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Longlegs -
If you also miss the Hannibal TV series' effect on your brain, this is the movie for you. It is as frightening and unsettling as I hoped it would be, but the source of its biggest scares surprised me. Sure, Nicolas Cage, who comes across like a walking, talking negative of Tiny Tim, does leave a mark. There are times when his Cage-isms took me out of the moment, but for the most part, I saw the character more than I saw him. There's also the Satanic lore aspect, which has authenticity that made me believe writer/director Oz Perkins watched Se7en and, Zodiac et al and took the kind of notes their villains take. The presentation of isolated small-town Oregon also has atmosphere you can cut with a knife, and Longlegs' lair, which I like that we only observe in glimpses, rivals Buffalo Bill's in The Silence of the Lambs in its creepiness. Regardless, what will make me watch my back for a while is how the movie proves that even if you are as hypervigilant and eager to face your fears as Maika Monroe's Agent Harker is, there will always be fears that evade your grasp. This is why my MVP is not any of the above: instead, it is cinematographer Andres Arochi. Voyeuristic does not begin to describe his camerawork. In other words, it’s as if the perspective in every shot seems like it is from a location which none of the characters have ever paid any mind.
This movie also probably spiked your interest due to fascinations with the occult and Nicolas Cage. It will not let you down on those fronts, but it is bound to fascinate - and frighten - you in much more unexpected ways. In other words, this is one occasion where I can officially claim I got more from a movie than I had anticipated (which is a nice change of pace because the typical trailer promises more than what its movie delivers, but I digress). Does this mean it's on par with all the other movies and TV shows I have name-dropped? Close, but not quite. If you will allow me to name-drop one of them again, I will at least say that if you also long for a feature-length episode of Hannibal, this is the closest thing to one we may get.
If you also miss the Hannibal TV series' effect on your brain, this is the movie for you. It is as frightening and unsettling as I hoped it would be, but the source of its biggest scares surprised me. Sure, Nicolas Cage, who comes across like a walking, talking negative of Tiny Tim, does leave a mark. There are times when his Cage-isms took me out of the moment, but for the most part, I saw the character more than I saw him. There's also the Satanic lore aspect, which has authenticity that made me believe writer/director Oz Perkins watched Se7en and, Zodiac et al and took the kind of notes their villains take. The presentation of isolated small-town Oregon also has atmosphere you can cut with a knife, and Longlegs' lair, which I like that we only observe in glimpses, rivals Buffalo Bill's in The Silence of the Lambs in its creepiness. Regardless, what will make me watch my back for a while is how the movie proves that even if you are as hypervigilant and eager to face your fears as Maika Monroe's Agent Harker is, there will always be fears that evade your grasp. This is why my MVP is not any of the above: instead, it is cinematographer Andres Arochi. Voyeuristic does not begin to describe his camerawork. In other words, it’s as if the perspective in every shot seems like it is from a location which none of the characters have ever paid any mind.
This movie also probably spiked your interest due to fascinations with the occult and Nicolas Cage. It will not let you down on those fronts, but it is bound to fascinate - and frighten - you in much more unexpected ways. In other words, this is one occasion where I can officially claim I got more from a movie than I had anticipated (which is a nice change of pace because the typical trailer promises more than what its movie delivers, but I digress). Does this mean it's on par with all the other movies and TV shows I have name-dropped? Close, but not quite. If you will allow me to name-drop one of them again, I will at least say that if you also long for a feature-length episode of Hannibal, this is the closest thing to one we may get.