A curious girl and a macabre character are the elements with which Longlegs (2024) hooks the audience. After that opening sequence, director Oz Perkins takes us on a 1 hour and 40-minute journey of pure tension and psychological terror. This is Perkins’ fifth film as a director who has followed the horror line in all his works. On this occasion, the filmmaker delves into the genre of police investigation and serial killers to explore terror from the perspective of thriller and appeal more to the effect of suspense.

Before making his directorial debut, Oz Perkins had a long acting career. We can assume that acting comes naturally to him since his grandfather was the actor Osgood Perkins who was in films like Scarface (1932) and I Dream Too Much (1935), while his father was Anthony Perkins, the infamous Norman Bates from Psycho (1960). So, we can understand his inclination for acting and his passion for suspense and horror. Her mother, actress, and photographer Berry Berenson met Anthony Perkins on the Play It As It Lays (1972) set and they married a year later. Berenson died tragically in the disastrous attacks of September 11, 2001, when she was aboard one of the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers.

The Birthday Murders

With Longlegs Perkins focuses on all the cinema that has inspired his career. Obvious references to films like The Silence of the Lambs (1991), the 90s setting, the rookie FBI agent who takes on a complex serial murder case, and the strange connection to the possible killer. But we can also see Seven (1995), especially in the way the film is set, and the investigation is conducted. Finally, we can add a touch of Fallen (1998) for the supernatural element that gravitates over the characters. From my point of view, Longlegs is a combination of these three films.

It is in the management of tension where Longlegs hits with all its strength, regardless of how we are given that script by Oz Perkins, the film manages to impose itself more for its form than for its substance. It is not that the story lacks density, on the contrary, the film has a good structure, its characters are strong, and the turning point is effective, but the audiovisual production and production design prevail above all. Maika Monroe’s good performance as Agent Lee Harker serves as an anchor for the other characters, including Nicolas Cage who stands out in the role of the antagonist with a disturbing character.

More than a traditional horror film, we are facing a psychological horror film that burns slowly. Longlegs never ceases to impress with sequences that are difficult to digest and can stay in our brains for a long time.