LONGLEGS - Movie Review
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
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The best part of longlegs was the bill Clinton portrait featured prominently in center frame
Also the Nixon portrait
It’s the 90’s!
Love too hang a picture of the current President in my house so I remember which era I'm in
@@RyanMicherolmaooo it’s standard practice in federal offices to do so. Or at least was up through the early 2010s. Not so sure anymore
Why.
Best line: "Daddy, it's that crazy guy again."
Gross guy
*gross guy
Details matter. Especially if you don't even get your 'best line' right 😂😂
That line made me laugh so loudly lmao. She was one of the only people that felt like an actual human in the whole movie
@ArnoldQMudskip😊😊 lol ppl loo p lp😊😊 poop poop ppoo😅
O
Lll😊oo😅l
Oo😊😂 loopo😊l😊pp😊lpp😊p😊ppper llo😅😊😅😊😊
Even the little girl at the hardware store wasn’t scared by him. Just annoyed!
*Dad, it's that gross man again!😵💫🤣🤣*
Ya that was part of the script. 🤫
Evil does not have horns on his head. He will look you in the eye and try to be charming.
People in my theater were laughing at Nic Cage (myself included)... The goofiness of the second half, ending, and core plot were honestly unbecoming of the incredible vibe and cinematography of the first half .
I aint falling for hype again after this
Lmao same
Be skeptical about every film lol 😂 I'm with ya
Completely agree, this movie is a total narrative mess. Shrouding your characters and story in so much mystery for the majority of the runtime only to have a giant, lazy exposition dump 3/4 of the way through so that we can understand the context of the stakes at hand for the climax…Just feels masturbatory and contrive.
Marketing was so good that I went to see it, but was so disappointed from the result. Beautifully shot, creepy vibes, but story was so so weak. The scares were mild.
I felt Cage was too distracting from the main 'creepiness' of the movie. Loved how disturbing it felt and how it made me feel in the end. The ending was kinda predictable but I still loved the execution.
The direction of photography was 9.5/10 and the soundtrack was tight.
Horror movies with great soundtracks are *tight!*
9.5 is a near perfect film lol this was no way even close to a 9. It was a shein version of silence do the lambs with sinister with the devil made me do it plot. And if you haven’t seen those movies. That’s why you have it a 9.5. Recommend those movies for sure.
@@jaimeandrew1238 I said "The direction of photography was 9.5/10" NOT the movie as a whole was this rating.
@@baraka99 ah I see, yea I can agree on the cinematography.
When LL appeared I instinctively laughed and could not get into the rest of the movie knowing that a typically extravagant Cage doing Salad Fingers while dressed up as Eddie Vedder in kabuki makeup was inevitably going to pop up on screen again.
OMG that description 💀😂
With a flamboyant touch and lair basement of buffalo bill was cringe to me honestly.
Foggy is a great way to describe Longlegs.
There is so much in the movie I like. It's creepy. It has great atmosphere. The Longlegs character played by Nicholas Cage is interesting and really creepy. However, in the end, it's less than the sum of its parts.
"It’s more the script that’s the problem…" my opinion on 80% of films. Why can people not identify good writing?
The average movie being made today does not give a DAMN about the quality of the writing. It's about atmosphere, cinematography, shock value. I can't stand it
I enjoyed it up until the "I got possessed by an evil doll" plot was revealed.
I was hoping it was like 7 killers
Yeah they seemed to have wanted to glue a detective crime thriller with a paranormal horror film but it just didn't mesh well together. Suspension of disbelief is warranted when the film develops its own in-universe logic but this just seemed like a chimera of genres.
Yeah they seemed to have wanted to glue a detective crime thriller with a paranormal horror film but it just didn't mesh well together. Suspension of disbelief is warranted when the film develops its own in-universe logic but this just seemed like a chimera of genres.
Yes was expecting to be lot more killers involved in this like how cool it would've been with multiple killers with fd up crown of their own and their unique way of carrying tools, objects used as a weapons.
@@Mrhostil95You put that so well! That's exactly how I'm thinking about this film. So underwhelming, and I wanted to like this
I wanted to love this movie, but i can only give it a C+/B-. Far too many reaches. Her not knowing he lived in the basement, randomly being thrown into a case that shes personally involved with, the mother being an accomplice, the supernatural metallic ball with mind control powers, etc. Did anyone else think there was a huge congruency issue with how Longlegs was presented as a crazy unintelligent babbling madman and how the murders were so meticulous and cerebral. Tobin Bell as Jigsaw and kevin Spacey as the killer in Seven were spitting images of killers that were congruent to the crimes and the games they carried out. Nick Cage as Longlegs was a complete incongruent mess. Athough i thought his acting was great, his scripted character didnt fit the story. Maybe a Longlegs 2 can fill in some unaswered questions and make some aspects fit better.
Goddamit. I’m sad that I agree with your review because I left the theater mind blown and obsessed. But sometimes I psych myself up and overhype things just because I’m impressed or charmed by specific things. Plus I saw it in theaters and I subconsciously want to love things more in that setting since I don’t want to feel like I wasted my time or money 😂 But your critiques are so valid
I was sold by the hype and went to see this movie last night. Now I have nothing but regrets and feeling ripped off. I cannot grasp why it has received so much praise. I thought it was boring, slow, and dumb.
This Review is spot on! The script was a mess, it ultimately is an underwhelming movie. Nowhere near the level of Silence of the Lambs.
Thanks, Deep. Agree 100%.
Longlegs is all atmosphere, no coherence. Moreover, Perkins' oppressive tone drained the film of life, rendering it cinematically inert. Monroe's near-catatonic performance failed to match the haunting despair Alicia Witt brought to her performance as Monroe's mother.
And, although Kiernan Shipka channeled haunted insanity exquisitely, Blair Underwood seemed incapable of infusing his monosyllabic lines w/ any semblance of authority.
In fact, aside from Shipka and Witt, no actor (except Cage) demonstrated the slightest clue how to convey the paralytic quality of despondency that Perkins obviously demanded from them.
Perkins layered his film w/ the oppressive quality of a nightmare - clearly, he has no interest in psychological realism. Yet, his vision is so oppressive, it left me with nothing to hold onto.
To my mind, Perkins' childhood left him in a state of traumatic paralysis, a quality Longlegs embodies with every frame. Yet, I'm not sure that makes for compelling cinema.
I think I need to see it again, if I'm honest, but it's refreshing to see a review that is critical of the film's hype and provides a good argument for why it falls short.
Needs more than one watch. A lot of the critics and those who enjoyed, as well, have not been able to pierce the surface plot. There's a whole lot going on here that's not easy to get at.
Great review as usual. You articulated my feelings pretty much exactly. I found the “story” to just be silly. When I was walking out of the theater, the word goofy, kept coming to mind. Nice cinematography, but the screenplay and character development was shockingly amateurish
Saw an advance screening last night, Buffalo Bill is still a more menacing (terrifying) villain overall, if comparisons are going to be made. But I do love the aesthetic, tone and colour grading of this one. And it was creepy. I enjoyed it, but also agree with your thoughts. Great, review as always.
I kinda like nicolas cage more the Buffalo bill.
Just saw Longlegs last night and I 100% agree with everything you mentioned here… the lack of cohesion, the tonal inconsistencies (bleak at times and gimmicky at others), the predictability, the sloppiness in the second and third acts… honestly quite a letdown unfortunately
Life is not logical, cohesive, coherent or even consistent, why should a movie be? Genuine question, besides there's a beauty in sloppiness too.
Lol lack of cohesion?!? Pathetic review. I regret being one of those people defending those who clearly read prior reviews and used those to state their "opinions" 😅
@@NakatomiD Sure, I will say that many of my favorite films, in fact, actually greatly benefit from their obscurity, ambiguity, non-linear storytelling, or even occasional illogic. I mean, take, for instance, the stilted acting/dialogue pervasive in most of Yorgos Lanthimos’s films, the surreal presentation of films like Persona (1966), or the defiance of a strict forward chronological retelling of events in films like Memento (2000) or Irreversible (2002). (All of these films are personal favorites of mine.) However, in each of these examples I cited, I can deduce some sort of a rationale for or purpose of their nontraditional presentations, even if the reason is not apparent to me at first. Yes, of course, life often defies easy analysis (as do many acclaimed films) and there’s the whole “art imitates life” thing (and vice versa), but, naturally, a film is much different than life itself in that it can be purposefully and creatively crafted/presented in a certain way to convey a certain message, so why not exploit this? Films often benefit from having at least some level of cohesion and coherence even if only for the purpose of engaging the audience (not that there isn’t room for some level of allegory and abstraction and whatnot). It doesn’t make sense to me to opt for multiple layers of convolution when a more linear approach would work much better. (In fact, I think that’s largely why Silence of the Lambs works much better than this film.) That being said, if I find a film to be incoherent or illogical in some way, I would hope that it’s doing so intentionally (even if that purpose is merely to imitate life), in which case I should be able to eventually come to an understanding of why it’s being done. (I find Coherence (2013), for the record, to be a prime exemplar of this sort of purposeful convolution of the narrative.) If not, I’d tend to deem its messiness as inadvertent (and, therefore, an oversight), an attempt to conceal other flaws in the film, or a failed arthouse attempt.
I guess, maybe you could make the argument that the incoherence of the film, at times, muddied the true source of the horror and served this end as such, but idk… I’m not totally convinced, since this “source” ultimately becomes quite clear by the end of the film, all the while the messiness never subsided. It’s actually so strange saying this because, while my main gripe with the film is its muddiness, I almost feel like it could have worked better if bits and pieces of the final act (without giving anything in particular away) were removed in order to render the source of the horror a bit more ambiguous. Idk, I almost feel like it could have been more compelling that way, since I found many of the “reveals” at the end to be quite silly, predictable, and nonsensical.
Anyway, basically, I think it’s important to make a distinction between (1) technical flaws and oversights and (2) the deliberate inclusion of incoherence in some way, shape, or form, and, unfortunately, to me anyway, this film fell more in the former of these two camps. I will also say (and this is somewhat similar to part of what @synical13 said), if I were to become too liberal with my acceptance of incoherence in films, I could easily consequently excuse technical oversights or otherwise fail to differentiate them from purposeful obscurity/ambiguity… and ig this is more or less the point I’m getting at here.
Unfortunately, I just found this film’s lack of cohesion to be due to its affinity to style over substance, the unbelievability and unconvincingness of many of the major plot points and twists (I’m sure you know which in particular I’m referring to if you’ve seen it), and its inability to commit to a particular tone, and I mean this mostly in the sense of whether or not it’s aiming to take itself seriously… I mean, I’m gonna be totally real, the goofiness of Nicolas Cage’s character just did NOT work for me at all, especially when placed in a film that’s otherwise very heavy and bleak, though I understand I may be in the minority here in opining this. Of course, a lot of what I’m saying here comes down to personal taste, and I certainly do not hope to discredit or bash anyone else’s positive reviews of this film, but it just did not land for me as a whole (and this is coming from an avid fan of eccentric/offbeat horror).
Also, I will say, I know I’m speaking very negatively about this film, but, in truth, I really didn’t ABHOR it overall. The first act was quite good actually, and I found the setup/premise rather intriguing. If just looking at the visuals/aesthetics and sound design alone, this film absolutely crushes it, but there really isn’t much of anything redeemable when you strip these things away.
I so appreciate your comment though, as it did get me thinking quite a bit, as evidenced by my very long-winded response lol 😅
I wanted to like this so much, but I felt it was predictable and I knew where it was headed the whole time. This is probably because I’ve seen the Japanese 90’s movie Cure which was a much better film. If you haven’t seen Cure you should definitely check it out. I will say it was a genius marketing campaign.
Idk what movie yall watched but this was a really good film with a different approach than most gimmicky and paint by numbers crap that comes out every year
You so eloquently explained many of the feelings I had walking out of this film. Great review! Looking forward to future reviews. Subscribed!
very refreshing and on point review IMO. not sure why every other reviewer calls it a masterpiece essentially. neon did a phenomenal job promoting this film.
"I know you would cut straight through the hype! I love your integrity."
Who are you quoting?
I like it when we get those kind of mixed opinions on a movie , we didn't have those for a while since most of the products were absolute trash , but when it come to this movie and people hating it , i can't help but remembering what the critics said about Jhon Carpenter's " The Thing " calling it absolute trash and almost ended Carpenter's career, but then look how this movie turned up to be .
Classic horror movie. 😁
Critics being wrong and the movie being really good is fine. The issue is that they're all saying these movies are masterpieces and they aren't.
I was genuinely quite taken by this film, it seems a lot of people weren’t as moved which I can understand (the promotion did big itself up a lot, perhaps to its detriment). I don’t get scared too easily but this really did it for me, idk what to tell you, I loved it.
For the people who weren’t as gagged, have you got any recommendations for me for something you believe is “actually scary”? I really wanna watch.
Don’t ask that question. They will say either the “conjuring” or “paranormal activity”
Speak no Evil for me is the most disturbing movie of the last few years, quite chilling, if you haven't seen it give it a go
@@mattcollins3591lol 🤣
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, give that one a go
Any answer will be very subjective, as what scares one person will make another laugh.
The only film ever really scared me = Alien. Great atmospheric horror films = Babadook and also It Follows (slow but great soundscape).
Regarding this film being a period piece. It definitely felt like the 70s but then there was the random Bill Clinton portrait in the background 😂
Probably intentional but still confusing
Saw this last night in a packed theater. Absolutely loved it. There were things I wish we had gotten more of, like Nic Cage, but this movie rocks. All the performances are excellent, and Nicolas Cage is CHILLING. He finds new ways to deliver lines. Some will say he’s over the top, but it really fits this character. Like a mentally unstable person talking to themselves.
I loved it, but I also agree the script could have used some more thought.
He was a complete nightmare in the best way. Just saw it. Sheesh. 😂
I saw it in a packed theater as well yesterday. Unfortunately, about 1/4 of the theater were giggling/laughing every scene Cage was in. One could assume these viewers came in hoping he'd go "full Cage". It was really annoying.
@@bryanshields5571it was a good movie but yeah there was a few too many over the top cage acting(def was getting faceoff vibes from him at parts). When he toned it down a bit he was way creepier
Both the day I watched Kinds of Kindness and now Longlegs you uploaded your reviews for them about an hour before I went in to see them. Get out of my head.
First honest review I've seen. Thank you. I'm not even someone that would consider themselves overly critical of movies but was left feeling like: was I missing something that everyone else was getting? It was just both too much (in terms of acting) it was almost comical, and at the same time almost too tame for what is supposed to be a satanic movie (it didn't take the gore or demented scenes to the next level).
Question: Have you seen any other of Oz Perkins' movies? As a lifelong horror fan I have found his movies to be so very refreshing in the past decades that have produced a glut of bad horror movie. It is because he has a specific style that embodies mood over substance. He has a wonderful eye and color palette that promotes the mood he is wanting to set. His pacing is slow, deliberate, and allows a story to be told through the camera lens, without a lot of dialogue. I loved The Blackcoat's Daughter, as well as I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House. Substance wise? Maybe a little thin, but, he is pure style over substance, so I can forgive any plot holes because of the brilliant mood he sets. I am with him all the way. He also directed Gretel and Hansel, which was a great, moody retelling of the fairy tale, but a little too 'glitzy'? I think his style lends itself better to a smaller budget. Maybe you could call his style a mood of menace? Dread? Bleak? Suffocating? Whatever you call it I love it and am a huge fan, so I am so excited to see Longlegs, tomorrow.
But, of course I had to see your review as soon as you posted it, as you always give an intelligence to your criticisms and don't give spoilers. 😁 So, thank you.
If you know what you getting yourself in to then I think you will have a good time. It's not a horror film, it definitely a more of a crime drama with horror elements thrown to the mix, but it's not a full blown horror movie. Nic Cage performance was interesting because at first I was kind of debating if I am liking it or not but eventually he did get under my skin and I started to really enjoy his performance, he was great. But I can totally see some people think his performance was laughable or too ridiculous or unrealistic (even tho I believe there were and still are people like that, maybe not serial killers but who are completely out of they minds and act literally the same way.) Maika Monroe is great, the actress who plays Lee's mother in the film was fantastic, she was creepy af. But anyways I am not going to go into too much details as you have not seen the film but I am still thinking about this film as I have seen like 2 hours ago and it's a type of film that demands a second viewing, I don't think you will get everything out of this film in one go. So I will be definitely checking it out second time but alone at home when it finally comes out on a streaming platform. Also, Cinematography and Sound Design in this film is chef's kiss!
For sure, and if she or anyone else hasn't seen it The Blackcoat's Daughter/February then I think that's his one film you should give a chance. It has all the moody atmosphere but in my opinion an extremely layered emotional landscape as well.
@@synical13yeah he needs a great scree writer .
Agreed. Blackcoat's Daughter is one of my favorite horror films of the last 15 years.
His style isn’t unique. It’s been done a million times over and better imo. Kurosawa, Lynch, Cronenberg, etc. difference is their style has substance beyond edgy “hail satan” drivel
Boring exercise in style. No story, no characters… just the atmosphere and no real artistic idea behind it.
Empty film.
This is “the scariest movie of the decade” but The First Omen was “the most terrifying movie of the year”. So which is it?
I hate the hyperbole in marketing.
Not scary.
They both were neither.
Did you go see it?
@@kellyaustin7487 yes, my point was the marketing of horror movies in hyperbolic,
Superlatives are never absolutes I guess
So many questions. Why did Lee just let the fbi agent kill his wife ? Why didn’t Lee tell anyone about the letter she received from longlegs. What happens to the dolls after the murders? Movie was a huge letdown
Omg fr!! She def could have saved the last family she didn’t even try. All she did was whine cry & pant heavily the whole movie it really pissed me off. She’s also the dumbest fbi agent I’ve ever seen . 😭😭 not once did she even think about calling for backup.
@@Logannariannaaaa man her not calling for backup really pissed me off. At the beginning and the end not once did she even seem to consider it. Also how did they find longlegs so fast after getting one 20 year old picture of him ? And speaking of the picture, where did Lee get the camera from? She didn’t have a camera in the first scene of the movie. And why was longlegs targeting Lee in the first place when every other family that got murdered was mom dad and at least one kid. And how does someone kill themselves from hitting their head a few times on a table ?
1) I’ll give you the first one
2) She’s clearly tense about this case and her role in it given how oddly structured her memories are so it most likely stopped her from doing so
3) We can assume that given the dolls are vehicles for manipulation, they are more than likely destroyed by Longlegs. When one survives like the girl we see, he buries the doll somewhere.
@@Klamp20XX then why give Agent Carter the picture? Why hold anything back ? Also how did they find longlegs soo fast after they got a 20 year old picture of him? Where did Lee even get the camera to take the picture because she doesn’t have a camera in the opening scene. The camera just appears right before she takes the picture. Why didn’t Lee ever call for backup? two FBI agents get murdered while with her she watches both happen in real time and she doesn’t call for backup in either case ? How does someone kill themselves by banging their head a few times on a table . And why did longlegs even target Lee in the first place when every other family was a mom dad and kid . Why did he target this single mother when he doesn’t do that the rest of the film
@@isaiahwilliams2332 1) The giving of the picture is not the same as the letter. The letter establishes communication, while the picture only establishes experience. One would make her a direct suspect given the connection, but the picture doesn’t provide that for the current moment.
2) Given the fact that both agents died by following her lead and the fact that dark Satanic magic seems ludicrous to the department, makes sense she wouldn’t do that in this case. Plus, given that Longlegs is dead, they believe the case is closed.
3) Longlegs clearly possesses abilities and methods beyond comprehension as a part of serving Satan. This is not fully explained, but can be inferred.
4) The implication is that Longlegs meeting Lee and her mother was one of his first acts. He’s still doing the deeds by himself. He doesn’t establish the MO until after this experience. This is proto-Longlegs. We can actually guarantee this given the fact that from here on out, he makes the dolls in the Harker basement because any location other than that poses difficulties for him.
By far at the minute the best review I've seen...very honest....i thought it was way over hyped....it's slow boring & the story lacks common sense from the main character....proper disappointing....doesn't come close to Silence of the Lambs......
THANK YOU I felt like I was taking crazy pills your review is exactly how I felt after watching it.
I definitely liked the movie, but I do agree with most of your critiques to at least an extent. I would definitely rather see a slightly disappointed review like this than all these people talking about it like it's a game changer. I think 90% of people who go in thinking it's one of the scariest movies of the decade or some shit are gonna be pretty disappointed.
When I first heard about it, I thought maybe it took some ideas from Alice Cooper's Along Came A Spider where it dealt with a serial killer collecting 8 legs to create his own spider.
Fellow Cooper fan who thought the same thing: Take my like! 🤘
Just back from seeing it and I’m actually quite relieved to hear your thoughts as I felt similarly on a lot of what you said. I had found The Blackcoat’s Daughter pretty interesting and have loved Maika Monroe in It Follows, The Guest and Watcher but this just didn’t work for me. But a busier theatre than other films I’ve seen lately so I’m sure it will be popular amongst many
Thank god, finally a marginally negative review of this very, very average film. I wasn't scared, I wasn't moved emotionally by the characters and I didn't 'buy' the story, especially when it devolved into the supernatural. As you said, all I wanted to do was revisit Silence of the Lambs immediately after the film finished. They tried for an outlandish performance from Cage but it was simply unbelievable in the context of a 'crime thriller/horror'. Lecter was on the edge of believability but at least he had charm and entertainment value. Cage was simply OTT and did not fit the film. The tonal shift from FBI procedural to supernatural horror also didn't work. Other than the cinematography and atmosphere, this is a failed experiment for me. Thanks for your review. Really refreshing in comparison to many of the 'masterpiece' reviews.
Movie had pretty awful dialogue imo. The whole ending was very forced and not interesting in the slightest. The supernatural element essentially allows for an easy, lazy answer to an interesting question. This movie didnt scare me at all. Not even a little bit. And im not hard to scare.
I thought it was more like Rosemary's baby.
Thank you for giving us an honest review. So much of the marketing would have you believe you’re watching a new classic, but even though I’m still seeing it this weekend, I’ll know not to set my expectations too high.
Why was it called LongLegs?
I was just checking my subs to see if you had made a review. Great timing!
AGREE 100%, was really looking forward to it, I moderated expectations, just wanted to have a good time with a nice movie and yet was completely underwhelmed.
It wasn't ''A Scariest film of the Decade'', But it was definitely an interesting watch, I would definitely recommend it to people who are more into crime/thriller genre, because this is definitely not a horror film. It has horror elements but it wasn't a full blown horror movie from start to finish. There was some unsettling and creepy parts but I never felt truly scared. Nic Cage and Maika Monroe were both great, the actress who plays Lee's mother in the film was fantastic, she was absolutely creepy. But it definitely a type of movie that you need to see twice, it demands that. So I am definitely going to be seeing again but this time alone at home. I just came out of the screening couple of minutes ago, so the movie is very fresh in my mind but I just... I don't know, I need to sit with this movie for a bit and think how I feel about it, because there were stuff I really, really liked and then there were some other stuff that I would put under a question mark. That's why I think it necessary to see it twice. I can say that I think this film should have been either longer or a mini-series, a 1 hour 40 minute runtime is not enough to tell such a story I feel like, there is quite a lot that is left to viewer's imagination, a very ambiguous ending. I don't hate the ending but I do wish we got a conclusion, it felt like we will be getting Longlegs 2 or something... but either way, I can't decide fully on how I feel about this film, I will say I did like it more than I did not like it, but I don't want to go in the details because I am not 100% sure if even the things I did not like I truly don't like you know? But it definitely was an experience that I overall enjoyed but at the same let down by few things, I did feel like it needed to be longer at the very least and the jumpscares were weak... absolutely weak to me. But I will still recommend for anybody to go check it out for yourself, especially like I said before if you are fan of these type of movies (Silence of the Lambs, Seven or Zodiac) then this could be a good time for you. I will say this, this film is definitely also not on par with Silence of the Lambs or Seven in terms of filmmaking, storytelling and etc etc... It definitely pays homage to those films but at the same time brings an interesting unique twist to the movie which I did really like. So yeah, go check it out. I feel like this movie is going to be very divisive, some people will love it some people will like it and some will straight out hate it, it definitely a more of A24 type movie. Also, Nic Cage's performance was definitely something... I did not know how to approach his character... but eventually he did get under my skin but I can see some people straight out laugh at this character because of how ridiculous he is in this. Even I smiled couple of times because Nic Cage was having a lot of fun in this one, oh my oh my... He was chewing every scene, the interrogation scene definitely is going to be a memorable scene from the movie. Gosh, I went on a huge rant.. I need to chill, but at the moment it very hard for me to rate this, I need to wait a bit until I can truly comprehend what I just saw.
hello c l a r i c e
Yeah, the satanic dolls plot doesn’t work, it ruined the film for me. Reality can be much more terrifying than a “curse by the devil”. Disturbed humans, like the psychopaths from Se7en, Silence of the Lambs are much more interesting and scary than “a spell from hell”.
Right?
It’s like, okay hell exists, devil exists. You’re going to die horribly and go to hell forever.
For some reasons terrifying as that is supposed to be, it’s booooooooring!!!
Main character looked and sounded like Deb from Napoleon Dynamite and it kinda ruined things for me. Just missing her one pony tail outta the side of her head lmao
This review was spot on. This movie was terrible
I thought it was a cool movie, it wasn't that that scary but it was very interesting and engaging. I thought the lore gave a lot to think about after
Great movie. Wife and I went and saw it last night and we both enjoyed it a lot. Get out to see it soon in the theater.
As a non-horror fan, I took a chance on this -- so so glad I did -- 9.5/10 to me
This was not a “horror” movie. Supernatural serial killer thriller, but not scary or a horror movie.
@@LordOberon67 Totally fair -- i agree after having seen it, but the marketing isn't clear, I think -- plus I saw others calling this one of the best 'horror' movies...also it's hard to know the difference sometimes between something being "thrilling" vs "scary". Ultimately, it's just semantics (for this movie*)
@@synical13 Gotcha, makes sense...I had no idea the discussion I was about to kick off...I wonder if all the critics and UA-camrs calling this a horror movie are going to face this, lol. I appreciate an academic discussion here and there, though -- I agree...strictly speaking, this is a supernatural thriller, I believe
Why?
This movie is one of the best examples I've seen where the directing was nearly flawless, but the movie ultimately suffered due to weaknesses in the story - usually, it's the other way around. Nicholas Cage didn't bother me and I actually enjoyed seeing him play against type. I enjoyed it quite a bit for the visual experience and the tone, if nothing else. I'll avoid spoilers, but I felt that the plot-reveal was almost entirely derived from another Horror movie, and both of these movies suffered as a result of the particular plot-point that they have in common.
What does it mean for Nick Cage to play against type?
@@mattzalot2576 While Cage has done versatile roles in the past, both intentionally comedic as well as very serious, this role was a whole next level for him - or at least it is to me. It was like watching Tom Cruise in Collateral.
100% agree. This doesnt come close to Silence of the Lambs. Overall i was very disappointed with this film. It was my fault for believing the hype
Thank you. All the rave reviews for this are driving me crazy. I wanted so much more. I wasn’t scared by Longlegs or his accomplice. There’s too much that doesn’t quite add up. I usually like films that don’t spell things out for me and I’ve got to piece it together myself, but this was lacking TOO much. And Maika was not a believable FBI agent as Harker. How did she graduate from the academy when she can’t even explain herself clearly?? How did she decode those letters so easily when the FBI had them for years but were unsuccessful? It was too coincidental that she met Longlegs as a little girl and is now working the case, and that the daughter of her partner/boss was a future victim. Additionally, it would be rare to work out of your local field office when joining the FBI; they place you wherever.
Also…. Was it really necessary to have her breathe so loud/heavy all the time? The sound design in that regard drove me crazy!!
That BREATHING, LOL! Finally someone who found that so, so irritating like me!
100%.
Yeah, I did not like all the reaches. He unknowingly lived in the basement, she randomly got assigned to a case she's personally involved with, her mother was the accomplice, the metallic ball with mind control powers. Lots of poor explanations and random occurrences. LongLegs as a psychological and cerebral game playing murderer was presented as an unintelligent babblin crazy person. This is a huge congruency issue.
This brought the movie down to a C grade. I don't prefer to have my storytelling intelligence insulted.
@@robertnewett5932I was frustrated by the heavy handed exposition for some elements but then especially by the explanation of "just go with it/trust me bro" for the mind control balls. Perkins didn't earn our suspension of disbelief to just trust that the mind control balls are what they were, that there was something satanic/supernatural going on, etc.
Like that you went against the grain. I liked it a bit more that you did, but I agree with your assessment. This movie got the hype that Late Night With the Devil should have gotten.
I completely agree with this review. After watching the film I scored it maybe 2.5 stars. It cannot hold a candle to Silence of the Lambs. It does boast good directing and some nice scenes. Initially went to Stuckmann for his review and was surprised that he loved it!
Maika Monroe has chosen a lot of interesting projects in her career since her breakout role in The Guest. This certainly sounds like another and the director's previous effort (Gretel & Hansel) was certainly a memorable affair so I'll look forward to seeing this.
It sounds like Silence of the Lambs and Hereditary had a A24 baby. I'll have to check it out, but it seems especially after your judgement it isn't saying anything.
Whereas where Tarantino took the Thing and made Hateful Eight maybe it's more inspired?
“Silence of the Lambs and Hereditary had an A24 baby” is a 100% spot-on description!
@@drawsolidart both of those are much better than this though.
I thought it was like Andor. Great cast, beautifully filmed, if only there was a story. Bunch of concepts that went nowhere. Everything you needs to know happened in the first 30 seconds.
To be fair, I have seen a few Oz Perkins films and did not like any of them. If I had done a quick wiki search I would have skipped this movie.
The film was honestly done really well, it had elements of zodiac, silence of the lambs, seven and Manhunter by Michael
. The camera work was interesting it gave you a sense of suspense. As for the lead she did a good job reminded me kind of Frances role from blood simple. Cages role was eerie definitely wanted to see more of him but I’m glad we didn’t see till half way through. His performance was intriguing an he has always had it since leaving Las Vegas , the third act is where all the answered were met, and we see how it plays out it felt like the omen when the nanny is helping Damian at the house whim fighting the ambassador overall I highly recd it
Saw the film then watched your review. I appreciate your critique that the lack of characterization and world-building, esp past the first act, kneecaps the story. You also hit the nail on the head re Cage, how he thrives on unpredictability, which was something sorely lacking from Longlegs. Perkins has my attention as an entrancing visual and tonal talent, but I hope he outsources the screenwriting going forward.
I thought it was good. Definitely recommend. It's definitely better than most movies nowadays.
😂
Just left the theaters. I enjoyed it, but can't say its either a good horror or thriller film. The ending felt so out of place and rushed
Yeah, it felt like they set up a climactic scene and wrapped it up really fast. End movie.
STRONG disagree on your Cage take. He was unhinged and chilling and I had no idea where he was going to go. I just wish we got more of him.
There was more screen time with Bill Clinton.
@@Nelly34e I was laughing hysterically at all of his scenes despite by best efforts not to. Cringe, over-the-top performance
@@danielbarrero2815it was like 30 percent to over the top, when he was less zany he was actually really good
His performance reminded me of Paul Dano's Riddler. Which I hated.
You are fooling yourself. This movie was boring and his performance sucked. If you think this is chilling or unsettling in any way you must have terrible taste in movies overall. A really boring film.
Its always great to hear your opinions. you have a great way of articulating your feelings on every film you reciew and i completely agree with the shortcomings. The same ones mentioned in my own review but not enough to tank my enjoyment.For me personally, i really enjoyed nicolas cages performance. I found him to shred parts of his identity and channel a very certain level of campiness that i found subversive to the atmosphere of the film.
Bill Clinton is always watching…
The trailer is significantly better than the movie. It's shot exactly like the Shining. It's OK. Its not scary, it's predictable. Wait for streaming.
Couldn't agree more! Hated the movie. I'm a Nic Cage fan, but this role? It's CRINGE WORTHY! The scene where he sings crazily when the girl's Mom asks him who he was? I looked at my wife and she looked at me and we both had this disgusted look on our faces. EEEWWWW!
u know ur with the right person when u hate the same stuff lol
That scene made me laugh
The phrase is “Cringe WORTHY”!!!! Cringe by itself is a Verb! OMG I hate the way millennials talk! It’s completely Wrong. And!… this is a horror movie! It’s Supposed to be Cringeworthy!
@@thomaslytle5519 Thank you for pointing that out. I've corrected it in my comment. Hope it's fine now. 🙂🙏
She somehow managed to be more robotic than Jodie Foster
Foster was pretty darn good imo.
One more thing.... the FBI agents know the husband is going to do a very bad thing to his wife but does nothing about it. Wtf? It's OK. Not bad. Not good. Just ok. Bad sign when the trailer is the best thing about movie.
There’s way too much social media histrionics hype nowadays. Go into this with LOWERED expectations and you’ll enjoy it more.
No it just sucks flat out. Dialogue is written by Tommy wiseau himself. Performances are lackluster and cinematography was awful and under serving to this shit story. There’s absolutely no reason to continually be on ultra wide lenses the entire time other than trying to set a vibe. This movie just sucks
@@SeanFBoydWhy do all those things suck though? It's like you just write a checklist:
This bad
This bad
This bad.
I never critique a film unless I'm specific
@@SeanFBoydsounds like ur mad it’s successful
Best film I’ve seen this year so far, hands down.
Boring and overhyped
His makeup was so distracting. It more scary if someone looks normal.
His make up was one of the best things
@@michaelmacias8 was it.
I also saw it Thursday night and I agree with you. I believe I would score it higher than you though. It's a 7/10. It's a good movie with flaws. My problems were it not being scary and the predictability of it. Not the end per se but I knew who would be involved. Decent review.👍
Stopped it around the 22 minute mark. The main actress "Acting" was cringe, she was clearly trying for something, or maybe got really bad direction, but her oddball shtick should be subtle, not cringe.
Felt like it was trying too hard, instead of trying to be its own movie. I'd rather watch Empty Man again.
Some of the shots were beautiful and the opening Polaroid-esque sequence was great. However, the film had the sophistication of a teenage horror flick and I couldn’t get past Cage’s performance as being more of an ironic comedic relief than actually being unsettling and shocking. I respect the authenticity of the film (being a detective horror film) but it was mired in tropes/cliches across both genres and the whole Satan thing seemed like a lazy way to wrap up the script. So yeah, pretty disappointing given the hype and reviews but not surprising at the same time.
I find Perkins kind of smug in interviews given the sheer laziness of this plot, and tbh the execution of the Longlegs character. My theater was *cackling* every time Nick cage was on screen. The horror just didn’t work - funny at best, cringe at worst. The makeup was giving Mrs. doubtfire not Buffalo Bill. I always found Buffalo Bill’s depiction of queerness as problematic and this gives me the same feeling, especially given its inspiration of Perkins' father’s secret homosexuality. The script is a mess. Whole plot lines are just dropped and the ending was so predictable yet totally unsatisfying that I actually turned to my friend and said, that’s it?? That’s the end?? The crime thriller plot loses all its fun when the detective has a special power which makes all actual investigative work totally unnecessary. This aspect really worked against the story and imo the arbitrary 90s period setting. Longlegs as a character also felt arbitrary and superficial to the plot, so it’s not unsurprising that he said he was a character he didn’t know where to put and he just wound up here. There’s very little integration of his character into the plot and I don’t think the devil needs a conduit for another conduit for another conduit. The satanic logic fell apart for me.
I think Perkins is right in saying he just took a bunch of things he liked - and then he stole them, but he didn’t really elevate or change them to a significant degree or bring them together in a satisfying way. It feels like a collage of Perkins’ favorite movie moments with the thinnest thread of a plot barely connecting them. For all of his disdain for Insidious, The Conjuring etc… he straight stole whole scenes from franchises like that. The companion recalled The Nun almost exactly, there are scenes ripped right out of Hereditary or Talk to Me, the sci fi 90s elements made me think stranger things, the dolls reminded me of Annabelle or Megan (and countless other “haunted doll” movies), and every time Maika Monroe looks at her board all I could think of was Alan Wake II. Ditto to the random flashes of snakes and sudden bursts of music - cheap, unmotivated jump scares actually abound.
I’m the niche audience this movie is aimed at, and this is a case of style over substance imo. Lots of cool (if ripped) imagery, attention to Satanic detail, and a great marketing campaign, but when the story is half baked and the character development isn’t there, it all feels as empty as those metallic balls that somehow hold the magic black smoke that is the devil. 😂
Despite its title, I don’t think this movie will have very long legs at all.
Nicolas Cage had me dying of laughter and the satanic storyline was absurd lmao
I agree, but I kind of loved that about it? I feel like that last shot is so ridiculous that the film must be at least somewhat in on the joke.
It fit the character. This was a seriously unstable mentally ill person.
@@permutationlock Sure, but that isn't how the public/critics are talking about the film (from my reading/experience). If everyone was praising its ridiculousness, then that would be one thing. But people are praising it for how genuinely eerie, scary, and terrifying it is - comparing it to Silence of the Lambs, Cure, Se7en etc. I found the whole thing to be really quite goofy, absurd, and not scary in the slightest after the plot started to unravel. I do agree that the ending shows the filmmaker is in on the joke, I just wish people's reaction treated it as such.
I assume he lived in lee's mother's basement? And him and her mom had a thing & smashed all those years😮😂
I COMPLETELY disagree with your take on this film, I thought it was great, and time will bear that out, but I definitely respect your opinions.
100% agree. Perfectly put. And i went in blind. I had no idea this movie had hype behind it or seen any of the marketing
Just watch The Silence of the Lambs instead … seems too dismissive of a film with a very different syntax and delivery. Sure, the surface similarities are obvious, but LL - violence notwithstanding - creeps along in its sights and sounds whereas Lambs is more overblown. I think it’s very effective how little we see of the antagonist overall in LL, who comes across as genuinely creepy (sans Lecter like charm).
100%
Was having trouble not being able to articulate why it felt flat to me. I wanted more. Was worthwhile but yea unfortunately left the theater feeling the same way
And i avoided all the marketing too but heard about it secondhand
Walked out of the movie conflicted. Thought, as a film, it was great…but I didn’t love it and couldn’t put my finger on why. You’re the first review, to put into words, the disconnect. Well done!
I loved it but 100% overhyped. The advertisement was amazing, but at one point the advertisement turned from a murder ARG to “the scariest thing known to man”. The advertisement for this movie in its final month before release went from great to god awful, the worst one being the “she saw Nicholas Cage for the first time and her bpm went from 74 to 145”
And then the film is just good. It’s not amazing, it’s not a good crime film, the story falls apart at the end and, personally, it’s an ok horror film. I honestly believe they paid Disney adults to see this movie in theaters with the amount of things I heard, I was shocked at people praising this and feel like they should watch more movies, especially horror films
Longlegs was the worst movie I've seen in quite a while. I can't fathom all the praise it gets.
This movie is horrific...its not even a b movie.... The acting is so bad it's really hard to watch.... Evil dolls are the culprit... Nothing on the screen is watchable.... So bad
I liked the movie overall, but I agree that it never quite came together in a way that fully satisfied me. I think a lot of my enjoyment just came from the general mood and tone
More like "yawn legs"
I can actually watch your content before watching a film, it is so refreshing to watch a film reviewer not pad the video out explaining the story and ruining the film if you haven’t seen it yet. Good job 👍
I agree I've watched them all . This was WAY overhyped with too much Ambiguity.
I have a couple gripes with the movie but ultimately I disagree and really like this movie. Yes, Cage is a little Buffalo Bill-like but I think Maika Monroe is playing a more interesting character than Clarice and to me it's even a stronger performance than Jodie Foster's. Even with the supernatural bit at the end that I didn't like, this still easily has to be one of the best movies to come out this year. I know that's not saying a lot because 2024 has been a shitty year at the movies but it still gets my recommendation.
Found the mom to be more creepier tbh
I loved just about everything about this movie, with Nicholas Cage's performance obviously as a massive highlight. Where the movie fell flat a bit for me was the tell not show approach to the third act. Specifically the way the mom basically just explained everything that was going on in an exposition dump rather than letting the audience figure that out.
Very sound review, I enjoyed your take on Eyes Wide Shut as well. Keep it up!
I genuinely don’t get how you didn’t understand the things that you mentioned. This just seems very nitpicking at best
This is like the opposite of Stuckmans review, but similar to Adam Does Movies so thanks always to one of our fav insightful and intelligent real reviewers! #DeepFocusROCKS
You hit it on the nail & that’s why i respect your opinion all the time
I watched it two times. My conclusion is the entire movie is Harker's dream/nightmare. The whole plot is just too absurd to be real. I liked it very much
I went in blind and was told to close my eyes during the credits so I didn’t recognise the actor. The first two thirds were riveting but I wanted it to tie up neatly in a grounded way with the satanic stuff being a red herring. As a result, the third act was a disappointment. It wore its influences very heavily on its sleeve but it was still worth the watch on the big screen if you go in completely blind.