Brace yourselves horror buffs, a brand new psychological thriller is in cinemas this weekend – which critics are promising is a contender to be one of the year’s best.
Longlegs is directed by Osgood Perkins and stars It Follows actor Maika Monroe as an FBI agent assigned to investigate an unsolved serial killer case (played by a chilling Nicolas Cage) before she discovers evidence of the occult and even a personal connection to the elusive murderer.
Following early reactions which saw critics detail how the “unsettling” film left them “on the verge of tears in terror”, the first reviews have captured a similarly horrified reaction.
If you can bear to look, here’s what the critics are saying so far…
Digital Spy (5/5)
“Unforgettable horror is one of the best movies of the year…You can’t relax at all during Longlegs, and you’ll come out of it feeling a bit dirty as though there’s something you can quite shake off. If that sounds like an unpleasant viewing experience, conversely you’ll also not want to look away as it’s so compelling in its bleakness.”
“Mesmerising serial killer chiller that burns with satanic power… the movie is also its own freaky trip, a darkly disturbing experience pulsing with an evil that’s unrelenting in its subcutaneous creepiness”.
“Nicolas Cage worms his way into your nightmares with dread-filled serial killer thriller… How many horror movies can claim to hijack your subconscious? With Longlegs, writer-director Osgood Perkins delivers the kind of payoff we sought out as kids, daring ourselves to watch films about boogeymen that made us want to sleep with the lights on.”
Time Out (5/5)
“The most chilling supernatural horror since Hereditary… Longlegs is a work of chilling brilliance that should electrify genre fans for years to come.”
“Hannibal Lecter he is not, but in Cage’s hands, Longlegs is undeniably a hoot. This is an actor always worth the price of admission.”
Little White Lies (4/5)
“Forgoing easy-win jump scares in favour of a sickening undercurrent of fear, Longlegs’ originality and boldness feel refreshing in an age of horror franchises, spin-offs and sequels – this is shlocky strangeness that throws back to the video nasties of the 70s with a grungy makeover that imbues the film with melancholy.”
“Myriad horror films create a sense of dread, but few manage to evoke the palpable evil that emanates from Longlegs… Despite the fact that Longlegs dabbles in Satanism and psychic powers, Perkins brings a bracing realism which only makes the sometimes-graphic horror much more upsetting.”
Empire (4/5)
“Pushing its nastiest elements a little further might have made it more permanently rattle the soul, but Longlegs will still leave you suitably shook up.”
IndieWire (B)
“The serial killer drama goes supernatural in a flawed but disturbing fairy tale that finds the devil hiding in plain sight… The real goal is to seed the lingering suspicion that something terrible is hiding just out of sight – right below you, perhaps, or just over your shoulder…Everything you were told about the world as a kid was a little white lie.”
“A grueling collage of far better films… the buzziest horror movie of the summer is artfully filmed but otherwise disappointing.”
The Guardian (2/5)
“What’s most damning about Longlegs is that for all of its attempts to pierce our sleep and make its way into our nightmares, nothing sticks... Perkins achieves two visceral shocks, but nothing achieves that pit-of-your-stomach fear that truly lingers. In trying too hard in the moment, Longlegs is awfully shortsighted.”
Evening Standard (2/5)
“Long before the end I’d wearily whispered to self, ‘Can this be over soon’, followed soon afterwards by, ‘Please, will they all just die’. Hardcore obsessives of the horror genre might gorge their hearts out on this (dare it be suggested that they set the bar somewhat differently to the rest of us), but for the fairweather fan the search for genuine scares continues…”
Longlegs is out now in UK cinemas.