Caked-Up Dread

Longlegs (2024) - Perkins In a sodden Oregon town, there lives special Agent Harker (Maika Monroe) who has some sort of psychic abilities. After the death of her newly appointed partner in the field, where she had a premonition, she is assigned to partner up with her superior, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood, who doesn't get roles in films which I do not understand), in pursuit of a serial killer known only as Longlegs because Carter believes Harker, with her abilities, can be of help with the investigation. Longlegs' MO is killing the whole families who have a daughter on the 14th of some months (what month of the year it is is not crucial info so are many things in the film). Coincidentally, Harker's birthday also falls on the 14th, and so is Carter's young daughter's. The killings involve some life-sized creepy doll and fathers of the families going berserk and killing everyone.

Harker constantly talks to her mom (Alicia Witt of Twin Peaks) on the phone who keeps pushing her to say prayers at night to protect herself from Nasties of the world. Longlegs keeps killing. Then Carter remembers that Harker had a scare as a child with some creep at her home with mom. Maybe mom remembers who that man was. She should check that out.

Oz Perkins, director of such films as Blackcoat's Daughter and Gretel and Hansel has a great visual sensibility in creating a sense of dread. He tinkers with all the conventions of police procedural and supernatural horror genres, but floats over all of them, and the film doesn't quite make a solid landing. The symbology, breaking the codes, occultism are all suggested but comes off as an afterthought, not even plot devices. Harker is treated as some kind of genius but her methodology is never shown. It's all in her head, man. She just knows. There are no real surprises in Longlegs. Everything is revealed early on. Nicolas Cage's turn as a glam rock psycho-killer-devil in heavy make-up is already revealed early in the film. It's a simple movie, plotwise.

And yet, the images Perkins presents in Longlegs linger in your head (well, not as impactful as its trailer campaign its distributor Neon put out). His framing, the uneasy atmosphere plus Cage's inspiring, unhinged performance makes this movie worthwhile.

He's a Lumberjack and He's Not OK

Mandy (2018) - Panos Costamos














Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) is a raven-haired woman living in isolation in the woods with her lumberjack husband (Nicolas Cage). Usually donning some deathmetal t-shirts or her husband's baseball jersey and a nasty scar across her face, Mandy possesses that other-worldly, melancholy aura. Perhaps it's that aura that attracts a gang of violent religious nuts to her- a cult headed by Jeremiah (Linus Roache). The gang break in to their cabin one night. They tie the husband up. But after being rejected by Mandy, Jeremiah and the gang sets her on fire in front of the husband.

Her death propels the movie descending rapidly into total mayhem and provides perhaps Nic Cage's Nic Cagest performance in years. That long take rage scene in his underwear in the bathroom is a sight to behold. There are Hellraiser type demons, a tiger, axe smelting, a King Crimson song, a chainsaw fight, multiple title and animation sequences thrown in. Normally a concoction this wild and unwieldy wouldn't work at all, but Costamos manages to make Mandy, through dark brooding visuals and Jóhan Jóhansson's soundtrack, a visual tone poem akin to Valhalla Rising, with Cage as our avenging angel, slogging through hell and back (or not). It's an amazing visual feast and a cult classic in the making.