one for you. The performances are all great, I love Nicholas Cage (though I wish he were in it more) and loved the quirky protagonist. The sound design was great, and the concept was interesting. I was hooked by the opening of the movie.

However, the plot and main twist in this movie really dumbs it down for me. As many pointed out, this movie was mis marketed. It's not a serial killer movie, and it's not a scary movie. It's much more of a supernatural thriller, and maybe some would find it scary and disturbing, but I found it to be neither. The main idea of the movie is revealed early on, (how the killings happen), and the end reveal is just... eh? But this movie really lacks on the tension. You don't feel stakes, or urgency, or any tension in the scenes, even when they very much could have tension. I hate comparing horror films, but a sort of similar film with its demonic aspect is last year's Talk to Me, and that film really shows how you can use that demonic concept to have a great amount of tension, urgency in the plot, and stakes with the characters.

This movie feels like a mish mash of silence of the lambs and sinister, but it doesn't really lean into either side of it and lacks the tension of it.