It’s a bit late for this review, and I fully realize sharing it now is just adding to the cacophony of voices talking about Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs, but I feel like I must add my voice to the noise. After one of the greatest marketing campaigns for a movie I have ever witnessed, a bunch of trailers, posters and commercials that tell you almost nothing about the movie you’re about to see, Longlegs has enjoyed one of the biggest opening weekends for an original horror movie in quite some time. I think the reason this movie works is the fact that I went into it knowing very little. In an effort to give you, the viewer, that same experience, here are my very vague thoughts on Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs.

Open on rural Oregon in the early 1990s. FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is in pursuit of a serial killer only going by the name Longlegs (Nicolas Cage), who has been attached to a series of murders spanning over the course of decades. Her partner (Blair Underwood) is concerned about her reserved, quiet demeanor that suggests a traumatic past and potentially a connection to the crime spree that is being investigated. The more Lee digs into this series of crimes, her discoveries spiral into terrifying madness, sending her and the viewer on a deeply disturbing journey to Hell.

The main thing I noticed early on here was there is so much inspiration in the visual style of this film, from films like The Silence of the Lambs, and any of David Fincher’s crime dramas, but namely Zodiac, Se7en, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The way shadows and light are used in the cinematography evokes a strong memory of those films, and sets a distinct and unsettling mood from the very beginning. Cinematographer Andrés Arochi, who has previously only made a selection of short films, shot this, and the way things are framed and depicted visually here is a big reason why Longlegs is so effective. The score by Zilgi (aka Elvis Perkins, musician and brother of the director) is also eerily unsettling from the minute we get going, and also adds to the vivid and haunting mood evident in every frame. The sound design is also incredibly immersive in the most fundamental way. This film would not be as nerve-wracking and effective as it is if all of these pieces were not perfectly in place.

Maika Monroe seems to have a bit of a reputation for picking twisted, disturbing projects, between It Follows, Watcher and now Longlegs. If you see her name attached to a project like this, I think it’s safe to say you’re in good hands. Monroe seems to be acutely aware of all that’s haunting this character, and only lets the audience in on it, little by little. She is instantly magnetic and her character is fascinating. She has shown considerable range as a performer, but I think she is particularly good for the horror genre, and I hope she continues to pick strange, demented projects like this.

Nicolas Cage, who has done everything in this business – twice – somehow finds what should go down as one of the defining performances of his career. The titular serial killer is not in very much of this movie, and yet his presence is felt throughout. Every moment Cage is onscreen, you will feel your stomach drop to the floor. He is absolutely terrifying here, and his performance is a bit nutty, but is never too over the top. You could easily imagine a serial killer like this existing and terrorizing people in the world in which we live. And that’s a lot of what makes this film so terrifying and memorable.

We also have some very good supporting work by Blair Underwood as the FBI agent working with Lee. Underwood is an underused and yet consistently reliable performer, and he’s great here. We have a deeply unsettling and surprising performance from Alicia Witt, as Lee’s mother, and Keirnan Shipka who has a memorable monologue.

Longlegs is a masterclass of building tension, atmosphere, suspense and unadulterated terror. I sat through most of the end credits unable to move, just awestruck and profoundly disturbed by the film I had just seen. There’s been significant hype surrounding this film and I don’t think that was misguided in the slightest. Longlegs is proving to be somewhat divisive among audiences who are suggesting it may have been overhyped. That is simply a matter of opinion, I guess. I felt like through watching it, I was in the presence of something truly demonic. Longlegs rocked me to my core and I find myself still thinking about this deeply disturbing film several days later.