One thing I haven’t seen anyone discuss is the acting of the family in the final scene. In a lot of horror movies the posessed become either silent robot killers or crazed animals. Here it was more disturbing, like they were poisoned. The wife was trying to appear normal but deep down knew something terrible was happening.
yes, there are some valid criticisms of the ending of this movie, but the acting of the family was so chilling to me. the father saying, “no, i’ll be right back. you’ll still be in the kitchen.” pure horror.
That scene is the one that chilled me most! "No I'll be back you'll still be in the kitchen!" Man I've always liked Blair Underwood but he's super underrated in this!
I wish the plot dump with the mom was less and more with the motivations of long legs. The mom’s motivations were pretty clear and didn’t need a ton of attention. While long legs is a complete mystery which is great but a smidge of information about his motivations would be nice. Maybe I missed something.
For most of the movie my eyes were scanning the entire screen. I was looking at and through doorways, windows, hallways, etc. More than a couple of times I was focusing on the back of or an adjacent room. The suspense was constant and paced really well. I felt genuinely uncomfortable even during simple conversations. This was great at making me overthink things and keep me invested in the story.
I saw the shadow of a demon atleast twice, I hear there’s 7 shots, one was behind the girl at the end during the flashback, and the last one was in the reflection in agent carters door after he shuts it when Lee walks in… it was amazing! 5/5 for me
Yeah that threw me off because I saw a lot of wood paneling on the walls in rooms and Lees clothes reminded me of the 80s but then I saw Bill Clinton and then I thought ohhh ok. Leftovers from the 80s as far as decorations and clothes some.
I knew the movie had to be set pre-2000s in the first scene of child Lee going out to greet some random stranger who parked at their house. That’s some 70s-80s shit if I’ve ever seen it 🤣 I’m not sure exactly where the line is but it’s much less common now for kids to do that or even just answer the door for a stranger.
I was confused. Some of the decor in the houses were giving 70s, but they were also wearing gloves during investigations, and I don't think DNA testing was a thing until the mid-90s. Then I was wondering when payphones became a thing.
I think the reason why Harker’s family was chosen was because Longlegs wanted to act as her father. We see Longlegs tying up Harker’s mom as she begs for mercy, essentially doing what the other fathers do during their breakdowns. Also, his name, Longlegs, literally has the word “daddy” at the front of it when referring to the spider. Plus, when Harker was doing the evaluation, she sees an upside down triangle (the 9 circles link w the book) and immediately says “father.” In a sick and twisted way, Longlegs IS Harker’s dad, and she was going to be killed by him had her mom not stepped in. That’s just my running theory anyway 😅
I could even see it as opportunistic- he's not the bio dad (if that'swhat you mean), but saw a widow/single mother and saw where he could wrap her up into his web
I thought the scariest part of the film are the scenes of Lee by herself in her house. As someone who lived alone not too long ago, I can totally relate to the complete isolation and fear of being by yourself. Overall, the film was brilliant in capturing mood and moments of dread. Cage's singing is a great example of this. Some people laughed at it, I thought it was terrifying simply because it's a man completely out of his head. Great review by the way and keep up the good work!!!
Yeah I live by myself as well those scenes in house were so unsettling and the fact that her desk is to the wall and her back towards the doorway was the worst part for me
@@boombox3162Well she did run out of the house without securing the door first. You'd think as an FBI agent, she'd know better to walk into the woods and leave your door wide open. No backup either. Just went out with no care in the world.
I feel like some people just stick to "scariest movie of the decade," and instead of enjoying the movie, they just focus on trying not to be scared and see it as some challenge. This movie stuck with me and deeply unsettled me!
K but please don’t invalidate us for believing the lying marketing. They inflated the heckkkkk out of the movie which is THEYRE fault not on the viewers who didn’t vibe with what they’re marketed.
ive thought about this, and after a bit of discussion with others, ive come to understand the film a little better. In regards to your question about Longlegs inserting himself into the family: during the interrogations scene, after Longlegs makes a reference to a she, Lee asks who he is talking about, to which he replies “the seventh she. To be given the same choice that they’ve all been given. Crimson or clover.” So either accept the "gift", and eventually destroy yourselves, or reject it and "bow down, all the way down, and get down to the dirty work", or in other words, commit to the same mission that he is. The "seventh she" suggests her mother was not the first person he made this offer to, but she was the first to "choose the clover". In other words, her daughter being allowed to grow up unlike the others, but in exchange damning her own soul by helping Longlegs carry out his task. As for her psychic abilities, i do believe they come directly from her connection to the doll. And since these dolls contain the devil's essence, you could say that Satan is who gave her these abilities. She's had the devil in her this whole time. Her mother shooting the doll severs that connection, but he decides to give her one last call to nudge her in the direction he wants. I'm not sure if all of this is objectively correct, but it does make the most sense
How was Satan nudging her in the end? She killed the FBI agent when he tried attacking them. She then tried shooting the doll but her gun just clicked...I think those metal balls can control anyone to a certain degree who are in its direct vicinity or if someone touches them. The coroner who kept praising Longleg's artistic work on the dolls was under its influence. He even peesuaded the FBI agent boss not to cut the ball open. He was protecting it. Im still wondering about the ending and whether the gun actually just clicked or if the ball's influence made her think that to prevent her shooting the doll. She only fired her weapon three times. She wasn't out of bullets.
I watched this last weekend and it gave me the same feeling Hereditary, but less of the lasting depression. I loved it a lot, but I felt like the last act was rushed. I wanted the first two acts to last forever
For me the horror of this movie was in how realistically it portrayed trauma. Lee has classic symptoms of C-PTSD from her social awkwardness, not being able to remember elements of her childhood or things that happened, or having blind spots or tunnel vision of what you're able to notice - those are all classic traits of growing up with trauma as it affects your development. Even her intuition/"psychic" abilities could be put down to being overly sensitive to elements non-traumatized people don't notice as they've never had to grow up with that survival mechanism - especially as she only had these abilities surrounding negative events. Even her mothers hoarding is a classic trauma symptom. I enjoyed this movie because the mental illness was part of the horror, but it was the result of the horrific things rather than what was actually causing the murders to happen like it's usually treated in horror movies.
Yup, i thought it was pretty obvious that even Cage's character was suffering immensely. It was very obvious by his mannerisms. I think Satan got a hold of his soul and slowly made him go insane. It would have been cool if they revisited his youth to show how that happened.
@@GSP-76 Would be very different, maybe all Satan needed to do was to speak to him, Or it possessed those around him somehow. I do like to think that he's the way he is because Satan got inside of him somehow.
That opening scene gave me pure chills. I'm so glad you are reviewing this!! My heart was beating the whole movie. His face has haunted me since I watched it.
I feel like most people who aren't really horror fans only believe a jump scare is truly scary. I'm the opposite. Tension, suspense, supernatural...that is scary to me. So true, it's very subjective.
the overdose jump scare is just like when you're riding a roller coaster to the point to "ok i'm too tired to scream, and i just close my eyes until it ends"... it's the way this movie made you felt unconfortable even if you watched in air-conditioned and comfy seat in the cinema that did it...
i think the color white and its symbolic meaning unlocks a lot of this movie, the absence of darkness + how deeply he floods these clean lives with that darkness. he references the color a LOT
I didn’t find Longlegs scary. I also don’t judge those who do find it scary because it’s completely subjective and it’s extremely disrespectful and pretentious to call anyone’s opinions “wrong.” There is no right, there is no wrong, there is only conversation.
@@thrgg could be; you can’t really tell someone’s tone and I’ve had people react this way to me before, lol. But if they are, it’s truly fine either way. :)
Maybe the most disturbed I have been by a movie since hereditary. Truly traumatic. Sure, it’s not stereotypically “scary”. But it’s unsettling as HECK.
Hereditary is definitely the most disturbing “mainstream” movie I’ve seen, but this one just didn’t do it for me sadly. :( I think some people just resonate more with horror elements that are derived from things they’ve experienced or will experience at some point (grief, family issues, etc). I’d never seen grief “up close” before I watched Hereditary, and now that I’ve seen and experienced that, Toni Collette’s screams in those scenes almost make me feel sick.
No part of Longlegs even came close to being as disturbing as the least disturbing sequences of Hereditary. Between the hidden naked people in the corners, the score, the dinner scene, the car “accident” scene and aftermath, the reveal of the cult i meannnn… the entire last leg of Hereditary is a masterclass climax filled with insane visuals. Longlegs truly has no scene that can compare to any of the ones mentioned and the suspense and dread of Hereditary remains unmatched since it’s release for me,
SPOILER DISCUSSION: * * I think Longlegs choosing Lee & Ruth is intentional on his part. Plot-wise, he needed someone approachable to be invited into homes and carry out his plan. Ruth is also a single mother so she was a perfect target. Metaphorically, the film constantly references the book of revelation & the triangle - represented by the dragon (Satan), the beast of the sea (Longlegs), and the false prophet (Ruth). In short: the beast of the sea needs the false prophet to spread its word so that Satan can rule. Longlegs needed someone to complete the triangle and satisfy Satan's word/plan. Ruth worked under the impression that she was saving Lee's life, but Longlegs used that as leverage to keep Ruth complaisant and follow through with what he wanted her to do.
Was it scary to me? No, the peeks of the demon under the veil was scary. For me this movie was amazingly fascinating, I loved all of the actors (and I will always be in love with Nicholas Cage!) And the way it was filmed! That's the icing on the cake for me! The color schemes, the pace, the settings ugh Chef's kiss! I can't wait to own this!!!!!!! It was an absolute treat for me!
I’m not bashing everyone else’s opinions, but I’m so bummed this movie isn’t hitting for me like others. My boyfriend thought it was kind of bad, and I thought it was just okay. I wish it affected me like others.
I was legitimately scared while in the theater and I think that unnerving ambiguity of a threat builds suspense into tension, to the point where I was leaning back in my chair in the back of the theater, legs tucked under me, to try to 'get away'. My own personal experiences of high-tension anxiety around creepy, threatening, and possibly dangerous or predatory adults from a young age brought the intensity of that fear back. That's what made it scary to me.
I saw it last night and can’t stop thinking about it! One of the best horror movies i’ve seen in the last couple years. The atmosphere felt tense and somewhat hopeless from the first scene and the feeling persisted throughout. There was also a sense of loneliness/emptiness that stuck with me. Longlegs successfully instilled fear without a lot of jump scares or gore.
I’m a middle aged seasoned horror fan. I went in blind, no trailers, not even knowing it was horror, and it genuinely gave me chills and scares. It’s been a long time. Amazing audience at the cinema tonight. Total silence.
This! Although i didn’t enjoy the movie. He took me out of the tension of the movie and every time he was on screen. It was all so off putting but not in a scary way, in a cringe goofy way. I almost wish they would’ve just kept him out of the frame fully. The breaking out into song in the high pitch voice was really offputting.
I was also laughing in the theater, particularly the part in the car where he just suddenly goes off and I'm like oh there's the Nic Cage we all know 😂 But his last scene was pretty chilling
I would also recommend “Fallen” with Denzel as a super natural thriller it’s my all time favorite film every shot and dialogue is significant to the plot from start to finish is perfectly executed!
Now that movie was scary! It was super intense. He didn’t know who could trust or who he could believe, and that’s particularly scary considering all of his colleagues had guns. He was scared, but didn’t freak out. He was focused on finding a resolution and to the best of his ability he did.
I feel like nobody knows that movie but I love it! I've probably seen it like 20 times, we had it on VHS growing up so I've seen it a bunch of times and still love it. Such an underrated movie
@@bookshelfhoney Fr I’ve seen it many times and am always impressed with the subtle details of the plot and character behaviors and the concept is so compelling
Really liked this movie, but I did have the same questions you did as well, so I wouldn’t say it was perfect. But it definitely creeped me the heck out in the theater. 👀 The only thing that bugged me at the end was … If you have Lee breaking down the murders and telling you it’s girls who are turning 9 on the 14th, why in the living hell would Carter not mention his daughter turns 9 in a few days … on the 14th … since they still hadn’t caught the killer? Like that didn’t cross your mind, sir? You’re a SOB for that, Agent Carter. 😂
@j0j01192 no, it was targeting girls born on the 14th, but the killings themselves all happened within the 6 days before their birthday or in the 6 days after their birthday
off topic but I couldn't stop looking at it, the reflection from your cabinet that is showing your window literally looks like someone is across the street watching you make this review 😭😭
It was worth it to not watch much trailers or read any synopsis for this movie. For me it's up there with the exorcist in my favorite horror movies, Nicolas cage and maika acted amazingly in this. And whoever the cinematographer was killed it with the wide shots of doorways and background to make you feel like something was about to pop up in the dark behind the character
I think a lot of the discourse comes down to the marketing - early marketing was incredible and cryptic and spoke for itself but recent marketing really emphasizes the “scare factor” which on one hand I’m glad is driving people to see this incredible movie but I think also creates an expectation that is hard to meet (even if I thought it was scary and full of dread)
I wouldn’t necessarily say it SCARED me but I did feel like…gross for lack of a better word. Like the whole time I felt like I was watching something I shouldn’t be, it was just like super dreadful. I loved it lol
yeah the only horror content thats ever actually scared me is usually short horror films, and i think thats just because they dont need to do the whole three act arc thing
Agreed! I’ll never understand people that say a movie sucks because it didn’t scare them. No duh… we watch so many horror movies it’s rare when one actually hits us. This one was special because most people felt uneasy.
The hype hurt the movie for me. I got caught up in the hype and was very disappointed. The movie was too much of a slow burn and Nick Cage’s look wasn’t creepy at all. I think if I went in blind, I would’ve enjoyed it a little more. But I went in expecting the scariest movie of all time and a look on Nicholas cage to be so disturbing. 3/5
Hmm, the human mind is interesting. I went in knowing all of this. I went it having never really experienced actual fear from movies. I left very uncomfortable and with a sense of being watched.
There should be limit on how many times someone can say something is the scariest movie of the year before they get their festival/advance screening passes revoked.
SPOILER:: So with regards to her abilities, I took it as she was being controlled the whole time by the devil and that she wasn't actually psychic. The beginning where she has to look at the photos fast definitely will have to rewatch as they are foreshadowing.
agree, when she explained how she knew the house of the first killer was just like "a tap on her shoulder" described that demon probably "whispered" that information, and the fact that the killer surrendered to her even after he blew off her partner's head, matched with carrie-anne's description that she would jump off from the window if she was given "the order", which probably the killer was "ordered" by the demon to surrender..
No like I was actually shaking during his interrogation scene. It might have been the 2 edibles I took beforehand, but I've never had such a visceral reaction in the theaters, throughout the entire movie. I got home after and my key got stuck in the door and I almost had a panic attack cause I thought he was behind me. This movie exceeded my expectations.
you should see silence of the lambs, when clarice starling met hannibal lecter, because i believe this scene is inspired from that movie... the hopeless, depressed situation, especially knowing the evil has the upper hand really gives you chill...
SPOILERS: I believe the psychic abilities are just simply because she was connected to that demonic magic longlegs was using. That’s why his monologue was so sinister talking about her becoming an FBI agent! This movie is top movies for me
I loved it at the beginning and thought the atmosphere and cinematography were something very special but the plot was just too silly to make it a good movie to me. Silver orbs, killer dolls, it all just felt so far away from what I thought the film was going to be.
As soon as the guy started talking about the silver ball talking to him it took me back a bit, it just got so far away from being like Silence of the Lambs which is what so many reviews compared it too. Which is fine, but it definitely gave people the idea that this movie would be something other than it was
I am so frustrated at the way that they decided to end this movie! I like the story but id write it differently. It would have been so much better if they would have nixed that stupid doll, silver kegal ball, devil smoke bit and instead we find out that longlegs was living in their basement the entire time/kind of becoming ghe dad of the house spending alot of time with the daughter who is now promised to the devil in exchange for her life. So she was having blackout spells because of her childhood and growing up he would take her down in the basement and whisper things to her and performing rituals and as she grew up making sure she went into law enforcement/FBI so he could keep an eye on his case. This would have tied up the part where he was talking about "we laughed when you went into law enforcement"meaning him and her mother. It would have tied up the loose end of how she ended up going into that line of work despite seeming scared all the time. So he has been doing rituals to have her do the crimes and she was blacking out while she did. Basically the mom made the deal "if you save my daughter we will do this for you and in order to save her life she's going to have to take the lives of these other children as a sacrifice to him. In my opinion it should have been the FBI agent that was doing it. That wouldve been so much better. It would have explained why she forgot things and why she had the powers and psychic abilities because he would take her down in the basement and then she would go back to her life and have no memory of any of that happening. I believed her psychic ability was that the devil pretty much had her soul and was guiding her. The mom sold both of their souls to the devil so he was tied to her. That's why her mom told her that if they didn't continue to do the killing that both of them would burn in hell for eternity because their souls were sold to him in the promise that it would save her daughter. So just my opinion it shouldve been the mom taking the daughter around she couldve used her like they were attending the girls birthdays or whatever the case may be and once there with her being taken over by the devil and blacking out, the devil commits the crimes with the mom and daughter there instead of a doll, lol. It was good but i wish they went that route. I always feel like these good movies have a really great plot and then they get sloppy with it at the end and the whole plot turns out to be some kind of black smoke magic. I hated that and I did not like the doll bit, it didnt flow or make sense to me. I wish i could help build plots for movies i have tons of stories and ideas. It was good though, i wanted it to keep going. The funniest plot hole to me in this movie was the fact that this was the 90s and they're saying the FBI had no evidence that the killer was ever in the house but nobody ever saw a nun pulling up in the same car at these murder scenes and then coming out covered in blood 😂
100% agreeing with your stance in the beginning of the video on “oh it’s not scary so it’s not a horror movie.” Like, could you imagine someone saying “oh I watched Borat or Norbit and didn’t laugh even once, so it’s not a comedy!” Ridiculous
The reason why I liked the mom’s “monologue” after she shot the doll was bc it was set up like a mom telling a kid a bedtime story. “Once upon a time…” connected to the theme of a mother trying to keep her kid from growing up and facing adult reality.
The way Oz Perkins subverts expectations in this film is masterful. We all know to expect jump scares going in to a horror movie and we all expect to see things hiding in the background (which there were, but it was subtle). In the opening scene we get both Longlegs peeking from around the corner of the house AND a jump scare when he bends into frame. It builds our expectations of what is going to happen in the rest of the scenes, and it never does. Now all of the doorframe shots and wide angles are so stressful and that tension is never released because there is no jump coming.
I don't know man. I thought it just seemed like a greatest hits compilation of much better films. The first half had me locked and then it all kinda goes sideways. There are so many loose ends that never get tied up and I felt like Cage was just laughable. Then it has one of the biggest cop-out endings ever. Major letdown for me although it looked spectacular and there were some good moments.
I'm so unbelievably happy to hear you had pretty much the exact same thoughts as me about this film. I hope Nic Cage as Longlegs becomes a horror icon, that's the dream...Scenario.
I feel like Longlegs wasn't actually in it enough? I wish they had explained more or shown him more in the middle. The first part had me HOOKED... but then I got lost somewhere in the middle and the ending felt rushed. I liked it overall, and it scared me, but I still left feeling like I knew absolutely nothing about the title character???
When I was younger, things "scared" me. I saw Halloween at a drive in at age 6. It scared me. I watched Toby Hooper's Salem's Lot a year later on television. Had a hard time sleeping for a week. Now, what scares me is something that disturbs me or makes me feel uncomfortable. Longlegs made me feel this and kept me feeling that way for the entire runtime. That was a huge win for me. It was a joy for this horror fan to experience. I agree that this was not a traditional "scary" movie, but it is a terrifying movie. Nicolas Cage's character is pure nightmare fuel.
I really wanted to like this one. First half was great. I loved the cinematography and the hidden demon in the backround on a lot of scenes. The second half just completely lost me with nic cages goofy acting and the silly plot reveal. I was expecting a lot more than demon possessed dolls
Same, I wish the entire movie was more like the beginning and focused more on Longlegs and not the whole demonic angle. I guess I wanted this to more like a deep dive into a deranged person who's completely lost touch with reality
I watched this just hours ago with my wife, and I have to say - it's one of those movies you have to go into 'blind'. Not knowing much about the movie definitely kept us guessing and the movie fresh. We really loved it for that 'unknown' factor... Much respect for Os for crafting a creepy thriller-horror at a time where most of us feel we know what to expect. I still have questions, but that's a cool feeling nowadays....
Re: 7:20ish, the crazy thing is that he didn't 'kill' anyone. Very Charles Manson-esque (whom they mention in the film), as they collaborated to commit murder but the murder in a very human sense was always carried out by the fathers. So a fun thought experiment is, had Longlegs gone on trial, what would they possibly charge him with? Without basing the case on spooky dolls and the occult, he'd walk. The most they could prove would be circumstantial evidence he was present based on the letters.
These are my favorite types of movies to a T. I wanted to love this movie so badly. Still an amazing movie but I can’t help but feel wanting more. I’ve thought about it a lot and I’m not giving it 5 stars due to I feel like the story jumps around way too quickly without enough build up. For example, like in the Zodiac, there is a code to decipher and yet boom, she figures it out immediately, knows exactly where to go throughout the whole movie, Longlegs gets captured as soon as they get a picture of him with no buildup at all. It seems like everything was just shown or handed to us rapidly like we are being spoon fed. While I get she was connected to him and logically makes sense story wise, I think it could have been executed better or written differently for the last half. The first half was great. I wish the stakes felt higher and that the movie took us for more of a ride. I wanted to see more of Longlegs’s character. I again still liked it but it had potential to be one of the best. Amazing acting by the lead actress and Nicolas Cage. Cinematography was beautiful and Longlegs was absolutely terrifying.
I very much agree- horror is extremely subjective and also changes over time. My biggest draw into horror initially was the realistic (somewhat) situations that characters find themselves in (and some of the blood and gore) and now its moving more into psychological and less gore. I havent watched this yet but your discussion around it has me so excited to watch it!
When I first left the theater I thought it was a good movie. A solid 7/10. But now that I've mulled it over for 4 days, I can honestly say that no other movie has frustrated me more. I won't go into because I could write a whole essay at this point, but doing a deep read of the material has done nothing but annoy me.
Yes 🙂↕️ There are some things I’m still trying to make sense of in my head. I don’t mind ambiguity but after two viewings I’ve got nothing. What bugs me most is the Camera family survivor.
I like Perkins' style and the way he keeps honing it over successive films. The highly composed shots that you can freeze frame to reveal something which looks like fine art photography or that trademark slow zoom, for instance, is great, but it's not just stylization for the sake of it. It actually serves the story and reinforces the psychological or emotional affect that he's going for. And while jump scares are usually cheap and ineffective, Perkins does this thing where he combined the jump scare with the uncanny, like in the scene where the doll's eyes suddenly flash open. He's actually innovating in the horror genre and pushing it to a different place or creating the elements that other lesser directors will be imitating. I was really impressed with this one. I can't want to see what he does next.
I thought the first half of the movie was amazing and genuinely creepy and scary, but SPOILERS, the last 15 minutes the characters were making the dumbest decisions and it kinda killed it for me. It’s like season 8 of GOT ruining the whole thing for me
SPOILER: I was so confused why she didn’t shoot the doll’s head like her mom did? It seemed to release her to destroy the metal ball, so why didn’t she do that???
@@Apathist1408 I know, that part frustrated me bc she had a good amount of evidence to say the ball was the root of everything. And she also knew her boss was going to go kill his wife and did nothing, all as an FBI detective…
@@Apathist1408 she tries shooting it but her revolver is out of ammo or being messed with by Satan. It's why it's clicking when she goes to shoot the doll.
@@jpmadds I think it's sorta explainable in being a deliberate flaw she has, that's inaction because of fear. You see it in how she doesn't try to stop Longlegs bashing his head against the table and jumps back away from it. Also passing out when the doll is shot could be seen as merely her fainting from the situation. It's a sign that she's not perfectly cut out to be an FBI agent or that the horror/shock of the situation overwhelms her. It takes until the ending for her to be able to kill two very important figures in her life (one her actual mother, the other her surrogate father almost) ultimately. Plus she might have been too afraid of Carter or her mother lunging at her if she did try to shoot the doll.
I think there are multiple reasons why someone would find this film/the design of Longlegs scary or not, like how sensitive someone is to the uncanny valley effect. As humans, that uneasiness registers with most of us on some level, but in my case, as a kid I was TERRIFIED of dolls, clowns, mall santas, mascots, etc. They still give me the creeps, as does AI generated audio. So my lizard brain was getting all sorts of responses in the first 2 acts of the film based on that. (spoilers below) . . . . .' . . the scene in act 1 with him entering her house, the sounds, the thumps, the shadowed being in the background (which, yes, by the end of the film we know is a demonic presence, but so many things and beings lurk in the dark), those all hit on fears of encounters that can realistically happen, and why home invasion films are so scary. they remind us that day to day existence is dark and full of terrors. The film was masterfully crafted on a sonic and visual level but it had a lot of narrative and structural issues upon reaching act 3, because I think the theme of family/the frail facade of a nuclear family was undeveloped. I was fine with it being supernatural all along but think the way it was revealed and the mom-ologue was a poor choice. I also watch possession/demonic horror when I know I don't want to be scared, because that subgenre doesn't scare me that much. I also think we are so used to head trauma used as a shock factor so the interrogation table scene wasn't a gory surprise. I saw it days ago and am left with 2 things still in my brain that disturb me: (1) the shots of the eyes under the black shroud. well done (2) How did Lee Harker get here? Who made her? What happened in her mother's life that she raised a daughter to easily quote Book of Revelation while also serving Satan? Was it just the trauma in helping Longlegs that caused the hoard? And is Lee what happens when Rosemary's Baby grows up to become Clarice Starling?
It’s been a few days and I still have too many feelings about this movie. For me, objectively it was scary in the best way; it lingered in my mind for days after. For example, how we find out that he lived in their basement the entire time, while I understood this factually while watching the movie, the utter horror of that fact didn’t hit me until after it was over. So many little details about the story just got stuck in my brain the way good horror should. That said, I am disappointed it ended up being a supernatural story. This is just a personal preference but I love it when a character can just be evil and commit atrocities through their own volition and capability, rather than having the easy explanation of demons/satan. Especially with how no one could explain how Longlegs was convincing dads to murder their own families, a psychological horror story of an evil man capable of convincing random innocent people to do that would’ve been so much more scary to me than whatever the evil satan metal ball was supposed to be? It was honestly quite goofy and took me out of the story a little. Although at the same time, the dolls were definitely creepy, so I’m glad they were incorporated into the story even if it was in a goofy way like that
I really loved the "Twin Peaks" meets "The Silence of the Lambs" mash this film gave me. For me? This was more of a familial horror - the fear of what can become of your family... It's chilling.
I woke up several times freaked out the night I watched this! I loved the eerie atmosphere and Longlegs himself was CREEPY AS HELL, but I liked the movie more when it was just procedural. I felt it worked better than the occult elements. SPOILERS: I do agree that her mom being the accomplice and info dumping at the end were let downs and didn’t really work. I’m also glad you brought it up, but they really didn’t address her dad so why did he choose Lee? Very interesting point!
Well said! It needs to be said until people stop with the over hype, passing judgment on others, being horror snobs, etc. It needs to stop because it can ruin the movie for some, but also we've been having a great run of horror movies, so let's all enjoy!!
I was SO EXCITED for this movie and I guess I need to learn to not highly anticipate things because I was let down massively. I’m not a casual horror fan, I can appreciate a slow burn, but this felt like all style and no substance to me. It felt like it was trying to do what Hereditary accomplished. And if it was going to lean more detective procedural slash psychological thriller than straight horror it needed more of that. Also I disagree on Nic Cage’s performance. I think it would have been way more impactful if it was an unknown actor. It being Cage ruined any immersion for me. It’s so frustrating because I don’t want to be a hater and truly wanted to love this movie so so much.
i really feel like there's a massive difference between a "slow burn" and just being dragged out and this felt like the latter for me, nothing really felt impactful until the last 15 minutes
I feel very alone in saying I didn't care for this movie and was disappointed. For me I didn't like the super natural element at all and wish they did something different. I do like supernatural but the way this was done felt very rushed in imo.
Same here. I was sitting there like “oh, it’s LITERALLY demon dolls?” I didn’t feel any of the anxiety or dread that everyone else seems to have experienced and I’m really bummed.
I agree, I guess in a way I was disappointed with the supernatural/occult element. They could have done so much more with that to add to the story. The was they used it was almost corny imo, having the super stereotypical depiction of satan lurking in the shadows. If kind of ruined it for me. Still a good movie don’t get me wrong, I just feel like they leaned so much on the character of Longlegs and how un-nerving he was, that he rest fell kind of lackluster. The cinematography was phenomenal though and the acting was good. I don’t hate it, just had higher hopes I guess.
I think people define the genre on how it makes them feel I guess. Though we need to look at the actual movie itself what genre it’s actually in. I love that you talked about this “scary movie” debate peacefully!
I think marketing it as the scariest film of the decade did it a disservice for sure. I like the movie but it did have its faults. I need more of the Lee character and what drives her. Also I just couldn’t believe her as a FBI agent she was way to fragile.
I completely disagree. I actually related to her; imo she was autistic coded (as someone with ASD this was just my interpretation) I didn’t see her as fragile at all. She never gave up, never shied away from anything scary, and handled a lot of scary situations on her own I don’t think I could do. She did however have human reactions, like having an increased heart rate and increased breathing, which I don’t interpret as being “fragile” but instead being a human being influenced by stress
I personally didn’t see Lee as fragile. Just odd. I assumed neurodivergent. I agree that the advertising did a disservice though. I went into the movie so anxious because I was expecting to be TERRIFIED!! And instead I left the theater thinking “okay. That was an odd movie. Interesting”. I think I would’ve enjoyed the movie on the first watch MUCH more if I wasn’t expecting to be scared and was just expecting a beautiful and strange crime thriller
@@mlj3347when she saw LongLegs outside her house and she IMMEDIATELY grabbed a gun and went outside I was shocked. I was like “whoa whoa maybe just lock a door or something!” Lol
the girl would go outside the house the moment she sees a shadow in the forest, just to check… or burst into a house where someone just got shot in front of her… she was not fragile at all 💀
YES. the part about Longlegs choosing Lee’s family when there wasn’t a dad around bothered me sm. maybe that has something to do with the mom repeating “no one ever visits” but i think that was referring to Longlegs? idk, i wish that part was done better
I kinda thought they were gonna reveal that he was her Daddy Longlegs (which are sometimes called cellar spiders, and aren't actually real spiders), like if the mom conceived her (knowingly or unknowingly) in a cult type deal with no known bio dad. When we first saw the mom she looked so much like the images you see of the Manson girls and Lee mentions Manson and his cult; i was shocked at how put together the mom looked in the 70s flashbacks, wearing the same sweater coat but looking so different. There was no reference to lee ever having a father except for the picture association test where she said father for triangle. Also jarring that Longlegs preparing to kill her mom (in the flashback) was the only time we see him committing assault with his own hands, as were the fathers. I was kinda wondering if Lee is what happens when a grown up Rosemary's baby meets Clarice Starling.
@@psychotophatcat i thought that, but if i’m remembering right, she said the killings started in 1968 and her case was in 1974. i could definitely be wrong though! but that’s what i remember
@@ajo3971 Ahh okay that might be the case! I have an auditory processing disorder and I often miss details like that in films without subtitles. I had just assumed she was the one who set the bar.
My wife and I saw it Sunday night and were absolutely blown away by it! It was dark, eerie, and wicked. Perkins did an amazing job at building dread throughout the movie while still injecting enough scares that had us reeling from moment to moment. The sound design, cinematography, and atmosphere oozed off screen and left me thinking about all of the things I noticed and what I may have missed. Maika Monroe did a superb job of playing standoffish and socially awkward (which served a much deeper purpose than we realized in the early parts of the film.) Nicolas Cage was haunting, terrifying, and difficult to watch (and i mean that in the best way possible.) He goes full unhinged at times and it makes you want to simultaneously look away and keep watching. Blair Underwood and Alicia Witt round out the cast perfectly and added so much to the tone and feel of the movie. I immediately want to watch it again. I had spent the last few months participating in the viral marketing (the billboards, websites, print ads, phone calls, etc.) and it truly helped enhance the film and some of the more esoteric elements. There are some things not touched on in the film from the marketing, but that just gives me hope for a sequel or director's cut. All in all, this is one of my favorite horror movies.
Personally speaking, as a big horror fan, I felt this film had alot more ideas to it, rather than proper execution. I was dying to be scared, but the film was veering on pretentious to me. After looking up a few interviews with Perkins, it kind of confirmed my thoughts. It felt like it thought it was so much more than it actually was, but to me it wasn't. The instant the doll was introduced, I knew what the final twist was going to be, it was that much of a dull bummer to me. But like you said, different things for different people. As long as people are going to the theaters, I'm happy 😊
Just seen it yesterday at the theater but I didn’t think it was scary or disturbing. I like the atmosphere of the movie and how it felt like a vintage thriller but I was expecting more.
It's definitely horror. I think people are just so accustomed to slasher, ghost hauting horror that they don't realize that horror has other facets to it. I think Longlegs did exceptionally well with creating anxiety induced scenes. The scene where Lee comes out of her cabin looking for Longlegs with her gun in the middle of the night got to me the most. The anxiety and fear of someone intruding my home is a recent adult fear of mine, so that totally got me, but the more violent parts, like when her fbi agent partner got shot were shocking, but not exactly scary.
While I liked the movie, but didn't find it scary at all I agree with your point about that specific scene. It is kind of ironic that the most traditionally "scary" scene (a serial killer home invasion) is the scene that most people seem to agree upon in the sea of constant debates about how psychologically "scary" this movie was
I feel like the casual horror audience are the ones who don’t think this is scary. They must want the more Hollywood horror crap I guess 🤷🏻♂️ I was unnerved and genuinely creeped the f**k out, and I cannot stop thinking about it! I’m still putting some pieces together and it’s very rewarding as a horror fanatic 🖤
*SPOILER* Also, there was a ton of snake imagery and in the Bible the devil is referred to as a serpent. In the opening when Longlegs says “you wouldn’t recognize me, I’ve got my Longlegs on today” (something like that) it’s almost like the Devil saying “you wouldn’t recognize me, I’m inhabiting a human form” because serpents don’t have legs of course. SO CREEPY LIKE WTF it’s like the Devil was talking directly to Lee Harker, and considering what we know by the end of the movie…it’s just haunting and I can’t get it out of my head.
or people just dont like it, we're allowed to not like it. no need to no true scotsman this alot of people arent scared of religious elements or supernatural things
I agree. My 18 yo daughter went with me yesterday to see it and I don't think she liked it as much. I'm 49 and very deep into horror and grew up in the 80s so I loved it.
@@nope19568 I didn’t say anything about people not liking it, I was talking about whether they found it scary. I totally understand why people aren’t gonna like it. I understand we don’t all like the same things.
As someone who does not like this movie + didn’t find it scary - what I find scary/I like is movie like hereditary. If you define hereditary as Hollywood horror crap :)
Loved your review on this movie and the discussion you had in the beginning of the video. Too many people care about how others enjoy horror and it's tiring. Also, just want to shout out interest in you maybe doing a video on "I Saw the TV Glow." One of my favorites of the year for sure! 😊
It’s interesting because I’ve seen a lot of people upset about this movie, but none of it has been about it not being scary enough. Most people I’ve seen have been upset with the sloppy writing and lackluster supernatural plot devices. I agreed with everything you said in the video, but the things you stated for your dislikes were just too much for me to look past it it made a movie that could be fantastic feel just above average for me.
I just saw Longlegs yesterday, and i could not stop laughing when he kept singing. I had to cover my face in the theater. Idk if it was the combination of tension and then just the randomness of the singing, but my god those scenes were hilarious. Nicolas Cage absolutely killed it though.
I didn't find it scary so much as tense. But I never got beyond that point. There wasn't an overaeching dread or any scene that truly scared me. It was an interesting movie that was beautifully shot, but that's about all the good I can come up with. I was disappointed with this one, sadly.
I was so scared for this movie and then it just gave so little when I wanted more of everything I just wanted more of long legs himself and more of a story then what it was
Місяць тому+2
SPOILERS!!!! i legit thought longlegs was lee's dad. i also guessed right that her mom was working with him (why would he take the bus, if he had a car? and then we saw the car in the mom's garage). the scary thing is that he was always under their house!! imagine lee visiting her mom and longlegs is in the basement making another doll 😵💫 i liked that ending. i don't really love supernatural horror, but is satanism supernatural? idkkk but i loved it. yeah, maybe we needed more story, but it was good. scary. the beginning was creepy. the way longlegs put his head down and we saw him for a second and then they hit us with the opening titles. scaryyyyy! the atmosphere was also really good. i gave it four stars (sorry sarah), but it was so original. i WILL rewatch it when it comes on .. idk how it's called. when we will find it on the internet in HD quality😂😂 yeah.
I never understood the boring/pacing issue people had, it never felt like it dragged out, I went to see it with my mother and she felt the same way as me. So, I'd love to see someone else's perspective on how it felt that way.
@@aidasalazar9702i also feel like it dragged, not a big fan of the whole **spooky noise** --long drawn out shot of people walking around because they heard a spooky noise--followed by no real release of anything, it just gets stale after awhile, can work for me once or twice but when its basically the whole movie up to the last like, 15ish minutes it makes me mad, like i dont even want jumpscares cus alot of the time theyre just really cheap horror fodder but when the whole movie feels like one long unchanging thing its gets monotonous and boring, atleast for me
Just watched it. It was an intense and uncomfortable movie. It definitely belongs in the horror genre, like midsommar, they’re very good films, but hereditary is “scarier” than them, as well as sinister. But that’s why they’re not on the same scale. I think the issue stems from the whole “scariest movie ever” In any case the ending a bit lost me, something was muddled to me. But the movie was intense and creepy and atmospheric. I liked it overall.
I’m thinking of the moments that stood out in my mind, and I keep going back to the image of longlegs on the TV behind the Kramer’s head, how I couldn’t look at anything else but his face, and when I tried the image became horrifying. And when he said on tape that they’re all going to be in the party, including the Asian detective (forgot her name), and he was right, he knew who he was talking to and was right. As well as it hinting that longlegs was already whispering in his ear. Really creepy, the thing that didn’t work for me was the accomplice (idk if I should spoil), they were off but like just why did they need to be there, why did they buy it? Why did they go along once they could step out. Oh here you are discussing it, I’m writing it as I’m watching the video. I agree, it just was too fast and unclear, and there could be more creepy hints.
I went to this with my mom and my grandma (she’s 75 but she’s the biggest horror fan I know) and we all had different opinions on this movie. My mom really didn’t like it, thought it was stupid. Grandma thought it was pretty decent, better than average but not as scary as she expected. I absolutely loved it and was scared out of my mind because it filled me with so much dread. I was glued to the screen, looking for details in every frame. And this movie really did get me. I wasn’t in love with the ending but the experience over all was great and super unsettling. I watched it on Saturday and I’m still feeling on edge this evening, 3 days later.
i agree! i think the build up was amazing but i think the plot twist of the dolls made it feel flat and like the whole point of longlegs was just… nothing really.
I have been a horror fan for 10 plus years, and I agree that not many horror films really phase me now days. I can 100% say this film absolutely terrified me in the cinema. I think it is one of the best horror films made in current day.
I agree, I won’t judge the movie by how scary i found it to be. I’ll judge it based on how completely incoherent the script was. Nicolas cage also undercut any sense of tension I might have felt. I got the impression that he was watching old “Nic Cage loses his shit” compilations to prepare for this role. It was just completely unserious and I had to hold myself back from laughing
I'm surprised how few noticed the cinematography telling quite a bit in the background. There are several shots of pairs of things, be it birds in a photo, two of the same trophy on a counter, etc. Even when a third person shows up, her partner leaves the picture. When in the interrogation room, the space behind Longlegs is always positioned to look like angel wings (that he now lacks). Also I'm fairly certain the symbol also would overly rather well to most shots, hence why they went with the odd symmetry where everything is static looking.
I really wish the ending hadn't been like a comedy moment, it really took me out of the horror of the previous scene/general vibes of the movie, and I just ended up laughing, then it all felt kind of goofy silly 💀
The movie was far from perfect. I could not connect to the characters. The girl with psychic abilities was just too flat. Cage character was strange. The movie needed more time. There is a great moving somewhere but needs more from the story.
This movie had one of the most effectivejump scare in a horror movie in a long time, it really only had one it was near the middle of the film, and it’s just a full on attack on the senses I physically screamed In the theatre and I haven’t done that in years !
One thing I haven’t seen anyone discuss is the acting of the family in the final scene. In a lot of horror movies the posessed become either silent robot killers or crazed animals. Here it was more disturbing, like they were poisoned. The wife was trying to appear normal but deep down knew something terrible was happening.
Omg yesssss the wife. Holy what
@@vickytime3855 her little whimper felt like a gut punch- I honestly wasnt affected for most of the film but that involuntary sound she made HURT
yes, there are some valid criticisms of the ending of this movie, but the acting of the family was so chilling to me. the father saying, “no, i’ll be right back. you’ll still be in the kitchen.” pure horror.
omg that scene was disturbing cause the wife knows shes gonna 💀
That scene is the one that chilled me most! "No I'll be back you'll still be in the kitchen!" Man I've always liked Blair Underwood but he's super underrated in this!
i heard someone say leaving the theater “i wish it was a little more, or a little less” and i agree with them completely
I completely agree. Too many ideas all in one and mostly underbaked. Still enjoyed it tho!
Totally agree, it felt rushed maybe? Unfinished?
Yes. I liked it but I was hoping that I'd like the movie as much as I liked the trailers but there was something missing somehow.
I wish the plot dump with the mom was less and more with the motivations of long legs. The mom’s motivations were pretty clear and didn’t need a ton of attention. While long legs is a complete mystery which is great but a smidge of information about his motivations would be nice. Maybe I missed something.
I've felt that about several movies in the last few years 😅
For most of the movie my eyes were scanning the entire screen.
I was looking at and through doorways, windows, hallways, etc.
More than a couple of times I was focusing on the back of or an adjacent room.
The suspense was constant and paced really well. I felt genuinely uncomfortable even during simple conversations.
This was great at making me overthink things and keep me invested in the story.
Same. Perkins is excellent at lighting a scene, creating dread in empty spaces and blocking.
I saw the shadow of a demon atleast twice, I hear there’s 7 shots, one was behind the girl at the end during the flashback, and the last one was in the reflection in agent carters door after he shuts it when Lee walks in… it was amazing! 5/5 for me
@@daryldwayne3538That's awesome! I can't wait for it to hit Blu Ray so I can pause those scenes
Same!!! The anticipation was unnerving. I’ve just finished it and I’m thinking about how everything came together. I enjoyed it ❤
@@daryldwayne3538me too!!!
The opening and a scene where a certain character looks at a picture - made my heart stop. The cinema BOOMED with the sound design.
right!!! i thought they would just show the picture but that scene actually got a scream out of me hahaha
Jumped and recoiled into the seat
What makes that jumpscare strong, mainly the latter one, is that that would be just as shocking to her.
YES oh my god they both got me so good
The way I only realized this movie is set in the 90s after seeing a picture of Bill Clinton on the wall in the FBI office. 😅
Yeah that threw me off because I saw a lot of wood paneling on the walls in rooms and Lees clothes reminded me of the 80s but then I saw Bill Clinton and then I thought ohhh ok. Leftovers from the 80s as far as decorations and clothes some.
I noticed that but I came to realize it was set in the 90s because of the use of payphones and old landlines.
I knew the movie had to be set pre-2000s in the first scene of child Lee going out to greet some random stranger who parked at their house. That’s some 70s-80s shit if I’ve ever seen it 🤣 I’m not sure exactly where the line is but it’s much less common now for kids to do that or even just answer the door for a stranger.
I was confused. Some of the decor in the houses were giving 70s, but they were also wearing gloves during investigations, and I don't think DNA testing was a thing until the mid-90s. Then I was wondering when payphones became a thing.
Yeah the movie told time in presidential portraits 😂
I think the reason why Harker’s family was chosen was because Longlegs wanted to act as her father. We see Longlegs tying up Harker’s mom as she begs for mercy, essentially doing what the other fathers do during their breakdowns.
Also, his name, Longlegs, literally has the word “daddy” at the front of it when referring to the spider. Plus, when Harker was doing the evaluation, she sees an upside down triangle (the 9 circles link w the book) and immediately says “father.” In a sick and twisted way, Longlegs IS Harker’s dad, and she was going to be killed by him had her mom not stepped in.
That’s just my running theory anyway 😅
That can definitely be interpreted as being true...her mom prevented her from being killed for sure.
I could even see it as opportunistic- he's not the bio dad (if that'swhat you mean), but saw a widow/single mother and saw where he could wrap her up into his web
@@connorbee9679like a cuckoo does with its eggs in another birds house ... cuckoo
During Lee's psychic abilities test done by the FBI, they flash an inverted triangle and Lee says the word father. I think it all started with them
Woahhhh
I was about to say the same!! That would help explain why he chose a family with no father
@@natashajade787 precisely
Long Legs was active in 1966
Yess noticed this too! And I think she says mother for the rectangle, which looks like box the dolls were in.
I thought the scariest part of the film are the scenes of Lee by herself in her house. As someone who lived alone not too long ago, I can totally relate to the complete isolation and fear of being by yourself. Overall, the film was brilliant in capturing mood and moments of dread. Cage's singing is a great example of this. Some people laughed at it, I thought it was terrifying simply because it's a man completely out of his head. Great review by the way and keep up the good work!!!
Yeah I live by myself as well those scenes in house were so unsettling and the fact that her desk is to the wall and her back towards the doorway was the worst part for me
@@boombox3162Well she did run out of the house without securing the door first. You'd think as an FBI agent, she'd know better to walk into the woods and leave your door wide open. No backup either. Just went out with no care in the world.
The droning shots of the door gave me most anxiety
i'm the one guilty of laughing at it and all of nicholas cage's scenes in the movie 😆✋ 😂 😂
@@missiekj the idiot ruining the theater experience for everyone else... congratulations 🤡
I feel like some people just stick to "scariest movie of the decade," and instead of enjoying the movie, they just focus on trying not to be scared and see it as some challenge. This movie stuck with me and deeply unsettled me!
K but please don’t invalidate us for believing the lying marketing. They inflated the heckkkkk out of the movie which is THEYRE fault not on the viewers who didn’t vibe with what they’re marketed.
Also nonetheless I’m actually jealous asf that you enjoyed it seriously
Is it actually scary ?
If ppl are seeing it as a challenge they're fkn cringe, lmao. Or a child ig.
@@Vinsenseethat's how they marketed movies in my days lol!🤣
ive thought about this, and after a bit of discussion with others, ive come to understand the film a little better. In regards to your question about Longlegs inserting himself into the family: during the interrogations scene, after Longlegs makes a reference to a she, Lee asks who he is talking about, to which he replies “the seventh she. To be given the same choice that they’ve all been given. Crimson or clover.”
So either accept the "gift", and eventually destroy yourselves, or reject it and "bow down, all the way down, and get down to the dirty work", or in other words, commit to the same mission that he is. The "seventh she" suggests her mother was not the first person he made this offer to, but she was the first to "choose the clover". In other words, her daughter being allowed to grow up unlike the others, but in exchange damning her own soul by helping Longlegs carry out his task.
As for her psychic abilities, i do believe they come directly from her connection to the doll. And since these dolls contain the devil's essence, you could say that Satan is who gave her these abilities. She's had the devil in her this whole time. Her mother shooting the doll severs that connection, but he decides to give her one last call to nudge her in the direction he wants.
I'm not sure if all of this is objectively correct, but it does make the most sense
How was Satan nudging her in the end? She killed the FBI agent when he tried attacking them. She then tried shooting the doll but her gun just clicked...I think those metal balls can control anyone to a certain degree who are in its direct vicinity or if someone touches them. The coroner who kept praising Longleg's artistic work on the dolls was under its influence. He even peesuaded the FBI agent boss not to cut the ball open. He was protecting it. Im still wondering about the ending and whether the gun actually just clicked or if the ball's influence made her think that to prevent her shooting the doll. She only fired her weapon three times. She wasn't out of bullets.
I watched this last weekend and it gave me the same feeling Hereditary, but less of the lasting depression. I loved it a lot, but I felt like the last act was rushed. I wanted the first two acts to last forever
I really liked it too, but yeah I think Hereditary is definitely the superior horror movie.
I compare every new horror/thriller to Hereditary. It set the bar high.
YES, the first two acts were superb!!!
Yeah the first two acts were class, then the ending felt rushed I feel aswell
i agree with this! hereditary still tops for me
For me the horror of this movie was in how realistically it portrayed trauma. Lee has classic symptoms of C-PTSD from her social awkwardness, not being able to remember elements of her childhood or things that happened, or having blind spots or tunnel vision of what you're able to notice - those are all classic traits of growing up with trauma as it affects your development. Even her intuition/"psychic" abilities could be put down to being overly sensitive to elements non-traumatized people don't notice as they've never had to grow up with that survival mechanism - especially as she only had these abilities surrounding negative events. Even her mothers hoarding is a classic trauma symptom. I enjoyed this movie because the mental illness was part of the horror, but it was the result of the horrific things rather than what was actually causing the murders to happen like it's usually treated in horror movies.
Helps that the trauma angle wasn't as overt as other recent movies.
Yup, i thought it was pretty obvious that even Cage's character was suffering immensely. It was very obvious by his mannerisms. I think Satan got a hold of his soul and slowly made him go insane. It would have been cool if they revisited his youth to show how that happened.
@@GSP-76 Would be very different, maybe all Satan needed to do was to speak to him, Or it possessed those around him somehow. I do like to think that he's the way he is because Satan got inside of him somehow.
That opening scene gave me pure chills. I'm so glad you are reviewing this!! My heart was beating the whole movie. His face has haunted me since I watched it.
Same but I thought it was beautiful 🤣
I feel like most people who aren't really horror fans only believe a jump scare is truly scary. I'm the opposite. Tension, suspense, supernatural...that is scary to me. So true, it's very subjective.
Totally agree. Jump scares get me but that doesn’t make a movie scary
the overdose jump scare is just like when you're riding a roller coaster to the point to "ok i'm too tired to scream, and i just close my eyes until it ends"... it's the way this movie made you felt unconfortable even if you watched in air-conditioned and comfy seat in the cinema that did it...
Exactlyy!
Yess if I feel like maybe it could happen in real life. Jump scares aren't scary after the fact
Nah. As a big horror art house movie kind of guy this was just awful and completely forgettable.
i think the color white and its symbolic meaning unlocks a lot of this movie, the absence of darkness + how deeply he floods these clean lives with that darkness. he references the color a LOT
I thought he was referencing religious people's homes. The clean white homes were guaranteed to be a faithful Christian family home.
I didn’t find Longlegs scary. I also don’t judge those who do find it scary because it’s completely subjective and it’s extremely disrespectful and pretentious to call anyone’s opinions “wrong.” There is no right, there is no wrong, there is only conversation.
No kidding! Agreed
Your opinion is wrong.
@@AndrewFrancisIlyrian of course someone would say that. And of course I’m sticking with my guns.
@anonymoushumanhi I think it was a joke.
@@thrgg could be; you can’t really tell someone’s tone and I’ve had people react this way to me before, lol. But if they are, it’s truly fine either way. :)
The timing is insane, I literally came back from the cinema after seeing it and Sarah uploaded 6 minutes ago!
Same! 😂
Me too 😅
so we all just watched it heh
Literally same
Me too!
Maybe the most disturbed I have been by a movie since hereditary. Truly traumatic. Sure, it’s not stereotypically “scary”. But it’s unsettling as HECK.
I also had ALL the complaints you did. Initially. But they faded after a second viewing. It’s somehow even better on a rewatch
Hereditary is definitely the most disturbing “mainstream” movie I’ve seen, but this one just didn’t do it for me sadly. :( I think some people just resonate more with horror elements that are derived from things they’ve experienced or will experience at some point (grief, family issues, etc). I’d never seen grief “up close” before I watched Hereditary, and now that I’ve seen and experienced that, Toni Collette’s screams in those scenes almost make me feel sick.
This movie was DANK. Really dark with a gritty feel.
Setting it in the '90s was a very smart choice.
The thought of having a Satanist doll maker live underneath my house makes my skin crawl 😳 that was the scariest part of the movie for me.
No part of Longlegs even came close to being as disturbing as the least disturbing sequences of Hereditary. Between the hidden naked people in the corners, the score, the dinner scene, the car “accident” scene and aftermath, the reveal of the cult i meannnn… the entire last leg of Hereditary is a masterclass climax filled with insane visuals. Longlegs truly has no scene that can compare to any of the ones mentioned and the suspense and dread of Hereditary remains unmatched since it’s release for me,
SPOILER DISCUSSION:
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I think Longlegs choosing Lee & Ruth is intentional on his part. Plot-wise, he needed someone approachable to be invited into homes and carry out his plan. Ruth is also a single mother so she was a perfect target. Metaphorically, the film constantly references the book of revelation & the triangle - represented by the dragon (Satan), the beast of the sea (Longlegs), and the false prophet (Ruth). In short: the beast of the sea needs the false prophet to spread its word so that Satan can rule. Longlegs needed someone to complete the triangle and satisfy Satan's word/plan. Ruth worked under the impression that she was saving Lee's life, but Longlegs used that as leverage to keep Ruth complaisant and follow through with what he wanted her to do.
That's a really cool find, interesting but good that the movie didn't specifically bring up those roles.
this makes the movie even more upsetting for me... so good
Was it scary to me? No, the peeks of the demon under the veil was scary. For me this movie was amazingly fascinating, I loved all of the actors (and I will always be in love with Nicholas Cage!) And the way it was filmed! That's the icing on the cake for me! The color schemes, the pace, the settings ugh Chef's kiss! I can't wait to own this!!!!!!! It was an absolute treat for me!
Yeah the cinematography was really well done, so glad I saw it in theatres
I’m not bashing everyone else’s opinions, but I’m so bummed this movie isn’t hitting for me like others. My boyfriend thought it was kind of bad, and I thought it was just okay. I wish it affected me like others.
💯
100000% agree
Same 😩
Same. I love a good tension build, but this did nothing for me. Such a bummer.
It would have been amazing without the devil dolls I think
Saw it on the 11th. Was my birthday which was pretty iconic. The opening scene sent a permanent chill down my spine. 5/5
I’m not easily scared as a seasoned horror fan. That opening scene with Longlegs and young Lee had me jumping so hard I was wearing my popcorn!
Best scene of the movie for me!
Is Longlegs paying you to say this?
@@octoberwitch7968 No, Satan is. Hail Satan, mf'er!
The only good scare. That millisecond face reveal was good
this- i jumped so hard i nearly spilled my drink LOL!! i think 90% of my theater was the same
I was legitimately scared while in the theater and I think that unnerving ambiguity of a threat builds suspense into tension, to the point where I was leaning back in my chair in the back of the theater, legs tucked under me, to try to 'get away'. My own personal experiences of high-tension anxiety around creepy, threatening, and possibly dangerous or predatory adults from a young age brought the intensity of that fear back. That's what made it scary to me.
I saw it last night and can’t stop thinking about it! One of the best horror movies i’ve seen in the last couple years. The atmosphere felt tense and somewhat hopeless from the first scene and the feeling persisted throughout. There was also a sense of loneliness/emptiness that stuck with me. Longlegs successfully instilled fear without a lot of jump scares or gore.
couldn't agree more!!
I’m a middle aged seasoned horror fan. I went in blind, no trailers, not even knowing it was horror, and it genuinely gave me chills and scares. It’s been a long time. Amazing audience at the cinema tonight. Total silence.
This movie, for the first time in my life while watching horror, made me nervously laugh. I was SHOCKED.
I really liked the movie, but I thought Nick Cage came off as more corny and silly than scary. He's riiiiiight on the edge for me lol
Right? For me personally he wasn’t scary at all. Creepy and odd sure. But my fiancé and I literally giggled at him a few times in theaters
This! Although i didn’t enjoy the movie. He took me out of the tension of the movie and every time he was on screen. It was all so off putting but not in a scary way, in a cringe goofy way. I almost wish they would’ve just kept him out of the frame fully. The breaking out into song in the high pitch voice was really offputting.
i think he was not supposed to be scary. maybe insane/ridiculous to deviate your attention from the horror that surrounded his character.
I was also laughing in the theater, particularly the part in the car where he just suddenly goes off and I'm like oh there's the Nic Cage we all know 😂 But his last scene was pretty chilling
To me he was so terrifying. Corny ? Yes. But in such a scary way idk he gave me the total creeps in it
I would also recommend “Fallen” with Denzel as a super natural thriller it’s my all time favorite film every shot and dialogue is significant to the plot from start to finish is perfectly executed!
Now that movie was scary! It was super intense. He didn’t know who could trust or who he could believe, and that’s particularly scary considering all of his colleagues had guns. He was scared, but didn’t freak out. He was focused on finding a resolution and to the best of his ability he did.
I feel like nobody knows that movie but I love it! I've probably seen it like 20 times, we had it on VHS growing up so I've seen it a bunch of times and still love it. Such an underrated movie
@@bookshelfhoney really?!?! I feel like it’s pretty popular.
@@bookshelfhoney Fr I’ve seen it many times and am always impressed with the subtle details of the plot and character behaviors and the concept is so compelling
Really liked this movie, but I did have the same questions you did as well, so I wouldn’t say it was perfect. But it definitely creeped me the heck out in the theater. 👀 The only thing that bugged me at the end was …
If you have Lee breaking down the murders and telling you it’s girls who are turning 9 on the 14th, why in the living hell would Carter not mention his daughter turns 9 in a few days … on the 14th … since they still hadn’t caught the killer? Like that didn’t cross your mind, sir? You’re a SOB for that, Agent Carter. 😂
I thought it was 6 days before and 6 days after… so not only the 14th. No?
@@CJ-OVOI thought the card threatened her mother if she revealed it.
@@j0j01192oh I don’t recall seeing that detail thanks
@j0j01192 no, it was targeting girls born on the 14th, but the killings themselves all happened within the 6 days before their birthday or in the 6 days after their birthday
off topic but I couldn't stop looking at it, the reflection from your cabinet that is showing your window literally looks like someone is across the street watching you make this review 😭😭
Like a scene in the movie! 😱
It was worth it to not watch much trailers or read any synopsis for this movie. For me it's up there with the exorcist in my favorite horror movies, Nicolas cage and maika acted amazingly in this. And whoever the cinematographer was killed it with the wide shots of doorways and background to make you feel like something was about to pop up in the dark behind the character
The second I finished longlegs I ran to your channel to hear your thoughts to find you hadn’t posted yet so I’m very excited
I think a lot of the discourse comes down to the marketing - early marketing was incredible and cryptic and spoke for itself but recent marketing really emphasizes the “scare factor” which on one hand I’m glad is driving people to see this incredible movie but I think also creates an expectation that is hard to meet (even if I thought it was scary and full of dread)
100%
I wouldn’t necessarily say it SCARED me but I did feel like…gross for lack of a better word. Like the whole time I felt like I was watching something I shouldn’t be, it was just like super dreadful. I loved it lol
100%
most horror movies don't scare me, neither do horror games, I still adore both because there's more to a horror movie than the scare factor
yeah the only horror content thats ever actually scared me is usually short horror films, and i think thats just because they dont need to do the whole three act arc thing
Agreed! I’ll never understand people that say a movie sucks because it didn’t scare them. No duh… we watch so many horror movies it’s rare when one actually hits us. This one was special because most people felt uneasy.
The hype hurt the movie for me. I got caught up in the hype and was very disappointed. The movie was too much of a slow burn and Nick Cage’s look wasn’t creepy at all. I think if I went in blind, I would’ve enjoyed it a little more. But I went in expecting the scariest movie of all time and a look on Nicholas cage to be so disturbing. 3/5
Hard agree
See I heard it was one of the scariest movies I went in thinking that it was all talk and I came out terrified.
Hmm, the human mind is interesting. I went in knowing all of this. I went it having never really experienced actual fear from movies. I left very uncomfortable and with a sense of being watched.
There should be limit on how many times someone can say something is the scariest movie of the year before they get their festival/advance screening passes revoked.
SPOILER::
So with regards to her abilities, I took it as she was being controlled the whole time by the devil and that she wasn't actually psychic. The beginning where she has to look at the photos fast definitely will have to rewatch as they are foreshadowing.
agree, when she explained how she knew the house of the first killer was just like "a tap on her shoulder" described that demon probably "whispered" that information, and the fact that the killer surrendered to her even after he blew off her partner's head, matched with carrie-anne's description that she would jump off from the window if she was given "the order", which probably the killer was "ordered" by the demon to surrender..
This movie was so effective for me. Like I was so uncomfortable the whole time
Saw this last Thursday and I am still thinking about it. That’s how I know it was a banger for me. Best horror movie of the year imo
No like I was actually shaking during his interrogation scene. It might have been the 2 edibles I took beforehand, but I've never had such a visceral reaction in the theaters, throughout the entire movie. I got home after and my key got stuck in the door and I almost had a panic attack cause I thought he was behind me. This movie exceeded my expectations.
😂😂😂
you should see silence of the lambs, when clarice starling met hannibal lecter, because i believe this scene is inspired from that movie... the hopeless, depressed situation, especially knowing the evil has the upper hand really gives you chill...
Sweet jesus I can't imagine seeing this movie while incredibly high, you poor thing HAHA
@CVFFEINE it was fun for sure, but dear lord was it an EXPERIENCE lol
SPOILERS:
I believe the psychic abilities are just simply because she was connected to that demonic magic longlegs was using. That’s why his monologue was so sinister talking about her becoming an FBI agent! This movie is top movies for me
I loved it at the beginning and thought the atmosphere and cinematography were something very special but the plot was just too silly to make it a good movie to me. Silver orbs, killer dolls, it all just felt so far away from what I thought the film was going to be.
As soon as the guy started talking about the silver ball talking to him it took me back a bit, it just got so far away from being like Silence of the Lambs which is what so many reviews compared it too. Which is fine, but it definitely gave people the idea that this movie would be something other than it was
Agreed, I kind of wish the supernatural element didn't exist and it was just a serial killer horror movie
Agreed. I didn't like the supernatural aspects, other than Longlegs dialogue. Just hinting at the supernatural would have been better.
I am so frustrated at the way that they decided to end this movie! I like the story but id write it differently. It would have been so much better if they would have nixed that stupid doll, silver kegal ball, devil smoke bit and instead we find out that longlegs was living in their basement the entire time/kind of becoming ghe dad of the house spending alot of time with the daughter who is now promised to the devil in exchange for her life. So she was having blackout spells because of her childhood and growing up he would take her down in the basement and whisper things to her and performing rituals and as she grew up making sure she went into law enforcement/FBI so he could keep an eye on his case. This would have tied up the part where he was talking about "we laughed when you went into law enforcement"meaning him and her mother. It would have tied up the loose end of how she ended up going into that line of work despite seeming scared all the time. So he has been doing rituals to have her do the crimes and she was blacking out while she did. Basically the mom made the deal "if you save my daughter we will do this for you and in order to save her life she's going to have to take the lives of these other children as a sacrifice to him. In my opinion it should have been the FBI agent that was doing it. That wouldve been so much better. It would have explained why she forgot things and why she had the powers and psychic abilities because he would take her down in the basement and then she would go back to her life and have no memory of any of that happening. I believed her psychic ability was that the devil pretty much had her soul and was guiding her. The mom sold both of their souls to the devil so he was tied to her. That's why her mom told her that if they didn't continue to do the killing that both of them would burn in hell for eternity because their souls were sold to him in the promise that it would save her daughter. So just my opinion it shouldve been the mom taking the daughter around she couldve used her like they were attending the girls birthdays or whatever the case may be and once there with her being taken over by the devil and blacking out, the devil commits the crimes with the mom and daughter there instead of a doll, lol. It was good but i wish they went that route. I always feel like these good movies have a really great plot and then they get sloppy with it at the end and the whole plot turns out to be some kind of black smoke magic. I hated that and I did not like the doll bit, it didnt flow or make sense to me. I wish i could help build plots for movies i have tons of stories and ideas. It was good though, i wanted it to keep going. The funniest plot hole to me in this movie was the fact that this was the 90s and they're saying the FBI had no evidence that the killer was ever in the house but nobody ever saw a nun pulling up in the same car at these murder scenes and then coming out covered in blood 😂
ya when the guy put the ultrasound thing up to the ball i was like.. oh okay that’s what we’re doing here
100% agreeing with your stance in the beginning of the video on “oh it’s not scary so it’s not a horror movie.” Like, could you imagine someone saying “oh I watched Borat or Norbit and didn’t laugh even once, so it’s not a comedy!” Ridiculous
The reason why I liked the mom’s “monologue” after she shot the doll was bc it was set up like a mom telling a kid a bedtime story. “Once upon a time…” connected to the theme of a mother trying to keep her kid from growing up and facing adult reality.
The way Oz Perkins subverts expectations in this film is masterful. We all know to expect jump scares going in to a horror movie and we all expect to see things hiding in the background (which there were, but it was subtle). In the opening scene we get both Longlegs peeking from around the corner of the house AND a jump scare when he bends into frame.
It builds our expectations of what is going to happen in the rest of the scenes, and it never does. Now all of the doorframe shots and wide angles are so stressful and that tension is never released because there is no jump coming.
I don't know man. I thought it just seemed like a greatest hits compilation of much better films. The first half had me locked and then it all kinda goes sideways. There are so many loose ends that never get tied up and I felt like Cage was just laughable. Then it has one of the biggest cop-out endings ever. Major letdown for me although it looked spectacular and there were some good moments.
That's a great way to put it, I totally agree.
I'm so unbelievably happy to hear you had pretty much the exact same thoughts as me about this film. I hope Nic Cage as Longlegs becomes a horror icon, that's the dream...Scenario.
I feel like Longlegs wasn't actually in it enough? I wish they had explained more or shown him more in the middle. The first part had me HOOKED... but then I got lost somewhere in the middle and the ending felt rushed. I liked it overall, and it scared me, but I still left feeling like I knew absolutely nothing about the title character???
When I was younger, things "scared" me. I saw Halloween at a drive in at age 6. It scared me. I watched Toby Hooper's Salem's Lot a year later on television. Had a hard time sleeping for a week. Now, what scares me is something that disturbs me or makes me feel uncomfortable. Longlegs made me feel this and kept me feeling that way for the entire runtime. That was a huge win for me. It was a joy for this horror fan to experience. I agree that this was not a traditional "scary" movie, but it is a terrifying movie. Nicolas Cage's character is pure nightmare fuel.
I really wanted to like this one. First half was great. I loved the cinematography and the hidden demon in the backround on a lot of scenes. The second half just completely lost me with nic cages goofy acting and the silly plot reveal. I was expecting a lot more than demon possessed dolls
Completely agree with you. I was super invested basically after the very first scene. But slowly checked out after the doll reveal 😕
Same, I wish the entire movie was more like the beginning and focused more on Longlegs and not the whole demonic angle. I guess I wanted this to more like a deep dive into a deranged person who's completely lost touch with reality
@@CapturedByKen Right? It wasn't even a good build to the demonic angle, it was like "oh and btw he definitely worships Satan."
I watched this just hours ago with my wife, and I have to say - it's one of those movies you have to go into 'blind'. Not knowing much about the movie definitely kept us guessing and the movie fresh. We really loved it for that 'unknown' factor... Much respect for Os for crafting a creepy thriller-horror at a time where most of us feel we know what to expect. I still have questions, but that's a cool feeling nowadays....
saw this movie yesterday and i was so upset you didn't cover it yet. thank you!!! so excited for this one
Re: 7:20ish, the crazy thing is that he didn't 'kill' anyone. Very Charles Manson-esque (whom they mention in the film), as they collaborated to commit murder but the murder in a very human sense was always carried out by the fathers. So a fun thought experiment is, had Longlegs gone on trial, what would they possibly charge him with? Without basing the case on spooky dolls and the occult, he'd walk. The most they could prove would be circumstantial evidence he was present based on the letters.
These are my favorite types of movies to a T. I wanted to love this movie so badly. Still an amazing movie but I can’t help but feel wanting more. I’ve thought about it a lot and I’m not giving it 5 stars due to I feel like the story jumps around way too quickly without enough build up. For example, like in the Zodiac, there is a code to decipher and yet boom, she figures it out immediately, knows exactly where to go throughout the whole movie, Longlegs gets captured as soon as they get a picture of him with no buildup at all. It seems like everything was just shown or handed to us rapidly like we are being spoon fed. While I get she was connected to him and logically makes sense story wise, I think it could have been executed better or written differently for the last half. The first half was great. I wish the stakes felt higher and that the movie took us for more of a ride. I wanted to see more of Longlegs’s character. I again still liked it but it had potential to be one of the best. Amazing acting by the lead actress and Nicolas Cage. Cinematography was beautiful and Longlegs was absolutely terrifying.
I very much agree- horror is extremely subjective and also changes over time. My biggest draw into horror initially was the realistic (somewhat) situations that characters find themselves in (and some of the blood and gore) and now its moving more into psychological and less gore. I havent watched this yet but your discussion around it has me so excited to watch it!
When I first left the theater I thought it was a good movie. A solid 7/10. But now that I've mulled it over for 4 days, I can honestly say that no other movie has frustrated me more. I won't go into because I could write a whole essay at this point, but doing a deep read of the material has done nothing but annoy me.
SAME
Yes 🙂↕️ There are some things I’m still trying to make sense of in my head. I don’t mind ambiguity but after two viewings I’ve got nothing. What bugs me most is the Camera family survivor.
It took me a while ... but it's surprisingly deeply cohesive within its own world building. What didn't work for you?
I like Perkins' style and the way he keeps honing it over successive films. The highly composed shots that you can freeze frame to reveal something which looks like fine art photography or that trademark slow zoom, for instance, is great, but it's not just stylization for the sake of it. It actually serves the story and reinforces the psychological or emotional affect that he's going for. And while jump scares are usually cheap and ineffective, Perkins does this thing where he combined the jump scare with the uncanny, like in the scene where the doll's eyes suddenly flash open. He's actually innovating in the horror genre and pushing it to a different place or creating the elements that other lesser directors will be imitating. I was really impressed with this one. I can't want to see what he does next.
My stomach was in knots the whole movie. That opening scene 😱
I thought the first half of the movie was amazing and genuinely creepy and scary, but SPOILERS, the last 15 minutes the characters were making the dumbest decisions and it kinda killed it for me.
It’s like season 8 of GOT ruining the whole thing for me
SPOILER:
I was so confused why she didn’t shoot the doll’s head like her mom did? It seemed to release her to destroy the metal ball, so why didn’t she do that???
@@Apathist1408 I know, that part frustrated me bc she had a good amount of evidence to say the ball was the root of everything. And she also knew her boss was going to go kill his wife and did nothing, all as an FBI detective…
@@Apathist1408she tried but the gun wouldn’t go off, like the demon wasn’t allowing her to “end it”
@@Apathist1408 she tries shooting it but her revolver is out of ammo or being messed with by Satan. It's why it's clicking when she goes to shoot the doll.
@@jpmadds I think it's sorta explainable in being a deliberate flaw she has, that's inaction because of fear. You see it in how she doesn't try to stop Longlegs bashing his head against the table and jumps back away from it. Also passing out when the doll is shot could be seen as merely her fainting from the situation. It's a sign that she's not perfectly cut out to be an FBI agent or that the horror/shock of the situation overwhelms her. It takes until the ending for her to be able to kill two very important figures in her life (one her actual mother, the other her surrogate father almost) ultimately. Plus she might have been too afraid of Carter or her mother lunging at her if she did try to shoot the doll.
I think there are multiple reasons why someone would find this film/the design of Longlegs scary or not, like how sensitive someone is to the uncanny valley effect. As humans, that uneasiness registers with most of us on some level, but in my case, as a kid I was TERRIFIED of dolls, clowns, mall santas, mascots, etc. They still give me the creeps, as does AI generated audio. So my lizard brain was getting all sorts of responses in the first 2 acts of the film based on that. (spoilers below)
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the scene in act 1 with him entering her house, the sounds, the thumps, the shadowed being in the background (which, yes, by the end of the film we know is a demonic presence, but so many things and beings lurk in the dark), those all hit on fears of encounters that can realistically happen, and why home invasion films are so scary. they remind us that day to day existence is dark and full of terrors. The film was masterfully crafted on a sonic and visual level but it had a lot of narrative and structural issues upon reaching act 3, because I think the theme of family/the frail facade of a nuclear family was undeveloped.
I was fine with it being supernatural all along but think the way it was revealed and the mom-ologue was a poor choice. I also watch possession/demonic horror when I know I don't want to be scared, because that subgenre doesn't scare me that much. I also think we are so used to head trauma used as a shock factor so the interrogation table scene wasn't a gory surprise. I saw it days ago and am left with 2 things still in my brain that disturb me: (1) the shots of the eyes under the black shroud. well done (2) How did Lee Harker get here? Who made her? What happened in her mother's life that she raised a daughter to easily quote Book of Revelation while also serving Satan? Was it just the trauma in helping Longlegs that caused the hoard? And is Lee what happens when Rosemary's Baby grows up to become Clarice Starling?
It’s been a few days and I still have too many feelings about this movie. For me, objectively it was scary in the best way; it lingered in my mind for days after. For example, how we find out that he lived in their basement the entire time, while I understood this factually while watching the movie, the utter horror of that fact didn’t hit me until after it was over. So many little details about the story just got stuck in my brain the way good horror should.
That said, I am disappointed it ended up being a supernatural story. This is just a personal preference but I love it when a character can just be evil and commit atrocities through their own volition and capability, rather than having the easy explanation of demons/satan.
Especially with how no one could explain how Longlegs was convincing dads to murder their own families, a psychological horror story of an evil man capable of convincing random innocent people to do that would’ve been so much more scary to me than whatever the evil satan metal ball was supposed to be? It was honestly quite goofy and took me out of the story a little. Although at the same time, the dolls were definitely creepy, so I’m glad they were incorporated into the story even if it was in a goofy way like that
I really loved the "Twin Peaks" meets "The Silence of the Lambs" mash this film gave me. For me? This was more of a familial horror - the fear of what can become of your family... It's chilling.
I hate to pause the video but I'll be back after watching the movie next week. This beach holiday comes first. 😀
I woke up several times freaked out the night I watched this! I loved the eerie atmosphere and Longlegs himself was CREEPY AS HELL, but I liked the movie more when it was just procedural. I felt it worked better than the occult elements.
SPOILERS: I do agree that her mom being the accomplice and info dumping at the end were let downs and didn’t really work. I’m also glad you brought it up, but they really didn’t address her dad so why did he choose Lee? Very interesting point!
Well said! It needs to be said until people stop with the over hype, passing judgment on others, being horror snobs, etc. It needs to stop because it can ruin the movie for some, but also we've been having a great run of horror movies, so let's all enjoy!!
I was SO EXCITED for this movie and I guess I need to learn to not highly anticipate things because I was let down massively. I’m not a casual horror fan, I can appreciate a slow burn, but this felt like all style and no substance to me. It felt like it was trying to do what Hereditary accomplished. And if it was going to lean more detective procedural slash psychological thriller than straight horror it needed more of that. Also I disagree on Nic Cage’s performance. I think it would have been way more impactful if it was an unknown actor. It being Cage ruined any immersion for me. It’s so frustrating because I don’t want to be a hater and truly wanted to love this movie so so much.
i really feel like there's a massive difference between a "slow burn" and just being dragged out and this felt like the latter for me, nothing really felt impactful until the last 15 minutes
I feel very alone in saying I didn't care for this movie and was disappointed. For me I didn't like the super natural element at all and wish they did something different. I do like supernatural but the way this was done felt very rushed in imo.
Same here. I was sitting there like “oh, it’s LITERALLY demon dolls?” I didn’t feel any of the anxiety or dread that everyone else seems to have experienced and I’m really bummed.
The movie was terrible, should have been called the supernatural doll maker. And Nic cage was in it for like a total of 15 mins. Stupid
I enjoyed the supernatural element, but I didn’t enjoy the mom’s monologue. I too was disappointed
I agree, I guess in a way I was disappointed with the supernatural/occult element. They could have done so much more with that to add to the story. The was they used it was almost corny imo, having the super stereotypical depiction of satan lurking in the shadows. If kind of ruined it for me. Still a good movie don’t get me wrong, I just feel like they leaned so much on the character of Longlegs and how un-nerving he was, that he rest fell kind of lackluster. The cinematography was phenomenal though and the acting was good. I don’t hate it, just had higher hopes I guess.
Been waiting for this one
Hi Sarah, thanks for posting & everyone else--thanks for adding your takes. I love reading everyone's insights!
I think people define the genre on how it makes them feel I guess. Though we need to look at the actual movie itself what genre it’s actually in. I love that you talked about this “scary movie” debate peacefully!
I think marketing it as the scariest film of the decade did it a disservice for sure. I like the movie but it did have its faults. I need more of the Lee character and what drives her. Also I just couldn’t believe her as a FBI agent she was way to fragile.
Agreed. Scary is subjective.
I completely disagree. I actually related to her; imo she was autistic coded (as someone with ASD this was just my interpretation) I didn’t see her as fragile at all. She never gave up, never shied away from anything scary, and handled a lot of scary situations on her own I don’t think I could do. She did however have human reactions, like having an increased heart rate and increased breathing, which I don’t interpret as being “fragile” but instead being a human being influenced by stress
I personally didn’t see Lee as fragile. Just odd. I assumed neurodivergent. I agree that the advertising did a disservice though. I went into the movie so anxious because I was expecting to be TERRIFIED!! And instead I left the theater thinking “okay. That was an odd movie. Interesting”. I think I would’ve enjoyed the movie on the first watch MUCH more if I wasn’t expecting to be scared and was just expecting a beautiful and strange crime thriller
@@mlj3347when she saw LongLegs outside her house and she IMMEDIATELY grabbed a gun and went outside I was shocked. I was like “whoa whoa maybe just lock a door or something!” Lol
the girl would go outside the house the moment she sees a shadow in the forest, just to check… or burst into a house where someone just got shot in front of her… she was not fragile at all 💀
YES. the part about Longlegs choosing Lee’s family when there wasn’t a dad around bothered me sm. maybe that has something to do with the mom repeating “no one ever visits” but i think that was referring to Longlegs? idk, i wish that part was done better
I kinda thought they were gonna reveal that he was her Daddy Longlegs (which are sometimes called cellar spiders, and aren't actually real spiders), like if the mom conceived her (knowingly or unknowingly) in a cult type deal with no known bio dad. When we first saw the mom she looked so much like the images you see of the Manson girls and Lee mentions Manson and his cult; i was shocked at how put together the mom looked in the 70s flashbacks, wearing the same sweater coat but looking so different. There was no reference to lee ever having a father except for the picture association test where she said father for triangle. Also jarring that Longlegs preparing to kill her mom (in the flashback) was the only time we see him committing assault with his own hands, as were the fathers. I was kinda wondering if Lee is what happens when a grown up Rosemary's baby meets Clarice Starling.
I was really hoping this was going to be a silence of the lambs type movie with a Mason-family cult twist!!! @@Emma-se5wm
Wasn't Lee his first target? I assumed he started going after families with dads after that.
@@psychotophatcat i thought that, but if i’m remembering right, she said the killings started in 1968 and her case was in 1974. i could definitely be wrong though! but that’s what i remember
@@ajo3971 Ahh okay that might be the case! I have an auditory processing disorder and I often miss details like that in films without subtitles. I had just assumed she was the one who set the bar.
My wife and I saw it Sunday night and were absolutely blown away by it! It was dark, eerie, and wicked. Perkins did an amazing job at building dread throughout the movie while still injecting enough scares that had us reeling from moment to moment. The sound design, cinematography, and atmosphere oozed off screen and left me thinking about all of the things I noticed and what I may have missed. Maika Monroe did a superb job of playing standoffish and socially awkward (which served a much deeper purpose than we realized in the early parts of the film.) Nicolas Cage was haunting, terrifying, and difficult to watch (and i mean that in the best way possible.) He goes full unhinged at times and it makes you want to simultaneously look away and keep watching. Blair Underwood and Alicia Witt round out the cast perfectly and added so much to the tone and feel of the movie. I immediately want to watch it again. I had spent the last few months participating in the viral marketing (the billboards, websites, print ads, phone calls, etc.) and it truly helped enhance the film and some of the more esoteric elements. There are some things not touched on in the film from the marketing, but that just gives me hope for a sequel or director's cut. All in all, this is one of my favorite horror movies.
Personally speaking, as a big horror fan, I felt this film had alot more ideas to it, rather than proper execution. I was dying to be scared, but the film was veering on pretentious to me. After looking up a few interviews with Perkins, it kind of confirmed my thoughts.
It felt like it thought it was so much more than it actually was, but to me it wasn't. The instant the doll was introduced, I knew what the final twist was going to be, it was that much of a dull bummer to me.
But like you said, different things for different people. As long as people are going to the theaters, I'm happy 😊
I love how you worded this. I agree!
Just seen it yesterday at the theater but I didn’t think it was scary or disturbing. I like the atmosphere of the movie and how it felt like a vintage thriller but I was expecting more.
It's definitely horror. I think people are just so accustomed to slasher, ghost hauting horror that they don't realize that horror has other facets to it. I think Longlegs did exceptionally well with creating anxiety induced scenes. The scene where Lee comes out of her cabin looking for Longlegs with her gun in the middle of the night got to me the most. The anxiety and fear of someone intruding my home is a recent adult fear of mine, so that totally got me, but the more violent parts, like when her fbi agent partner got shot were shocking, but not exactly scary.
I did say in the theatre 'why are you going outside?' but she's a police officer so that made sense but yeah that gave me anxiety.
While I liked the movie, but didn't find it scary at all I agree with your point about that specific scene. It is kind of ironic that the most traditionally "scary" scene (a serial killer home invasion) is the scene that most people seem to agree upon in the sea of constant debates about how psychologically "scary" this movie was
I feel like the casual horror audience are the ones who don’t think this is scary. They must want the more Hollywood horror crap I guess 🤷🏻♂️ I was unnerved and genuinely creeped the f**k out, and I cannot stop thinking about it! I’m still putting some pieces together and it’s very rewarding as a horror fanatic 🖤
*SPOILER*
Also, there was a ton of snake imagery and in the Bible the devil is referred to as a serpent. In the opening when Longlegs says “you wouldn’t recognize me, I’ve got my Longlegs on today” (something like that) it’s almost like the Devil saying “you wouldn’t recognize me, I’m inhabiting a human form” because serpents don’t have legs of course. SO CREEPY LIKE WTF it’s like the Devil was talking directly to Lee Harker, and considering what we know by the end of the movie…it’s just haunting and I can’t get it out of my head.
or people just dont like it, we're allowed to not like it. no need to no true scotsman this
alot of people arent scared of religious elements or supernatural things
I agree. My 18 yo daughter went with me yesterday to see it and I don't think she liked it as much. I'm 49 and very deep into horror and grew up in the 80s so I loved it.
@@nope19568 I didn’t say anything about people not liking it, I was talking about whether they found it scary. I totally understand why people aren’t gonna like it. I understand we don’t all like the same things.
As someone who does not like this movie + didn’t find it scary - what I find scary/I like is movie like hereditary. If you define hereditary as Hollywood horror crap :)
Loved your review on this movie and the discussion you had in the beginning of the video. Too many people care about how others enjoy horror and it's tiring. Also, just want to shout out interest in you maybe doing a video on "I Saw the TV Glow." One of my favorites of the year for sure! 😊
It’s interesting because I’ve seen a lot of people upset about this movie, but none of it has been about it not being scary enough. Most people I’ve seen have been upset with the sloppy writing and lackluster supernatural plot devices. I agreed with everything you said in the video, but the things you stated for your dislikes were just too much for me to look past it it made a movie that could be fantastic feel just above average for me.
I just saw Longlegs yesterday, and i could not stop laughing when he kept singing. I had to cover my face in the theater. Idk if it was the combination of tension and then just the randomness of the singing, but my god those scenes were hilarious. Nicolas Cage absolutely killed it though.
Your daughter and I have the same birthday ❤️ when they brought up the 14th it scared me even more because I was born on the 14th 😂
I don’t know, the marketing was amazing, but at the end I was disappointed
What was Longlegs motive to begin with though? That’s my only issue with this movie.
Yeah same. It fell flat to me cuz it just ended up being “crazy satanist killer!!” Which is kinda boring
Yeah I wanted to know his motive or how he came to be Longlegs. My only big negative in the movie.
Seeing that devil's or demon's eyes staring through the black sheet creeped me tf out. Definitely was amplified by the eddible I had. ☠️
alright i already knew i was autistic but i literally never realized that was Nick Cage
I didn't find it scary so much as tense. But I never got beyond that point. There wasn't an overaeching dread or any scene that truly scared me. It was an interesting movie that was beautifully shot, but that's about all the good I can come up with. I was disappointed with this one, sadly.
💯 I felt the same. I could see it was all dreadful and disturbing but didn't have any tension. I was neutral and just spectated.
I was so scared for this movie and then it just gave so little when I wanted more of everything I just wanted more of long legs himself and more of a story then what it was
SPOILERS!!!!
i legit thought longlegs was lee's dad. i also guessed right that her mom was working with him (why would he take the bus, if he had a car? and then we saw the car in the mom's garage). the scary thing is that he was always under their house!! imagine lee visiting her mom and longlegs is in the basement making another doll 😵💫 i liked that ending. i don't really love supernatural horror, but is satanism supernatural? idkkk but i loved it. yeah, maybe we needed more story, but it was good. scary. the beginning was creepy. the way longlegs put his head down and we saw him for a second and then they hit us with the opening titles. scaryyyyy! the atmosphere was also really good. i gave it four stars (sorry sarah), but it was so original. i WILL rewatch it when it comes on .. idk how it's called. when we will find it on the internet in HD quality😂😂 yeah.
Great analysis! I was half expecting Longlegs to be her dad. THAT would have been a twist.
I literally walked out of the movie theater, I am so sorry, it was so boring I just couldn’t connect with it. I may give it another try
I never understood the boring/pacing issue people had, it never felt like it dragged out, I went to see it with my mother and she felt the same way as me. So, I'd love to see someone else's perspective on how it felt that way.
@@aidasalazar9702i also feel like it dragged, not a big fan of the whole **spooky noise** --long drawn out shot of people walking around because they heard a spooky noise--followed by no real release of anything, it just gets stale after awhile, can work for me once or twice but when its basically the whole movie up to the last like, 15ish minutes it makes me mad, like i dont even want jumpscares cus alot of the time theyre just really cheap horror fodder but when the whole movie feels like one long unchanging thing its gets monotonous and boring, atleast for me
Just watched it. It was an intense and uncomfortable movie. It definitely belongs in the horror genre, like midsommar, they’re very good films, but hereditary is “scarier” than them, as well as sinister.
But that’s why they’re not on the same scale. I think the issue stems from the whole “scariest movie ever”
In any case the ending a bit lost me, something was muddled to me. But the movie was intense and creepy and atmospheric. I liked it overall.
I’m thinking of the moments that stood out in my mind, and I keep going back to the image of longlegs on the TV behind the Kramer’s head, how I couldn’t look at anything else but his face, and when I tried the image became horrifying. And when he said on tape that they’re all going to be in the party, including the Asian detective (forgot her name), and he was right, he knew who he was talking to and was right.
As well as it hinting that longlegs was already whispering in his ear.
Really creepy, the thing that didn’t work for me was the accomplice (idk if I should spoil), they were off but like just why did they need to be there, why did they buy it? Why did they go along once they could step out.
Oh here you are discussing it, I’m writing it as I’m watching the video. I agree, it just was too fast and unclear, and there could be more creepy hints.
I went to this with my mom and my grandma (she’s 75 but she’s the biggest horror fan I know) and we all had different opinions on this movie. My mom really didn’t like it, thought it was stupid. Grandma thought it was pretty decent, better than average but not as scary as she expected. I absolutely loved it and was scared out of my mind because it filled me with so much dread. I was glued to the screen, looking for details in every frame. And this movie really did get me. I wasn’t in love with the ending but the experience over all was great and super unsettling. I watched it on Saturday and I’m still feeling on edge this evening, 3 days later.
i agree! i think the build up was amazing but i think the plot twist of the dolls made it feel flat and like the whole point of longlegs was just… nothing really.
I have been a horror fan for 10 plus years, and I agree that not many horror films really phase me now days. I can 100% say this film absolutely terrified me in the cinema. I think it is one of the best horror films made in current day.
I agree, I won’t judge the movie by how scary i found it to be. I’ll judge it based on how completely incoherent the script was. Nicolas cage also undercut any sense of tension I might have felt. I got the impression that he was watching old “Nic Cage loses his shit” compilations to prepare for this role. It was just completely unserious and I had to hold myself back from laughing
It was okay. The first two acts were great the ending kinda lost me.
I'm surprised how few noticed the cinematography telling quite a bit in the background. There are several shots of pairs of things, be it birds in a photo, two of the same trophy on a counter, etc. Even when a third person shows up, her partner leaves the picture. When in the interrogation room, the space behind Longlegs is always positioned to look like angel wings (that he now lacks). Also I'm fairly certain the symbol also would overly rather well to most shots, hence why they went with the odd symmetry where everything is static looking.
I really wish the ending hadn't been like a comedy moment, it really took me out of the horror of the previous scene/general vibes of the movie, and I just ended up laughing, then it all felt kind of goofy silly 💀
The movie was far from perfect. I could not connect to the characters. The girl with psychic abilities was just too flat. Cage character was strange. The movie needed more time. There is a great moving somewhere but needs more from the story.
This movie had one of the most effectivejump scare in a horror movie in a long time, it really only had one it was near the middle of the film, and it’s just a full on attack on the senses I physically screamed In the theatre and I haven’t done that in years !