"Longlegs" has hit movie theaters, and seems likely to become an unprecedented hit for indie studio Neon. Apparently, audiences have been craving horror-themed thrillers for adults — and they got a doozy.
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00:00Long Legs has hit movie theaters and seems likely to become an unprecedented hit for
00:04indie studio Neon. Apparently, audiences have been craving horror-themed thrillers for adults,
00:10and they got a doozy. The film is centered around Lee Harker, a young FBI agent played
00:15by modern screen queen Micah Monroe. In 1990s Oregon, Harker finds herself at the heart
00:20of an investigation hunting for a serial killer played by Nicolas Cage. Long Legs might seem
00:25like a clear-cut Silence of the Lambs riff, but director Osgood Perkins doesn't go for
00:29a straightforward procedural. When the time comes to reveal the killer's purpose, he uses
00:34the same themes of supernatural evil as in his previous pictures, such as The Black Coat's
00:38Daughter and Gretel and Hansel, this time within the frame of the late 20th century
00:42Satanic Panic.
00:44Like many of the best serial killer movies, the killer himself doesn't appear much on
00:47screen. After all, mysteries don't work if they spoon-feed the audience from the beginning.
00:52The film does work hard, however, to tee up how horrific he is supposed to look. The opening,
00:57set in the 1970s and shot in era-appropriate 4.3 analog, ends with a medium close-up of
01:02the killer, but with the top of his face cropped out of the frame. Once we do get a good look
01:07at him, it's clear that Long Legs appears to be an elderly drag queen crossed with Heath
01:11Ledger's Joker.
01:13Interestingly, Monroe and Cage only share one scene together in the movie, in which
01:20Harker goes to interrogate the imprisoned Long Legs. So, how did Perkins up the tension
01:25for this crucial moment? By not allowing Monroe to see any photos of Cage in makeup
01:29until they filmed the scene, meaning that she was as unprepared for his appearance as
01:33anyone in the movie's audience.
01:35This creative gambit turned out to be quite the PR coup for the movie, too. Neon's marketing
01:40campaign for Long Legs included a video titled Heartbeat, which showed the first time that
01:44Monroe and Cage interacted on set. To keep his appearance a surprise, the video places
01:49a black box over Long Legs' face. The soundtrack of the featurette is Monroe's actual heartbeat,
01:55captured by a microphone strapped to her chest, which picks up once she and Cage are in the
01:59same room.
02:07The video's closing text says her heart rate hit 170 beats per minute during the scene,
02:12from a resting heart rate of only 76.
02:15Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Monroe said she was freaking out when filming the scene
02:19and very nearly had a panic attack. And who can blame her? She said,
02:23There's so many things that were packed into that day. Seeing Nick for the first time in
02:27costume, I hadn't seen any photos or anything before, so that was shocking. Also, not only
02:32was I seeing Nick — or, rather, Long Legs — for the first time, but the cameras were
02:36rolling at this point. It was this very surreal, very nerve-wracking experience."
02:40Basically, Monroe came as close to meeting the real Long Legs as you can possibly get,
02:45so it's really no surprise that she got at least a little freaked out. Clearly, Long
02:49Legs is a horrifying enough sight when there's a screen barrier between you and him. The
02:53movie's genius marketing campaign has made that obvious.
02:57If you were in the same room as him, however, it's probably fair to say that your heart
03:00would probably be beating as fast as Monroe's. Want to see more? Wondering if you can handle
03:06Nick Cage's latest horror phenomenon? Well, you'll just have to head to a movie theater
03:10and see him for yourself.