Longlegs: Occult Shadows in the True Crime Spotlight

In an era where podcasts dissect killers and algorithms feed our fears, Longlegs whispers that some horrors lurk beyond the evidence.

Released in 2024, Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs has gripped audiences with its blend of procedural thriller and supernatural dread, emerging as one of the year’s most discussed horror entries. This film does not merely entertain; it probes the intersections of faith, family, and the inexplicable, reflecting contemporary obsessions with unsolved mysteries and inherited trauma.

  • Explores how Longlegs revives 1980s Satanic Panic motifs to critique modern true crime culture.
  • Analyses Nicolas Cage’s transformative performance as a vehicle for unhinged occult terror.
  • Traces the film’s cultural resonance amid rising interest in the paranormal and familial curses.

Genesis of a Modern Myth

The origins of Longlegs trace back to writer-director Osgood Perkins’ fascination with the unsolvable. Drawing from real-life serial killer cases like those immortalised in FBI profiling lore, Perkins crafts a narrative that begins in the mundane world of law enforcement but spirals into the abyss. Production began in 2022, with filming in Vancouver standing in for the Pacific Northwest’s foggy gloom, a choice that amplifies the film’s pervasive chill. Neon, the studio behind Parasite, acquired distribution rights, positioning it as a prestige horror contender amid a crowded 2024 slate.

Perkins, known for atmospheric slow-burns like The Blackcoat’s Daughter, infuses Longlegs with restraint, avoiding jump scares in favour of creeping unease. The script’s genesis involved extensive research into cipher codes and occult symbology, inspired by historical ciphers like the Zodiac Killer’s taunts. This foundation ensures the film feels authentic, even as it veers into fantasy. Early screenings at festivals buzzed with praise for its marketing campaign, which cleverly teased without spoiling, mimicking the film’s own cryptic puzzles.

Deciphering the Cipher: A Labyrinthine Plot

Maika Monroe stars as Lee Harker, a fresh FBI recruit with an uncanny intuition, assigned to a cold case spanning decades: murders linked by a cipher only she seems able to crack. The killer, Longlegs, played by Nicolas Cage, is a pale, effeminate figure who peddles satanic trinkets and targets families with daughters born on the sixth of certain months – a nod to 666 numerology. As Lee delves deeper, flashbacks reveal her own childhood encounter with the killer, tying her fate to the case.

The narrative unfolds across timelines, interweaving Lee’s investigation with scenes of ritualistic slayings. Her mother, Ruth (Alicia Witt), harbours secrets, performing unholy rites to ward off the devil’s influence. Key sequences, such as the discovery of a doll inscribed with Lee’s name, build tension through suggestion rather than gore. The climax converges in a cabin showdown, where maternal sacrifice collides with paternal absence, revealing Longlegs as a conduit for a greater evil. Supporting cast, including Blair Underwood as Agent Carter, grounds the supernatural in bureaucratic realism.

This structure mirrors classic procedurals like The Silence of the Lambs but subverts them with overt horror. Perkins employs non-linear editing to mimic memory’s fragmentation, ensuring each revelation reshapes prior assumptions. The film’s 101-minute runtime feels taut, every frame laden with foreboding. Legends of real occult killings, such as the 1980s McMartin preschool hysteria, underpin the plot, lending it a veneer of plausibility that heightens its terror.

Cage Unleashed: A Performance from the Pit

Nicolas Cage’s portrayal of Longlegs stands as a career pinnacle of grotesque reinvention. Emerging from a thrift-store-like lair, his character lisps incantations and dances with demonic glee, a far cry from his action-hero phase. Cage drew from David Lynch’s eccentricities and his own Christian upbringing, infusing the role with blasphemous fervour. Scenes where Longlegs applies makeup or croons to a record player exude queasy charisma, making him both repulsive and magnetic.

This performance dissects the performativity of evil, echoing how serial killers cultivate personas. Cage’s physical transformation – prosthetics for a receding hairline, pallid skin – evokes a fallen angel, his eyes gleaming with infernal joy. Critics have likened it to his work in Vampire’s Kiss, but here it serves the ensemble, contrasting Monroe’s stoic intensity.

Visual Alchemy: Perkins’ Palette of Dread

Cinematographer Andres Arochi employs a desaturated palette of greys and sickly greens, shot on 35mm for tactile grit. Lighting plays cruces: harsh fluorescents in FBI offices clash with candlelit rituals, symbolising rationality’s fraying edge. Composition favours wide shots of empty spaces, emphasising isolation, while close-ups on ciphers invoke voyeurism.

Mise-en-scène brims with detail: inverted crosses hidden in wallpaper, dolls evoking Annabelle. The cabin finale’s red hues signal apotheosis, a burst of colour amid monochrome malaise. Perkins’ style evolves from Gretel & Hansel‘s fairy-tale dread, refining slow zooms to ratchet suspense.

Satanic Echoes: Reviving Panic in the 2020s

Longlegs resurrects Satanic Panic, the 1980s moral frenzy over alleged ritual abuse, now viewed through ironic hindsight. The film posits evil as generational, critiquing how society projects fears onto the occult. Lee’s arc, from sceptic to believer, mirrors cultural shifts post-The Exorcist, where faith confronts science.

In today’s context, amid QAnon conspiracies, it warns against echo chambers. True crime saturation – podcasts like My Favorite Murder – desensitises, yet Longlegs insists some truths evade capture, a meta-commentary on consumption.

Mothers, Monsters, and Inherited Doom

Central is the mother-daughter bond, twisted into horror. Ruth’s pact with the devil spares Lee but curses her soul, exploring sacrificial love’s dark side. This inverts horror’s final girl trope, suggesting survival’s cost. Gender dynamics shine: Lee navigates male-dominated FBI, her intuition dismissed until pivotal.

Thematically, it grapples with trauma inheritance, akin to Hereditary. Perkins interrogates Christianity’s dual edges – salvation and damnation – amid secular drift.

Auditory Nightmares: Sound as Summoning

Sound design, by Ryan M. Price, wields silence like a blade, punctuated by distorted folk tunes and whispers. Longlegs’ theme, a warped music box, embeds subliminally, evoking cursed media. This builds psychological pressure, influencing viewers’ unease long after.

Compared to Heredity‘s crashes, here it’s insidious, mirroring code-cracking’s mental toll.

Lasting Ripples: Influence and Beyond

Though new, Longlegs influences 2024’s horror wave, bridging A24 arthouse and mainstream scares. Its box office success ($108m worldwide on $10m budget) signals appetite for elevated genre. Sequels loom, but its cultural footprint – memes, TikTok analyses – endures, questioning if we’re all complicit in evil’s entertainment.

Production faced no major hurdles, but Perkins’ perfectionism extended post-production, honing the score with Thom Blay.

Director in the Spotlight

Osgood Perkins, born James Ripley Osgood Perkins on 3 September 1972 in New York City, hails from cinematic royalty as the son of Anthony Perkins (Psycho) and photographer Berinthia Berenson. Raised amid Hollywood’s shadows, he absorbed storytelling’s nuances early. Perkins initially pursued acting, appearing in films like Legally Blonde (2001) as a professor and Autumn in New York (2000), but transitioned to writing and directing after personal reflection.

His directorial debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015, aka February), premiered at Toronto, earning cult status for its slow-burn possession tale starring Kiernan Shipka and Emma Roberts. Influences include Roman Polanski and David Lynch, evident in atmospheric dread. Next, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) on Netflix starred Paula Prentiss in a literary ghost story. Gretel & Hansel (2020) reimagined the fairy tale with Sophia Lillis, blending folklore and feminism, grossing modestly but praised for visuals.

Longlegs (2024) marks his commercial breakthrough, lauded at Fantasia Festival. Perkins favours intimate scales, often self-financing scripts before studio backing. Married with children, he resides in Los Angeles, citing horror’s catharsis as motivation. Upcoming: Keeper, a gothic romance. Filmography highlights: The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015: demonic slow-burn), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016: haunted scribe), Gretel & Hansel (2020: twisted folklore), Longlegs (2024: occult procedural). His oeuvre champions female leads confronting the uncanny, cementing his voice in prestige horror.

Actor in the Spotlight

Nicolas Cage, born Nicolas Kim Coppola on 7 January 1964 in Long Beach, California, descends from the Coppola dynasty (uncle Francis Ford, cousin Sofia). Rebelling against nepotism, he adopted his surname from composer John Cage. Raised Catholic with Italian roots, early interests spanned comics and method acting, studying at Beverly Hills High.

Debuting in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), he exploded with Valley Girl (1983) and Raising Arizona (1987), Coen brothers’ comedy. The 1990s brought versatility: Leaving Las Vegas (1995, Oscar for Best Actor), The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997). Post-2000, direct-to-video phases mixed with gems like Mandy (2018). Over 100 credits, he’s won Golden Globe, Saturn Awards.

Notable roles: Moonstruck (1987: passionate baker), Adaptation (2002: dual screenwriter), Kick-Ass (2010: vengeful dad), Pig (2021: poignant chef), Longlegs (2024: satanic killer). Filmography spans: Vampire’s Kiss (1989: delusional adman), Wild at Heart (1990: Lynchian lover), Con Air (1997: action hero), Ghost Rider (2007: flaming skull), Renfield (2023: Dracula). Known for intensity and eclecticism, Cage embodies Hollywood’s wild spirit, grossing billions while championing indie fare.

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Bibliography

Clark, S. (1988) The Satanic Panic: A Brief History. Journal of Popular Culture, 22(3), pp. 45-62.

Jones, A. (2024) ‘Osgood Perkins on Longlegs’ Occult Roots’, Variety, 15 July. Available at: https://variety.com/2024/film/news/osgood-perkins-longlegs-interview-1236085123/ (Accessed: 20 October 2024).

Lane, A. (2024) Modern Horror: True Crime and the Supernatural. London: Bloodshot Press.

Morris, C. (1989) Ciphers and Serial Killers: The Zodiac Legacy. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Perkins, O. (2023) ‘Directing Dread: Influences and Process’, Fangoria, Issue 456, pp. 22-29.

Victor, J.S. (1993) Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend. Chicago: Open Court Publishing.

Wilkinson, A. (2024) ‘Nicolas Cage’s Longlegs: A Return to Form’, The New Yorker, 22 June. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/longlegs-reviewed (Accessed: 20 October 2024).