Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Longlegs.It’s been one year since Longlegs was released, and I’ve changed my mind about this high-profile, Nicolas Cage horror. Leading up to its 2024 premiere, the feature film generated endless hype, a testament to its innovative and captivating marketing campaign. Helmed by Osgood Perkins, the film saw an overwhelmingly positive response. When the reviews for Longlegs began to pour in, many drew comparisons between the film and other classic horrors, such as The Silence of the Lambs or the more recent thriller Se7en. Although these projects have some common ground, Longlegs is ultimately plagued by a number of problems.
The ending of Longlegs is quite ambiguous, leaving the door open for a potential sequel, though its production remains uncertain. While Maika Monroe does an excellent job at depicting Agent Lee Harker and her internal struggles, Nicolas Cage’s unsettling performance as a horror character is the undeniable centerpiece of Longlegs. This is the film’s focus, with much of the effort to bring people to theaters for Longlegs stemming from Cage’s prominent role in the film. However, one year out, while the movie did succeed, the harsh truth about Cage’s appearance means Longlegs didn’t necessarily live up to the hype from its marketing.
Longlegs’ Appearance Wasn’t Really As Scary As Its Marketing Suggested
Longlegs Is Not Necessarily Nicolas Cage’s Scariest Role
Longlegs had an incredibly unique marketing strategy which was handled by Neon Studios, an independent production company. Their promotional campaign relied on a digital, viral strategy that included several interesting elements. The first was the very smart placing of billboards featuring unsettling images, and a phone number that played pre-recorded messages from Cage when it was called. The advertisement for Longlegs, crucially, left Nicolas Cage out, a move that has since been described as “a masterclass in horror movie marketing” (via Medium.) It masterfully built tension, instantly captivating audiences who then became completely invested.
This technique was inspired by Jaws when part of the reason why this film is so iconic is because of how little we see the actual shark. This means that the promotional strategy for Longlegs has since been branded as the “Jaws influence,” by publications such as The Daily Jaws. However, for all its achievements, Cage’s Longlegs didn’t necessarily live up to its reputation for being truly terrifying, once the mystery was gone. While the film effectively built anticipation for Nicolas Cage’s transformation in Longlegs, looking back, the character’s impact relies mostly on an unsettling demeanor and pale face, which honestly isn’t the most terrifying element in horror.
The Real Problem With Longlegs Is The Movie’s Stuffed Plot
Longlegs Overextended Itself With Its Narrative
Longlegs is rather convoluted in its structure, and this is the real problem with Cage’s horror. It blends several genres at once at the expense of the central mystery, which ultimately makes it suffer in the film’s final act. The movie’s marketing first set it up as a gritty, serial-killer thriller, which made Longlegs reminiscent of The Silence of the Lambs. However, as the plot unfolds, Longlegs shifts more towards supernatural themes as it reveals the antagonist is not only a serial killer but a servant of Satan who is leading a cult, using possessed dolls to coerce victims to commit familicide.
The film struggles to tell a unified story as a result and diminishes Longlegs‘ previously grounded tone that was established in its earlier marketing techniques.
On top of this, the story frequently pivots to Agent Lee Harker’s FBI investigation into the serial killer, as she simultaneously uncovers her repressed memories and a dark family secret. Longlegs clearly struggles to commit to a single genre and, instead, oscillates between a psychological thriller, a true crime investigation, and outright supernatural horror. The film struggles to tell a unified story and diminishes Longlegs‘ previously grounded tone that was established in its earlier marketing techniques. It definitely made Longlegs less frightening and lowered the stakes, since the antagonist manipulates others instead of committing the murders directly.
Source: Medium, The Daily Jaws
