Longlegs 4K 2024

A well-publicized horror-detective with Cage turned out to be a devilishly atmospheric, but at the same time empty movie for once for lovers of dark, dragging movies. Let me say right away that “Longlegs” is unusually good in its atmosphere. It is a rare case, when a movie positioning itself (partially) as a horror movie is a real horror, but not due to screemers or alien monsters, but due to the genuine atmosphere of creepy, sticky fear. This is the case when it's scary to watch a movie at night with the lights off - it has such an ominous, uncomfortable atmosphere. The cameraman of the movie was clearly inspired by the immortal “Seven” and other classic thriller-detectives of the same kind. The plot here is as simple as a stick - a young detective Lee Walker spends all her energy and time on catching a mysterious maniac who slaughters whole families and leaves mysterious messages for the detectives.

The psychopath nicknamed “long-legged” is of course absolutely elusive and leaves no evidence at the scene of the crime, which gives her the right to suspect that he has helpers. That's actually the whole plot, which here if honestly matters no more than a script for some simple action movie by Van Damme. Director Perkins emphasizes here only on atmosphere, atmosphere and atmosphere again. The ominous landscapes of a small town, gloomy and cramped rooms, the few characters, and the invisible presence of a maniac make “Longlegs” a surprisingly atmospheric picture, where every frame is imbued with a sense of inescapable evil. There are even very succinctly written dialogs, and a hint of depth, especially when the detective unraveling the tangle of crimes involuntarily plunges into inner self-digging. But with all this novelty with Cage never goes beyond the framework of another curious product of the festival movie designed to brighten up the time once in the evening and forever forget about its existence afterwards. Why? There is one, but very good reason for that - the movie, apart from creating an atmosphere, does not carry any semantic load at all. Nothing at all. The scary maniac and the shocking denouement are made here for the sake of the scary maniac and the shocking denouement - just to show that in the language of cinema even a weak plot can be presented very beautifully - if you involve good actors and a quality crew.

The background of the main character, the motives of the maniac, the emphasis on realism - none of this is here at all. Personally I had a dozen logical questions while watching the movie, to which nobody even thinks to give an answer, which immediately nullifies the serious atmosphere, making the story no more realistic than another Marvel adaptation. And everything is filmed very appetizingly - Cage in the makeup of a crazy glam-star is infinitely good here, as well as crazy denouement, even if I repeat the realism here is not more than in the movies about flying saucers and killer clowns from space. Fans of grim noirs like “Crimson Rivers” and “8 Millimeters” may enjoy the movie, but the rest of us should limit ourselves to reviewing old classics like “Silence of the Lambs”. And the direct comparison of these movies is appropriate only for marketing purposes, no more.