Early reactions to Longlegs praise it as Oz Perkins’ best work yet, with the director also having another project announced.
![Longlegs](https://www.joblo.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Longlegs-1024x538.jpg)
Considering how much build-up Longlegs has had – with the stream of teasers, posters and symbols – the horror film had a lot to live up to, at least how it was being marketed. Fortunately for the involved parties, Longlegs looks to be one of the horror flicks to see so far this year, with most praising it for being an unnerving work that features stellar performances and channels The Silence of the Lambs.
Check out some of the early reviews of Longlegs below:
I was so lucky to see #Longlegs, and no exaggeration: it could be the best horror film of ‘24. Oz Perkins can really get under my skin; this is his masterpiece. Monroe gives a fabulously unique lead performance, and Cage? NIGHTMARISH. Maybe the scariest 1st 10 mins, ever. pic.twitter.com/ImMEDDxGXi
— Bill Bria (@billbria) May 9, 2024
Get ready y’all because Longlegs is the real deal. Absolutely rancid, cursed vibes that had me scared to enter my dark hotel room. Maika Monroe is stunning and Cage is disturbing. This is Osgood Perkins in top form.
A contemporary Silence of the Lambs, methinks. pic.twitter.com/Alm9tUHXmS
— Mary Beth McAndrews (@mbmcandrews) May 9, 2024
LONGLEGS (2024): Holy shit. Oz Perkins has crafted an outstandingly bleak and fiendish investigative thriller. It’s so violently evil (😈). A film that lingers in your thoughts, under your skin, and in the pit of your stomach well after it’s over. Perkins’ best (so far). pic.twitter.com/cw99b5ChIq
— Matt Donato (@DoNatoBomb) May 9, 2024
Longlegs follows FBI agent Lee Harker, “a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer. As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.”
That’s certainly a thrilling concept and one that director Oz Perkins and his cast of Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage and Alicia Witt have evidently done well with in a fairly economical runtime of 101 minutes. With such strong reactions for Longlegs, there’s not much to decipher in terms of whether or not fans of Perkins and horror movies are digging it.
#Longlegs was unlike anything I could have predicted. It’s unsettling and disturbing, never giving the audience a reprieve. Maika Monroe and Nic Cage give standout performances, but Alicia Witt steals the show. Osgood Perkins never misses, and I can promise y’all aren’t ready. pic.twitter.com/FxnnUMqjyd
— Shannon | #FreePalestine 🇵🇸 (@shannon_mcgrew) May 9, 2024
Already quite confident calling #LONGLEGS my favorite Oz Perkins film.
Those teasers sell it well. The mystery/unsolved serial killer case is wildly fascinating and HUGELY unnerving. No spoilers, of course, but where things land? I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I tend to… pic.twitter.com/IFOjODb3rb
— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) May 10, 2024
Perkins has built a solid fanbase since his 2015 debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter. He followed that up with the next year’s I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House before taking on Gretel & Hansel in 2020. Outside of Longlegs, Perkins – whose history with the horror genre on the big screen goes all the way back to portraying a young Norman Bates in Psycho II (if you didn’t already know, Oz is Anthony’s son) – already has his next picture lined up, with Neon (who is distributing Longlegs as well) backing Keeper. According to Deadline, Keeper “follows a couple as they escape for a romantic anniversary weekend at a secluded cabin. When Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland) suddenly returns to the city, Liz (Tatiana Maslany) finds herself isolated and in the presence of an unspeakable evil that unveils the cabin’s horrifying secrets.”
But right now all of the buzz is on Longlegs, which we’re excited looks to be delivering on everything it has been promising through its marketing campaign. Certainly there are also quite a few more surprises within, further bumping this up the list of our most anticipated horror films of 2024. Longlegs comes to theaters on July 12th.
Are you looking forward to Longlegs? Will you be checking it out on opening weekend? Let us know below!