Knock on Wood

Horror is, at its core, meant to disturb its audience, but the best horror stories also distract – like film as a medium, horror takes you to a world removed from our own, where the very real scariness of our own world is heightened and exaggerated, whether that be through the presences of supernaturally enhanced slashers or fantastically horrific situations that can only exist on the fictional spectrum.

Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs exists in that spectrum’s most disturbing liminal space. A film fully aware of horror conventions and how to sidestep and subvert every single one, Longlegs gets under your skin in a way that’s very difficult to put into words. It gives you a reaction rather than an opinion, a visceral feeling that sticks with you long after the credits roll. The hype machine would have you believe it’s the most frightening piece of art to ever exist, that pus would ooze out of my bones and contaminate my very mortality, but even if that isn’t true regarding my personal experience, Longlegs is truly a singular work, the kind of which I have never seen before and may never see again.

Part of its efficacy comes from the excellent marketing campaign, which abandoned traditional trailers in favor of cryptic promos and vague, encrypted postings. Because of that, I knew very little going in, and that served me very well – all I knew was that it followed an FBI agent, Lee Harker (played by Maika Monroe, who has specialized in horror roles since her breakout in It Follows) and her hunt for an elusive serial killer named Longlegs (played beautifully by Nicolas Cage, who was also a producer on the film). That’s all I needed to know, and the experience folded out very nicely from there.

And it is an experience. Longlegs is unashamedly a ’90s-set period piece, an aspect that contributes greatly to both its retro feel and general unease, removing the modern amenities that would render some plot points unnecessary. Everything is in service of the vibe that Perkins delicately paints with an immaculate, bloody brush. It’s creepy rather than scary, choosing to sit in moments rather than rush through what could have been a very different story if the breathing time was cut. In fact, it might be one of the creepiest movies I’ve ever seen, hence the fact I was constantly looking over my shoulder from the moment I left the theater to the second I closed the door to my house. Perkins had my eye constantly trained on the background, just in case a shape were to pass by or make itself known in the darkness, only to blindside me with a perfectly-timed injection of piercing sound.

I have always had a small but vocal fear of the dark; some nights, it’s hard to shake, but it’s especially comforting to know I’m safe in my own house. Longlegs is a terrifying reminder that it’s not the dark we’re afraid of – it’s what lurks inside. The choice to hide the face of Cage’s notorious serial killer in the marketing plays into our fear of the unknown; if we don’t see it, our minds paint an infinitely scarier picture than what reality would reveal. The film takes a similar attitude when it comes to the violence. There’s plenty of blood and brutality, but (save for one crucial scene that comes as a shock because of this very approach) the actual inflicting of the wound is always done ever so slightly off-screen. I can’t recall another horror movie so confident in its unflinching commitment to ferocity while holding back at just the right moment to preserve a twisted lack of responsibility…much like the titular psychopath.

If anything, Longlegs is a reminder that evil exists and takes many forms, even if its origin is familiar…but here, the actual mechanics of the story (although it maintains a unique delivery throughout) are not the point. Longlegs is a feeling, a sensation, a prominence that will haunt you. Perkins has now firmly cemented himself as one of the most creative voices in the modern horror landscape – props to Neon for giving this film the high-profile rollout it deserves – because there’s a definite skill to imbuing a theater full of petrified moviegoers with an electrifying energy that’s hard to come by from a piece of visual art. Monroe creates an empathetic and fully-rounded character through her mannerisms alone, and Cage (who has been on quite a roll these last few years) is spellbinding and chilling as the film’s baddie, used just enough to maintain his mystique. Longlegs is the sort of horror movie that validates the efficacy of the medium and proves there’s still a home for original horror.

Run, don’t walk, to your local theater to see Longlegs…that is, if you can handle it. Then run all the way home, looking behind you the entire time. You never know who could be lurking in the shadows.

Longlegs is playing in theaters now.