“I guess you could say I have the pride of ownership of that character,” Cage told THR. “That character is personal to me because I was influenced by my mom — not that my mom was crazy like that, she wasn’t satanic, but I don’t want someone else playing my mom, so if they’re gonna do it, you’re doing it with me.”

Unlike the first Longlegs, which was distributed by Neon in 2024, Paramount is backing the new film.

“I don’t know what the story is and I have not met the new Paramount,” Cage said of the studio’s new leadership under David Ellison. “I have worked with the old Paramount; my whole family has had a lot of projects there, so to me there’s really a lot of history there — Face/Off, The Godfather. I hope that whatever happens, they have the same regard for movies and filmmakers.”

Longlegs 2 is due out on January 14, 2028, with Osgood Perkins back to write and direct.

Plot details are under wraps, but the film is said to be “set in the Longlegs universe” — so don’t expect a traditional sequel.

In Longlegs, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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 family.”

Cage can next be seen in “Spider-Noir,” premiering May 17 on Prime Video. Meanwhile, Perkins’ The Young People is due out later this year.

The post Nicolas Cage Talks ‘Longlegs’ Sequel: “I Have the Pride of Ownership of That Character” appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Longlegs 2 will release in theaters January 14, 2028 from Paramount!

Nicolas Cage will star and produce the film, with Osgood Perkins directing.

The new Longlegs film is said to be “set in the Longlegs universe,” so don’t expect a traditional sequel. Plot details, however, are under wraps at this time, but it is confirmed that Perkins has written the script and will return to the director’s chair as well as produce.

Also producing are Brian Kavanaugh Jones of Range Media, Chris Ferguson, Perkins’ partner at their company Phobos, and Dave Caplan of C2, which financed the initial movie.

In Longlegs, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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 family.”

Released by NEON, Longlegs made $127 million at the worldwide box office back in 2024, with the film’s mysterious marketing campaign credited for hooking audiences.

As you may recall, the appearance of Nicolas Cage was kept completely secret until the film was released, allowing audiences to experience his twisted villain before even seeing so much as a still image of his nightmarish look. It’s unclear how Cage’s Longlegs will be able to return for a follow-up movie, but again, we’re not expecting a sequel in the traditional sense.

Stay tuned for more on Longlegs 2 as we learn it.

The post ‘Longlegs 2’ from Osgood Perkins and Nicolas Cage Releasing in 2028 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

While the sequel news isn’t surprising, considering Longlegs was the highest-grossing indie film of 2024, what is surprising is that the sequel is shifting from distributor Neon to Paramount Pictures.

More importantly, the new Longlegs film isn’t a direct sequel but rather something “set in the Longlegs universe.” Naturally, that means plot details are under wraps at this time, but it is confirmed that Perkins has written the script and will return to the director’s chair as well as produce.

In Longlegs, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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 family.”

THR reports that the budget and scope of the new Longlegs feature were too substantial for its former distributor, raising even more eyebrows as to what Perkins has envisioned for his killer’s latest exploits.

Also producing are Brian Kavanaugh Jones of Range Media, Chris Ferguson, Perkins’ partner at their company Phobos, and Dave Caplan of C2, which financed the initial movie.

Perkins is coming off a busy 2025, which saw the release of both The Monkey and Keeper. His upcoming horror film starring Nicole Kidman, The Young People, is expected to arrive in 2026 from Neon.

Cage will next be seen in Amazon Prime Video’s Spider-Man series, Spider-Noir, before donning the Longlegs wig and prosthetics for another round of Satanic mayhem.

The post Nicolas Cage & Osgood Perkins Are Reteaming On New ‘Longlegs’ Universe Film appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The shortest month of the year may be dominated by a romantic holiday, but the days themselves feel icy and cold. The twinkling lights of Christmas have long since gone out, and we’re so far away from spring that it often feels as if the sun never fully fills the sky. We find ourselves trapped in wintery isolation where dangerous secrets threaten to take root. Satanic horror adds color to this frozen world with the blood-red passion of sinister devotion. While most modern members of the Church of Satan simply reject Christian doctrine in favor of indulgence and self-possession, demonic killers in cinema are known for their unbridled depravity, unleashing bloody violence on a frozen world.

Producer Gavin Polone’s feature directorial debut, Psycho Killer, perfectly encapsulates this strange dichotomy with a hellish murderer stalking his victims through the barren streets of a snowy hell. Penned by the screenwriter of Se7en and Sleepy Hollow, Andrew Kevin Walker is no stranger to this horrific juxtaposition. His stories are filled with grimy and picturesque violence that adds gruesome color to a desolate world. Psycho Killer is no exception. The horror begins as an unsuspecting member of highway patrol is murdered on the side of a snowy road in front of his wife and fellow officer. Now Jane Archer (Georgina Campbell) must hunt down this larger-than-life villain while struggling with the trauma of her sudden loss.

We follow Jane on a harrowing quest to catch the masked man known as Psycho Killer (James Preston Rogers) and end a series of elaborate kills designed to honor his dark lord. All the while, a haunting voice is fanning the flames. The epitome of debauchery and excess, Mr. Pendleton (Malcolm McDowell) broadcasts his satanism, pushing Psycho Killer forward in violence.

Polone paints both sides of this harrowing story in stark contrast. Devastated by her husband’s death, Jane’s life becomes a series of bleary days plagued by memories of that frozen road where she watched a killer take her husband’s life. She begins drowning her pain in this investigation, and we fear what waits for her on the other side. Meanwhile, her nemesis practically bathes in blood. Often shown in a dark, crimson light, this sadist in a radioactive mask views his victims as inhuman tools to destroy in honor of his dark savior. Decorating his crime scenes with pentagrams scrawled in his victims’ blood, Polone evokes Valentine’s Day iconography twisted into symbols of pain.

This nihilistic atmosphere mirrors another icy horror film also set in the winter snow. Osgood Perkins’ 2024 shocker Longlegs opens with a child playing outside in heavy drifts. The “almost birthday girl” is approached by a strangely jovial man who ominously references his “friend downstairs.” We will learn that this pale-faced stranger is a serial killer named Dale Kobble (Nicolas Cage), known to the world as Longlegs.

For decades, the devilish dollmaker has been murdering entire families with a nearly undetectable MO. Each targeted family has one thing in common: a 9-year-old daughter born on the 14th day of any month. Aided by a reluctant assistant, Kobble creates a life-sized replica of the child that is then delivered to the family’s home. But these figurines are much more than artificial playmates. Inside the doll’s intricate head is an orb designed to emit low-level frequencies that destabilize the family home. The fathers become overwhelmed with diabolical whispers that slowly push them to unthinkable acts of violence.

Like the infamous Psycho Killer, Longlegs does not have a motive for his crimes other than a deep devotion to Satan. His reverence for “the man downstairs” becomes a double entendre for both hell and a basement workshop in which Kobble crafts his deadly gifts. Lee investigates this killer in the brutality of an Oregon winter, constantly shielding herself from the cold while struggling to connect with her unstable mother. Meanwhile, Kobble completes his meticulous work in a murky room lit only with neon red light, as if he were crafting these dolls in hell itself. Both killers have dedicated their entire lives to the service of their master’s plan to bring an approximation of hell to Earth. Each act, regardless of its gruesomeness, becomes a loving sacrifice designed to showcase their all-consuming devotion.

Though the film pushed Perkins to new levels of fame, Longlegs is not his first foray into the world of satanic horror. His 2015 debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, leans into the unsettling dichotomy of wintery isolation and passionate pain. Originally titled February, the film also unfolds in dual timelines as we follow a killer and her prey. When Kat (Kiernan Shipka) and Rose (Lucy Boynton) are both left behind at their posh boarding school over midwinter break, they sense an ominous presence on the mostly deserted campus. A dark figure approaches Kat in her dreams, predicting her parents’ grisly deaths. This “blackcoat” steps into the devastating void, nudging the traumatized teen toward violent acts.

Meanwhile, Rose hopes to see blood of her own as she prepares to tell her boyfriend she may be pregnant. The two struggle to coexist in this icy and deserted campus, searching in vain for a small bit of comfort. It seems February’s icy loneliness is what drives Kat into Satan’s arms. A mysterious phone call from her dark companion kicks off a violent murder spree. She not only slaughters the two nuns tasked with her care, but stabs and decapitates Rose herself. Using a pillowcase stained with her victims’ blood, she drags their severed heads into a subterranean boiler room where she vigorously prostrates herself in deference to her new patriarch. She’s finally found some semblance of warmth in the furnace’s hellish, red glow.

The story plays out in a parallel timeline as a mysterious young woman named Joan (Emma Roberts) hitches a ride to the troubled boarding school. She manages to befriend a grieving father named Bill (James Remar), who attempts to take her under his wing and fill the void in his own bleak life. But Joan’s devotion to Satan proves stronger than his optimistic support, and Bill realizes he’s walked into a trap. Stranded on the icy road, he and his wife become Satan’s latest sacrifice. Like Psycho Killer and Longlegs, The Blackcoat’s Daughter explores the dangerous paths we take to erase the desolate pain of loneliness.

At some point in our lives, we’ve all tried and failed to secure love. Perhaps we’ve been rejected on Valentine’s Day, struggled through an uncomfortable birthday, or tried to recover from a sudden loss. However, it’s our tolerance to life’s miseries that builds our stress tolerance and resistance to pain. Though admittedly, this resilience feels more difficult in February when we just want to warm up with those we love. Polone and Perkins lean into the month’s iconography with nightmares that bloom in the absence of love.

Rather than a crimson token of affection or sentimental valentine, the blood these three killers spill represents the fire of satanic violence. Kat, Kobble, and the mysterious Psycho Killer all wind up bathed in the blood-red glow of satanic devotion, a heat born in the icy heart of February.

The post Blood In the Bleak Midwinter: The Satanic Horror of February appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Expect a full month of festivities leading up to the highly anticipated new game, which arrives on February 27, 2026, and we’ve got the exclusive on the details.

The month-long series begins February 6 at select Alamo Drafthouse locations, and features four films that represent Resident Evil’s core staples: containment failures, creeping paranoia, and the consequences of experiments that should never have left the lab.

Admission to the four Raccoon City Cinema screenings is free with the purchase of a food and beverage voucher, redeemable at the shows.

Raccoon City Cinema brings four terrifying films back to the big screen:

• THE THING (1982, dir. John Carpenter)
• THE RING (2002, dir. Gore Verbinski)
• THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012, dir. Drew Goddard)
• LONGLEGS (2024, dir. Osgood Perkins)

The screenings are paired with a limited Resident Evil-inspired menu created exclusively for the series. Guests can expect playful nods to the video games with the menu:

• JILL’S SANDWICH – Inspired by the iconic line from the original Resident Evil: Double all-beef patties with two strips of applewood smoked bacon, melty cheese, pickles, & special burger sauce on a butter-toasted bun. Served with fries & ketchup.
• RED + GREEN HERB HOT DOG COMBO – A classic item combination from the Resident Evil series. Restore your strength with this smoked hot dog topped with a green herb chimichurri, red chorizo, & sliced avocado. Served with fries & ketchup.
• BINGO! FRIED CHICKEN – Inspired by Leon S. Kennedy in Resident Evil 4. Boneless chicken wings tossed in a red chile, ginger, garlic, & paprika spice blend, garnished with a drizzle of thyme-hot honey & fresh cut cilantro. Served with fries, celery & green herb ranch dressing.
• T-VIRUS COCKTAIL – Inspired by Umbrella Corporation Hendrick’s Gin, blackberry, tonic, lime
• BLUE UMBRELLA SERUM – Inspired by Blue Umbrella’s post Raccoon City mission, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Blue Curaçao, Sea Blue Red Bull, lemon, orange, cherry, mint

For more on the series, “Raccoon City Cinema offers fans a chance to revisit genre classics through the lens of one of gaming’s most influential horror worlds, just ahead of Resident Evil Requiem’s release. Timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original 1996 Resident Evil game for PlayStation®, Raccoon City Cinema celebrates one of the most influential and best-selling horror franchises of all time, with more than 170 million copies sold worldwide as of March 2025. Resident Evil Requiem marks the ninth main entry in the series, returning players to Raccoon City for a new chapter in survival horror.”

Fans can become the master of unlocking things and reserve their spot at each screening HERE.

A new era of survival horror arrives with Resident Evil Requiem, the latest and most immersive entry yet in the iconic Resident Evil series. Experience terrifying survival horror with FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, and dive into pulse-pounding action with legendary agent Leon S. Kennedy. Both of their journeys and unique gameplay styles intertwine into a heart-stopping, emotional experience that will chill you to your core.

Check out the limted menu items below.

The post Capcom’s ‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Inspires New Alamo Drafthouse Horror Screening Series and Limited Menu appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Perkins isn’t slowing down either; he’s already in production on The Young People, the fourth film with NEON due next year. In anticipation, NEON has curated an Osgood Perkins triple feature hitting theaters tomorrow night, ahead of Keeper’s arrival. If there are no showings near you or the cozy comfort of your couch is simply too irresistible, we have good news. 

All five Perkins-directed horror movies are now available to stream. Here’s where to watch.

The Blackcoat’s Daughter – Pluto TV, Tubi

Perkins’ feature directorial debut follows Kat (Kiernan Shipka), a quiet freshman at a boarding school who has nightmares of her parents’ death. Kat’s nightmares soon give way to strange behavior, and eventually, her loneliness makes her a perfect target for evil. It’s as moody and atmospheric as its wintry setting, an early precursor for Longlegs’ style of icy horror. What makes this such a standout film, though, is its unique approach to possession horror and its meditative examination of the aftermath. What happens to the victim after the demon has been expelled? Perkins’ answer is both chilling and heartbreaking.

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House – Netflix

Perkins slows down pacing even further for his sophomore effort, a no frills ghost story centered around a retired horror writer suffering from dementia, one whose most popular novel has come back to haunt her. There are ghosts here, but not always of the dead kind; the film also doubles as Perkins’ own attempts at connecting with his dead father, Anthony Perkins. The director opts for slow-burn dread over scares, and a melancholic look at lost time. Whereas The Blackcoat’s Daughter retooled possession horror, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House toys with the concept of a ghost.

Gretel & Hansel – Pluto TV, Prime Video, Roku Channel, Tubi

The horror filmmaker shifts gears dramatically with a visually lush reconfiguration of a classic Grimm fairy tale, though no less moody than previous efforts. Think unparalleled production design with impressive sound design and score to match, but with its story told in an unconventional and sometimes enigmatic way. Sophia Lillis stars as Gretel, the elder sister tasked with protecting her brother from Alice Krige’s mesmerizing Witch, eager to gobble them up. It’s a coming-of-rage sort of fairy tale that operates on mood over narrative.

Longlegs – Disney+, Hulu, Kanopy

Longlegs plays it close to the vest as it follows young FBI recruit Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), whose uncanny sense of intuition draws the attention of the tenured Agent Carter (Blair Underwood). Harker is so naturally gifted that Carter pulls the agent into his ongoing investigation of serial killer Longlegs (an unrecognizable Nicolas Cage), a demented figure so elusive that the trail to catch him has gone cold. Perkins injects a true crime story with putrid Satanism, packing Harker’s quest with foreboding atmosphere and chilling background scares. But it’s deeply personal, with Perkins drawing from his own upbringing when it comes to the central relationship between Harker and her mother (Alicia Witt).

The Monkey – Disney+, Hulu, Kanopy

This adaptation of Stephen King’s short story uses its source material as a loose framework for a Final Destination-style, gory comedy romp filled with a nonstop onslaught of over-the-top, Rube Goldberg-like elaborate deaths. All of it is a comical, carnage-fueled reminder of the film’s core thesis: Death comes for us all, and it’s quite silly to presume you can stop it. It follows twins Hal and Bill Shelburne, played by Christian Convery (Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein) as kids and Theo James(“Castlevania”) as adults, as they discover dad’s strange wind-up monkey and its unique connection with death. Perkins weaves a raucous cautionary tale that smashes subtlety with a sledgehammer, leaving a gloriously splatstick trail of bodies in its wake.

The post Where to Watch All Five Osgood Perkins-Directed Horror Movies Ahead of ‘Keeper’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

One ticket will grant admission to a triple feature of Longlegs, The Monkey, and Keeper on November 13.

Fans who attend will be among the first to experience Keeper, releasing on November 14 via Neon.

Participating theaters include:

• Albuquerque: Cinemark Century Rio Plex
• Baltimore: Cinemark Egyptian
• Boston: AMC Boston Common
• Cleveland: Cinemark Valley View
• Corpus Christi: Cinemark Century Corpus Christi
• Dallas: Cinemark West Plano
• El Paso: Cinemark Tinseltown Las Palmas
• Harlingen: Cinemark Pharr Town Center
• Los Angeles: AMC Burbank 16
• New York: AMC Empire
• Orlando: AMC Disney Springs
• Phoenix: Harkins Estrella Falls
• Sacramento: Cinemark Century Arden
• San Diego: AMC Mission Valley
• San Jose: Cinemark Century Oakridge
• Springfield: Cinemark West Springfield

In Longlegs, FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes an unexpected turn, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage star with Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby, and Kiernan Shipka.

In The Monkey, when twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. 25 years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.

Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy star.

Keeper follows a couple as they escape for a romantic anniversary weekend at a secluded cabin. When Malcolm suddenly returns to the city, Liz finds herself isolated and in the presence of an unspeakable evil that unveils the cabin’s horrifying secrets.

Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland star.

Perkins is already in production on his next film, The Young People, for a 2026 release.

The post Osgood Perkins’ ‘Longlegs,’ ‘The Monkey,’ ‘Keeper’ Triple Feature Hits Theaters for One Night Only appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In addition to launching his own production banner titled Phobos, alongside Chris Ferguson, Perkins has also signed a first look deal with NEON. What does that mean, you ask?

Variety details the deal as follows: “Perkins and Ferguson will jointly produce upcoming projects, with NEON serving as the home for films that Perkins writes and directs, as well as those he produces for other filmmakers.” Variety also notes in today’s report, “Neon will release the films theatrically in the U.S. and represent the international sales rights.”

The outlet notes, “Perkins will continue to work with producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones of Range.”

“There’s only one Osgood Perkins — fearless, deeply imaginative, relentlessly funny and operating on a frequency that’s all his own,” said NEON CEO Tom Quinn. “His work lingers with you, burrows into your brain as all great art does. With NEON as his creative home, Oz will continue to cook, pushing the boundaries of his ever expanding cinematic universe. We’re thrilled to be along for the ride with Phobos and Osgood Perkins.”

First up is the aforementioned Keeper, which has been described as “a dark trip from Osgood Perkins.” Written by Nick Lepard (Dangerous Animals), the upcoming horror movie stars Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”) and Rossif Sutherland (Possessor).

“Keeper follows a couple as they escape for a romantic anniversary weekend at a secluded cabin. When Malcolm (Sutherland) suddenly returns to the city, Liz (Maslany) finds herself isolated and in the presence of an unspeakable evil that unveils the cabin’s horrifying secrets.”

Following in the wake of Longlegs and The Monkey, Keeper will be Perkins’ third movie with NEON. Perkins previously directed The Blackcoat’s Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and the arthouse fairytale adaptation Gretel & Hansel.

The post Osgood Perkins Signs First Look Deal With NEON Ahead of New Horror Movie ‘Keeper’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I was reminded of this story after reading an interview where Osgood ‘Oz’ Perkins opened up about his complicated family history and how it informed his 2025 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Monkey. Contrary to Spielberg, Perkins seems well aware of the personal issues that color his work, but looking back on his older projects, I soon realized that many of the ideas influencing in his recent output were already present in his filmography as far back as his first feature. And with The Blackcoat’s Daughter celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, I think this is the perfect time to look back on how this underrated satanic thriller set the tone for Perkins’ filmmaking career.

Of course, if you still haven’t seen The Blackcoat’s Daughter, be sure to do so before reading, as there are spoilers ahead!

Before we dive into the film itself, I think a little backstory is in order. Prior to writing and directing, Perkins began his cinematic career by following in his father’s footsteps as an actor. Viral memes have recently reminded the internet of his brief yet memorable role in 2001’s Legally Blonde, but I find it very appropriate that Perkins’ first on-screen performance was during a flashback as a young Norman Bates in Richard Franklin’s underrated Psycho II back when he was 12 years old.

Like many artists who grow up surrounded by the entertainment industry, Oz was enamored by filmmaking from a young age, though he only decided to start working on his first screenplay after a series of personal tragedies made him re-imagine the horror genre as a form of self-help that teaches audiences how to deal with death. That’s why he spent years working on a passion project that was then titled February. While Perkins claims that he didn’t really know what he was doing as he developed this supernatural thriller, he worked on it for such a long time that the end result impressed nearly everyone who read it.

Unfortunately, though the script for February was completed in 2012, Perkins had a difficult time financing the picture after an over-saturation of cheap horror left producers hesitant about investing in new IPs (keep in mind that this was years before the indie horror boom that launched unorthodox hits like It Follows, The Babadook and The Witch into mainstream popularity). Things would only turn around when established names like Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka (who was then known for her role as Sally Draper in Mad Men) joined the project after being forwarded a copy of the chilling screenplay.

The filmmakers would still end up dealing with budgetary problems – as well as the coldest winter on record in the shooting location of Kemptville, Ontario – but February was ultimately completed on schedule in early 2015. Alas, this was just the beginning of the film’s long journey towards a wide release. After a successful premiere during the 2015 edition of TIFF, the film ended up being unceremoniously shelved due to distributors being unsure about how to market it. It was only in March of 2017 that A24 finally gave the movie a limited theatrical release before dropping it on VOD under the new title of The Blackcoat’s Daughter – all of this after the premiere of Perkins’ sophomore feature, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House.

While the critical response to the film was almost overwhelmingly positive, the messy distribution meant that very few people actually watched it. This is a huge shame, as I find The Blackcoat’s Daughter to be much better than several similar movies from the same time period.

Regardless, in the finished film, we follow two initially separate timelines telling the stories of catholic boarding school students Rose (Lucy Boynton) and Kat (Kiernan Shipka) as well as a runaway mental patient named Joan (Emma Roberts). Through a series of cryptic events, we slowly unravel the girls’ mysterious connection to a satanic presence that took hold of the school during a fateful winter break, with this grisly series of supernatural twists and turns culminating in a shocking – not to mention gruesome – reveal.

It may be his first movie, but Perkins expertly misdirects the viewer here by using their own genre expectations against them, weaving a narrative labyrinth that’s even more entertaining the second time around. In fact, despite the film’s deliberate pacing and obviously inferior production value, I greatly prefer The Blackcoat’s Daughter to its more expensive cousin Longlegs. However, what I find most fascinating about Perkins’ debut is just how many of these ideas would show up again in his future productions.

For instance, the reveal that our protagonist has been connected to the evil forces permeating the narrative since the very beginning is something that shows up here as well as in all of the director’s subsequent movies. From Gretel having innate supernatural abilities just like the witch in Gretel & Hansel to Agent Harker having been cursed with psychic visions due to her mother’s sins in Longlegs (not to mention the evil family heirloom in The Monkey), Perkins’ main characters always seem to have a personal connection to the evil that they’re fighting – almost as if the filmmaker is repeatedly telling the same story about escaping the shadow of our own history.

There’s also the matter of grief as a recurring theme. Perkins has gone on record about how The Blackcoat’s Daughter was his attempt at telling a story concerning loss, with the genre trappings serving as a Trojan Horse of sorts in order to deliver a deeply personal narrative about Joan/Kat embracing evil due to the perceived loss of her parents. While The Monkey would later wear these morbid inspirations on its sleeve, the filmmaker’s musings on overcoming death would show up in everything from I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House (which the director claims was an attempt to connect with his deceased father) to Gretel & Hansel (which follows the aftermath of the death of a parent).

I’m also fascinated by the way that the director portrays the supernatural in his movies, with The Blackcoat’s Daughter establishing a precedent by depicting evil as something that broken people gravitate towards in order to reclaim some sense of control over their suffering. There’s a direct line from Joan/Kat’s failed attempt at summoning the demon that left her to Lee’s mother working for the devil in Longlegs in order to save her daughter from death. Hell, I don’t think it’s that big of a stretch to claim that both TBD and Longlegs are part of the same cinematic universe, especially when you consider how Perkins is still using the same shadowy devil aesthetics a decade later, with his take on demonic influence figuratively (and often literally) lurking in the background and pulling narrative strings from the shadows.

There are many more comparisons that can be made here (such as the director’s exploration of traditional gender roles in his movies) but no amount of analysis can replace the act of simply sitting down and revisiting such an interesting filmography. And in these troubling times where so much art is being produced by committee while soulless AI creations threaten to take over the industry, I think it’s more important than ever to appreciate stories that come from a single, distinctly human source. So, even if the connections between Perkins’ films can be explained away as mere coincidences, I still think they say something about the filmmaker.

The Blackcoat’s Daughter may not have been a huge hit back in the day, but this hidden satanic gem is still influencing the genre over a decade later, with other genre filmmakers like Mike Flanagan frequently citing it as one of their favorite horror films. And with streaming making the flick easily accessible, there’s no excuse not to revisit this disturbing debut that’s just as effective now as it was back in ’15.

In the meantime, I can’t wait to see where Perkins goes next, as he’s already earned a place among the Masters of Horror simply by writing (and directing) based on what he knows.

The post How ‘The Blackcoat’s Daughter’ Paved the Way for Oz Perkins’ Career appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Written and directed by Osgood Perkins (The Monkey), the serial killer thriller is presented in 4K with HDR and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound.

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary by Writer-Director Osgood Perkins
• On-Set Interviews with Osgood Perkins and Actors Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, and Alicia Witt
• Osgood Perkins & Theo James in Conversation
• Meeting Longlegs: Maika Monroe’s Heartbeat
• The Rorschach Test
• Andre Arochi’s On-Set Diary
• Clues & Evidence
• Dirty + Sweet
• Fire Fire Fire, Hiss
• Teasers & Trailers

Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage star with Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby, and Kiernan Shipka.

FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes an unexpected turn, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review, “Longlegs gets under your skin and stays there, immersing you so thoroughly in the repulsive, discomforting nature of evil through terrifying imagery and a tactile atmosphere that it’s unshakable. Its nerve-shredding, insidious style of horror serves as a perfect rebuttal to society’s obsession with true crime; evil just exists, and it taints everything it touches.”

Perkins’ next film, Keeper, hits theaters on October 3 from Neon.

The post ‘Longlegs’ Strikes on SteelBook 4K UHD with New Extras in June appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to snowy winter horror movies that use harsh weather conditions to isolate their characters, mentally or physically, trapping them with evil- human and otherwise. As always, here’s where you can watch them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

30 Days of Night – Peacock

The small Alaskan town of Barrow experiences one whole month of complete darkness every year. It’s the perfect scenario for a coven of savage vampires to partake in a nonstop feeding frenzy, and they arrive just as the sun sets on Barrow for 30 days to begin their month-long all-you-can-eat buffet. Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his wife (Melissa George), and a dwindling band of survivors must fight to last until dawn eventually breaks. Directed by David Slade (Hard Candy) and adapted from the comic book series, 30 Days of Night eschews any notion of romantic vampires here and instead goes full-throttle on the gore, violence, and monstrous vampires.

Curtains – AMC+, Arrow, Hoopla, Peacock, Prime Video, the Roku Channel, Shudder

Six women from different talent backgrounds spend their weekend at a remote mansion for an elaborate audition to win a coveted movie role. Because remote locations always make for the perfect setting for a masked killer to run amok, the competition becomes fierce in lethal ways. While the audition angle presents a unique setup for this ’80s slasher, the winter backdrop provides endless creativity in terms of the slasher kills. The most memorable kills involve the creepy masked killer using the weather against the victims, including the film’s best death sequence set on a frozen pond. Sickles and ice skating equal bad news.

I Saw the Devil – Hoopla, Kanopy, Peacock, Pluto TV, Prime Video, Roku Channel

Jee-woon Kim’s I Saw the Devil delivers one of the bleakest tales of revenge ever committed to celluloid. When a serial killer viciously murders a secret service agent’s pregnant fiancée, the agent becomes driven by vengeance. That results in a cat-and-mouse game that gets so brutal that the lines between protagonist and antagonist blur. Visceral and shocking, this is a must for those who like their horror extremely dark. The winter setting here doesn’t just provide striking horror imagery with blood on snow, it reinforces the chilling nature and exacting toll of vengeance.

Longlegs – Hulu

Winter plays a key role in writer/director Osgood Perkins’ chilly Satanic horror movie, starting with the opening sequence that introduces Nicolas Cage’s serial killer with a very specific victim preference: young girls with birthdays on the 14th. That’s bad news for FBI recruit Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), who was born on January 14 and finds herself on Longlegs’ radar. The wintry setting only enhances the film’s icy atmosphere. Longlegs injects a true crime story with putrid Satanism and refuses to handhold, serving as a visceral rebuttal to society’s compulsive need to find logic in the most heinous of crimes. It’s the way that evil is a constant, voyeuristic presence that unnerves most; Satan lurks in darkened corners and shadows in many scenes, hiding in plain sight throughout.

Scare Me – AMC+, Hoopla, Shudder

Writer/Director Josh Ruben (Heart Eyes) pulls triple duty, starring as Fred, an aspiring writer suffering from writer’s block, in his feature debut. Fred rents a cabin in the Catskills mid-winter to get the creative juices flowing, only to discover that successful author Fanny (Aya Cash) is staying at a nearby cabin. A power outage inspires a competitive round of scary storytelling between the pair, but the horror from their tales seems to manifest as it grows more intense, building toward a dangerous confrontation. The fire inside is delightful in this cozy little cabin of horror. Scare Me captures the magic of storytelling and the pitfalls of ego with endless wit and creativity.

The post Five Snowy Winter Horror Movies to Stream This Week appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Dead Meat hosts James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca are joined by The Monkey writer-director Osgood Perkins and actor Elijah Wood to comment on 2024’s best horror movie kills.

In the spirit of John Madden‘s legendary sports commentary, they review gory deaths from Longlegs, Terrifier 3, and more complete with slow motion, frame-by-frame analysis.

Based on the Stephen King short story, The Monkey opens in theaters nationwide on February 21 via Neon.

When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. 25 years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.

Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy round out the cast.

For more from Janisse and Rebecca, their Dead Meat Podcast is now part of Bloody Disgusting’s Bloody FM podcast network.

The post Watch Dead Meat’s Horror Halftime Show with Osgood Perkins & Elijah Wood appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That doesn’t even touch on the huge studio earners like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, or Alien: Romulus. Yet the surprises extend well beyond how well horror performed at the box office; 2024 horror is defined by the way it refused to stay within its tidy genre bounds.

This is reflected in the way that 2024 horror found new angles to push franchises forward through prequels and sequels, with films like The First Omen finding new ways to expand a franchise through stunning artistry and delicate yet dark subject matter. It’s reflected in new shifts in true crime-inspired thrillers like Red Rooms, a cold, clinical depiction of true crime obsession. Slashers like In a Violent Nature got experimental with a familiar formula to an exciting albeit divisive degree, while Exhuma shook up the tired exorcism horror subgenre.

It’s also a year where horror got deeply personal, featuring no shortage of films framed from a singular perspective, including I Saw the TV Glow or Stopmotion. In short, 2024 pushed the genre forward in exciting ways, introducing new voices while finding fresh fertile ground in even some of the more well-trodden corners of the genre.

Without further ado, here are the top fifteen best horror movies of 2024.

15. Oddity

Writer/Director Damian Mc Carthy‘s sophomore effort feels like a narrative and thematic extension of Caveat.  Aside from the brief return of at least one familiar face and a nightmare bunny, Oddity continues the filmmaker’s exploration of supernatural karma and retribution with offbeat characters and a unique vision for scares. Playing like a whimsical Irish folk tale with expertly crafted scares that send icy shivers down your spine, Oddity relies on pared-back storytelling that lets its horror elements and dual performances from Carolyn Bracken shine. While simple in setup, there’s a more assured tone and polished plotting to Oddity that makes it easy to hope Mc Carthy continues his exploration of this strange, frequently haunting cinematic universe.

14. The Coffee Table

A jaw-dropping inciting event transforms the film into a relentless pressure cooker that never gives its audience a moment to breathe in Caye Casas’s grim dark horror comedy- emphasis on dark. The gallows humor here might warrant a trigger warning for its boundary-pushing horror that serves as the catalyst. The filmmaker mines horror from a freak tragedy to a degree that often leaves those on board with the insanity torn between laughter and edge-of-the-seat suspense. A mundane task turns into an unspeakable nightmare that somehow only escalates the insanity until a doozy of a finale. It’s audacious in plot but even more impressive for the way it shreds your nerves with glee.

13. Woman of the Hour

Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut shakes up the true crime format with this stranger-than-fiction tale of serial killer and rapist Rodney Alcala and his bizarre appearance as a bachelor on the TV game show “The Dating Game.” Screenwriter Ian MacAllister McDonald and Kendrick tell this harrowing story nonlinearly, methodically painting a stark picture of Alcala’s tactics as he targets vulnerable women across the country throughout the ’70s. It’s not horror in the traditional sense, but Kendrick wrings abject terror through nail-biting, suspenseful sequences and one bone-chilling performance by Daniel Zovatto as real-life killer Rodney Alcala. An unsettling killer and centerpiece suspense sequences ensure Kendrick’s debut rattles. But it’s the unwavering empathy for Alcala’s victims and a powerful final gasp that earns this stunner a spot on our list.

12. Stopmotion

Horror is filled with stories exploring the lengths an artist will go to for the sake of their art, but BAFTA-nominated filmmaker/animator Robert Morgan fuses Stopmotion with tactile, squelchy stop-motion animation that sets it apart. The film’s deft blending of live-action and stop-motion animation is utterly captivating, grounded by Aisling Franciosi’s portrayal of a woman coming undone by her ambition. It’s not just the animation that stuns while simultaneously inducing revulsion but the unnerving sound design. Open wounds and puppets alike often come with discomforting, squelching sounds and wet noises that ensure an immersive experience.

11. The Devil’s Bath

The latest from Austrian filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala happens to be their most despairing yet, making a powerful show that history is horror sometimes. A grueling depiction of a harsh life in 18th-century Austria, the film follows a dreamer too fragile for this unforgiving world. The Devil’s Bath saturates itself so thoroughly in her misery and psychological distress that it’s difficult not to be affected by Agnes’ plight. It’s a gorgeously made film, shot on 35mm, with an impressive lead performance from Anja Plaschg. The Devil’s Bath isn’t horror in the conventional sense, but Agnes’ journey becomes so despairing that it careens straight into violent, grim horror territory with ease. It’s such an emotional gauntlet that it’s one that you won’t want to revisit anytime soon. 

10. Azrael

The latest from director E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills) and writer Simon Barrett (The Guest, You’re Next) makes for a fascinating experiment in dialogue-free horror, with a text card establishing the post-Rapture setup behind this apocalyptic horror movie. It’s so devoid of dialogue that modern horror stalwart Samara Weaving can’t even rely on her trademark scream; her character had her voice box severed prior to the film’s events. All of which is to say that Azrael potentially makes for a tough sell on paper. Instead, Katz makes you forget almost entirely that Azrael is devoid of speaking parts. Its nonstop barrage of horror violence gets doled out over the course of 24 hours, making for a gory survival thriller that doesn’t have time to dwell on the story specifics. Weaving’s capable performance and the visceral siege horror ensure this experiment succeeds right up to its memorable final moments.

9. A Quiet Place: Day One

The prequel to 2018’s A Quiet Place merely uses the initial alien invasion that plunges the world into a silent apocalypse as a thrilling backdrop for a soulful, poignant portrait of human connection. A mundane day in New York City gets shattered by a sudden invasion that leaves the city destroyed with a devastating death toll, an easy genre allegory for 9/11, no doubt, but writer/director Michael Sarnoski is more interested in exploring the human triumphs that rise in the face of brutal adversity. Day One ensures the requisite genre thrills and creature feature chase sequences are aplenty, but it’s the tender, unlikely friendship forged between Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn’s characters, along with a scene-stealing cat, that elevate this prequel into something remarkable. It’s the type of deeply stirring storytelling that makes you want a hug and a slice of pizza. Most of all, following a woman determined to meet life and death on her terms fills you with hope.

8. Infested

Director Sébastien Vaniček delivered a shot of adrenaline with his feature debut, ensuring that spiders haven’t lost their touch when it comes to inducing paralyzing fear, even in those not prone to arachnophobia. The simple setup that sees a rare venomous spider loose in a ramshackle apartment building, free to breed and wreak lethal destruction, becomes anything but thanks to class commentary and a terrifying escalation of horror. Vaniček keeps his characters and their conflicts grounded in realism, letting him cut loose with the increasingly intense spider horror. It’s not just that Infested employs real spiders for many of the close, squirmy encounters with the eight-legged beasts, but the filmmaker wrings extreme tension even from the quiet moments. Infested isn’t afraid to kill its characters in excruciating ways, either, making it easy to see why Vaniček was immediately snatched up to helm an upcoming Evil Dead movie.

7. I Saw the TV Glow

A deeply personal examination of identity and dysphoria told with a singular vision. Few films match the striking imagery found within writer/director Jane Schoenbrun’s latest, genre or otherwise. I Saw the TV Glow captures the viscerally jarring, existential horror of ignoring all warnings until you no longer recognize yourself, framed around two outcasts who bond over a ’90s tv show. It’s that specificity and dreamlike vision that mines horror from a relatable touchstone of youth– a period where we often form our identities based on our pop culture obsessions and cling to them like lifeboats in tempestuous waters. It’s a somber, meditative allegory that emotionally devastates, even as its potent visuals cast a haunting spell. More than just an assured piece of arthouse horror surrealism, it’s a stunning and bittersweet cautionary tale to be true to yourself.

6. The First Omen

Richard Donner’s 1976 horror classic centered around the Antichrist spawned three sequels, a 2006 remake, and a direct sequel TV series to diminishing results. When a prequel to the original film was announced, it’s not surprising that it didn’t exactly set the internet on fire; The Omen laid out the details behind Damien Thorn’s birth well enough, after all. What sounded like a typical, uninspired cash grab to extend the life of a fairly dormant horror franchise transformed into a compelling surprise in the hands of director Arkasha Stevenson. Stevenson helms her feature debut with impressive confidence, delivering an exquisitely crafted piece of horror that lends a tactile quality and atmosphere with a piercing score from Mark Korven that also serves a narrative purpose. It’s a breathtaking film befitting of its period setting, anchored by star Nell Tiger Free’s audacious performance. The First Omen finds inventive ways to breathe new life into the franchise while operating within the confines of established IP lore, shifting its focus to bodily autonomy while pushing boundaries with bold subject matter and shocking horror imagery. 

5. Smile 2

As someone who found Smile a solid film bogged down by its familiar horror influences, Smile 2 caught me off guard. In true sequel fashion, the scale is expanded, and the scares are far more visceral and violent this round. But writer/director Parker Finn’s exponential growth between films is what really excites about this sequel; this filmmaker has only honed his scare-crafting chops to the sharpest of edges and is having a blast doing it. This is a filmmaker with mounting confidence, and Finn finds no shortage of ways to keep the lengthy runtime moving at a rapid clip without ever diminishing the oppressive, inescapable horror and tension it yields. It certainly helps that Naomi Scott delivers a career-defining performance, tackling so many layers of her character’s traumas with seemingly effortless ease.  It’s not just the sequel’s razor-sharp and inventive, gory scares that surpass its predecessor, but a profoundly complicated heroine shaping the edgier style of horror.

4. Exhuma

Exorcism horror, for the most part, remains beholden to tired tropes and outdated ideas on faith and religion that make it a tough sell these days. One surefire way to break from convention is by framing exorcisms through a different cultural lens. Writer/Director Jae-hyun Jang (Svaha: The Sixth Finger, The Priests) combines introspective cultural and historical themes with creepy, atmospheric horror told through a yin-and-yang style narrative structure. Exhuma uses a cursed grave to unleash supernatural terror and a potent folkloric examination of the dark history between Japan and Korea. The two distinct story halves highlight the stark contrast between cultures, modern society, and ancient customs without sacrificing the genre’s fun or scares in the process. It’s the type of horror movie that brings cultural depth and worldbuilding while featuring a behemoth samurai oni rampaging through a pig farm. This isn’t your typical exorcism horror movie; its gonzo physical manifestation of past historical trauma makes for one of the year’s biggest horror surprises.

3. Longlegs

It’s safe to say that few films captured the curiosity and attention of audiences this year quite like Oz Perkins’ latest, thanks to the enigmatic marketing behind it. The refusal to reveal much at all ahead of the film’s release also extends to Longlegs’ storytelling, which keeps things close to the vest as it centers on young FBI recruit Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) and her bid to uncover the identity of an elusive serial killer. Longlegs injects a true crime story with putrid Satanism and refuses to handhold, serving as a visceral rebuttal to society’s compulsive need to find logic in the most heinous of crimes. Nicolas Cage’s minimal screentime, combined with his shocking transformation as the eponymous killer, only fuels the film’s elusive, existentially horrifying quality. But it’s the way that evil is a constant, voyeuristic presence in Longlegs that unnerves most; a beastly Satan watches on from nearly every shadowed corner throughout. Yet, as foreboding and palpably evil as Longlegs is, it’s not without a sense of humor. It makes for Perkins’ most accessible horror film yet as well as his most downright unsettling. 

2. The Substance

There’s something remarkable about the way that writer/director Coralie Fargeat’s latest somehow surpasses her debut film Revenge in terms of gory carnage while racking up the accolades, garnering award nominations and a spot on the Oscars shortlist. Fargeat can barely contain her venom as she lambasts Hollywood’s unrealistic beauty standards that fester and, in turn, create vicious cycles of self-loathing. Yet it’s not without humor; there’s an almost whimsy to the insanity that plunges Demi Moore’s Elisabeth Sparkle into a destructive pattern of monstrous body horror in her attempts to stave off aging and forced retirement. The Substance exists in a heightened sense of reality that’s as hypnotic as off-putting, with a protracted finale that unleashes buckets of flesh and gore in Grand Guignol fashion, the precise type of gooey climax that would make Brian Yuzna proud. Fargeat helms with assured confidence, delivering a tactile visual feast for the senses and creating one of the year’s sharpest, most wickedly entertaining entries in horror. 

1. Nosferatu

There’s not a single facet of Nosferatu that doesn’t impress for the sheer artistry on display. Night scenes in Robert Eggers’ macabre masterpiece are re-envisioned as monochromatic nightmares, evocative of black and white gothic horror classics like F.W. Murnau’s seminal vampire tale. Craig Lathrop’s exquisite production design whisks audiences on a tactile, immersive journey filled with dread-inducing decrepit castles, a city torn asunder by plague, gypsy camps, and beyond. Robin Carolan’s triumphant score, combined with Damian Volpe’s unsettling sound design, ensures the twisted love triangle at the heart of this gothic horror movie repulses and delights in equal measure. Bill Skarsgård’s unrecognizable transformation as Count Orlok startles, but it’s Lily-Rose Depp’s mesmeric performance as Ellen, the outcast trapped on society’s margins and forced to become both victim and hero, that stuns. Productions on this scale are rare in horror, and Nosferatu is operatic and dramatic, bold and revolting, with a powerful final shot for the ages.

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Bill Skarsgård is playing Nosferatu/Count Orlok in the film, whose appearance has been hidden from the film’s marketing up to this point. And a new preview piece from Entertainment Weekly today suggests that will remain the case until the day of December 25, 2024.

According to the outlet, “Only when audiences arrive in theaters on premiere day this Christmas will the general public see the results of the full hair, make-up, and prosthetics.”

Entertainment Weekly also notes that the hiding of Nicolas Cage’s look in Longlegs by NEON’s marketing campaign “only confirmed that this was the right decision” for Nosferatu.

“I think the best way to discover Orlok is through the movie for the first time,” Bill Skarsgård tells Entertainment Weekly “The movie functions on that, as well. He lives in the shadows for a long time, and it teases the reveal of the character as the movie progresses.”

Co-star Willem Dafoe teases, “The only thing that I thought was really great and felt really fresh is he looks like he could have been from Romania as opposed to a suave English guy or something. He had a look that was rooted in historic accuracy and a folk tradition.”

Check out a gallery of new images below and learn more on Entertainment Weekly.

Nicholas Hoult, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Lily-Rose Depp also star in Robert Eggers’ big screen resurrection of the Nosferatu legend.

“Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.”

Eggers (The Witch, The Northman) directs and he wrote the script. Eggers also serves as a producer alongside Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus, Jeff Robinov, and John Graham. 

F.W. Murnau directed the original 1922 version of Nosferatu, while fellow German filmmaker Werner Herzog notably directed his own version of the classic tale back in 1979.

The 1922 silent movie followed the vampire Count Orlok, who wants to buy a house in Germany and becomes enamored with the real-estate agent’s wife. It was an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” which almost led to all copies being destroyed.

The post The ‘Nosferatu’ Marketing Campaign Will NOT Reveal the Title Character Until the Film’s Release appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Distributor NEON has announced today that they’ve launched an official “For Your Consideration” campaign in all categories, beginning the process of the Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe-starring Longlegs potentially finding itself on the Oscars stage next year!

NEON is campaigning for nominations in the following categories…

• Best Director – Osgood Perkins
• Best Original Screenplay – Osgood Perkins
• Best Actress – Maika Monroe
• Best Supporting Actor – Nicolas Cage
• Best Supporting Actor – Blair Underwood
• Best Supporting Actress – Alicia Witt
• and ALL OTHER CATEGORIES

A “For Your Consideration” campaign is always the first step in any given movie receiving Oscar nominations, but it’s important to note that it’s essentially a marketing campaign that distributors undertake in an effort to encourage voters to support their movie. It certainly does not guarantee any nominations, but it lets us know that NEON is gunning for them. And it helps put the movie back into the minds of voters who may have forgotten about it.

Of course, horror movies have historically been snubbed at the Oscars, so fans have come to expect that movies like Longlegs never have a shot of being nominated. But Nicolas Cage is already an Oscar winner for Leaving Las Vegas and an Oscar nominee for Adaptation, and that built-in respect from Oscar voters could go on a long way in at least getting Cage a nomination.

The Academy Awards air in March 2025. Stay tuned for more.

Let… him… in…

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Longlegs returns to theaters nationwide this October 23-October 31.

Check listings and grab your tickets now.

The theatrical re-release of Longlegs will feature an exclusive interview with director Osgood Perkins and a sneak peek of his upcoming Stephen King adaptation, The Monkey.

Hailed as the “scariest film of the year,” Longlegs was written and directed by Perkins and stars Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, and Nicolas Cage. To date, Longlegs has grossed an impressive $74 million at the U.S. box office, and over $108 million globally.

[Related] Did You Spot All 15+ Appearances of the Devil in ‘Longlegs’?

In Longlegs, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Nicolas Cage). 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 family.”

What’s next from Osgood Perkins? He’s actually got two new horror movies on the way, including Stephen King adaptation The Monkey and NEON’s Keeper starring Tatiana Maslany.

The post ‘Longlegs’ Returns to Theaters This Halloween With ‘The Monkey’ Sneak Peek appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Among the special features on the just-released physical media editions is a refreshingly forthright audio commentary by writer-director Osgood Perkins.

Here are nine things I learned from the Longlegs commentary track.

1. Perkins considers Longlegs a “pop horror movie.”

Perkins refers to the film as a “pop horror movie” several times in the commentary. “By that, I mean that it’s a horror movie that knows it’s a horror movie,” he explains. “There’s supposed to be sort of a modern quality to that.”

Referring to the opening credit sequence, he says “These big, red squares at the beginning of the movie feel ‘pop’ to me. Josef Albers is always an inspiration for things that are visual. Warhol. These big, red squares at the top of the picture felt sort of iconic and pointing to the horror genre in a way that’s about as simple as you can get, about as reduced as you can get.”

2. The film intentionally borrows from Silence of the Lambs.

Perkins intentionally borrowed familiar plot elements from Silence of the Lambs as a way to lull viewers into a false sense of security before introducing the occult angle.

“In keeping with the pop horror movie feeling or intention that we were using here, this is just Silence of the Lambs; using Silence of the Lambs as the way into the movie and making no bones about it, really. It’s not pretending to not be Silence of the Lambs. It’s sort of pretending to be Silence of the Lambs.”

Perkins later mentions, “I liked that I was sort of aping Silence of the Lambs. It felt like a good way into an otherwise pretty nontraditional movie.”

3. Other influences include Se7en and The Brood.

Speaking of his influences, Perkins expounds, “I don’t think there should be any shame or embarrassment or even self consciousness around borrowing or stealing or referencing or quoting. It’s all one big mess. We’re all just trying to get close to the source. As long as you’re stealing from the good stuff, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

He points out several nods, including purposefully drawing elements from Se7en and stealing young Lee Harker’s red snow jacket from David Cronenberg’s The Brood. He also refers to Harold and Maude, The Graduate, and My Own Private Idaho.

4. The snow in the opening scene was serendipitous.

Perkins notes that the opening shot, inspired by the drive up to his family’s home on Cape Cod where he spent his summers as a child, is a rare instance in which the final scene looks how he pictured it when writing.

“The snowy element here was one of these things that was meant to be. We had Nick Cage in the movie for two weeks.” He explains that Cage was originally supposed to start on a Monday but it got pushed to Tuesday at the last minute.

“Overnight on Monday, it snowed. It was the only time it snowed during the making of the movie, so we got this really pretty magnificent look on the day we needed it, and only on the day that we needed it.”

He also points out that visual effects were used to paint out footprints in the snow so it appeared clean after multiple takes.

5. Perkins and Cage both wanted T. Rex’s music in the film.

From an opening title card quoting the 1971 hit “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” to three needle drops, English rock band T. Rex is all over Longlegs. “This T. Rex song was always the song. Really early in the writing of the script, this was the song that I had in my mind,” says Perkins.

“I didn’t know anything about T. Rex until right around when I was writing this movie. It’s funny how these things happen and how they contribute to your understanding of the work you’re doing. The universe just gives you what it gives you.

“For whatever reason, I had watched this documentary called 1971 that was about that year in music and everything that happened. There was T. Rex. I had heard the name before but had never heard the music. Then I heard the music and I loved the music, and then it became something I was listening to all the time. And then it became part of the fabric of thought and the fabric of creation, and it works its way in.”

Upon his first meeting with Cage, Perkins discovered a bit of kismet. “I told Nick right up front, ‘It’s T. Rex.’ And he said, it’s the weirdest thing. He was just, the day before, talking to his son, who is learning how to play guitar, about T. Rex, about a backwards guitar solo in a song called ‘Cosmic Dancer.'”

6. Perkins makes a cameo in the film.

Before stepping behind the camera, Perkins began working in the industry as an actor, making his debut as young Norman Bates in Psycho II and going on to appear in the likes of Legally Blonde and Star Trek. In Longlegs, the filmmaker makes a brief, out-of-focus cameo on Ruth Harker’s bedroom TV.

“In pre-production in my office one night, we had a VHS camera and we dressed me up as a Heaven’s Gate-esque space-cult talking head weirdo. We got the VHS up on the tripod, we drank some beer, and we filmed me talking a bunch of nonsense about the universe.”

7. Longlegs was a Perkins family affair.

Perkins’ daughter, Beatrix, plays the teenage hardware store clerk accosted by Longlegs. “Came to Vancouver to do a little part in the movie and found herself one-on-one opposite Nicolas Cage,” he notes.

“Did she think it was a big deal to be opposite Nicolas Cage? I don’t think she thought of it that way. I think she just thought of it as something that was great to do. I made a point, of course, of showing my kids movies their whole lives. She knew Nicolas Cage probably from Raising Arizona, and this is a far cry from that,” he chuckles.

Several other family members were involved in the production: His brother, Elvis Perkins, composed the score under the pseudonym Zilgi. The song playing on the radio after Harker leaves Carter’s house is written and performed by Perkins’ wife, Melody Carrillo. Drawings by Perkins’ 3-year-old son, Tino, appear in Lee’s childhood bedroom.

8. The setting was changed to 1993 to avoid George Bush.

Agent Carter’s office prominently features a presidential portrait of Bill Clinton because Perkins changed the time the film takes place to avoid having to show George H.W. Bush.

“Originally it was written as 1992. I changed it to ’93 when I realized that it would have to be George Bush if it was ’92. We’d have to be looking at fucking pictures of George Bush all the time, so I just nudged it and you get Brother Bill in there instead.”

He also reveals that visual effects were used to add a Richard Nixon portrait in the Camera family house for flashbacks. “I thought it was funny, because we had so much Clinton, to put Nixon there.”

9. More fun facts!

• The upside-down triangle pattern was not part of the original script; it came at the suggestion of producer Dan Kagan to better coalescence the story. “He was totally right,” admits Perkins. “It’s one of the better parts of the movie.”
• Additional earrings that Monroe wore on the first day of shooting had to be removed by visual effects.
• Perkins kept the 1990 Crown Victoria driven by Agent Browning in the film.
• Kiernan Shipka’s voice as Carrie Anne Camera was pitched up in post-production to sound higher.
• Perkins refers to Cage as an encyclopedia of film knowledge, recalling that he was a fan of Monroe’s work in It Follows.

Longlegs is available now on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital.

The post 9 Things We Learned from the ‘Longlegs’ Commentary Track appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Here’s all the new horror that released Friday, August 23, 2024!

For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.

After passing $100 million at the worldwide box office, director Osgood Perkins’ hit horror movie Longlegs is now available at home for digital purchase ($24.99) and rental ($19.99).

Hailed as the “scariest film of the year,” Longlegs was written and directed by Perkins and stars Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, and Nicolas Cage.

[Related] Did You Spot All 15+ Appearances of the Devil in ‘Longlegs’?

In Longlegs, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Nicolas Cage). 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 family.”

Strong reviews and a whole lot of buzz here in the community are making Strange Darling a must see this weekend, and it’s now playing exclusively in theaters nationwide.

Stephen King calls the film from Magenta Light Studios “a clever masterpiece.”

“We are thrilled to be bringing nationwide theatrical audiences this unique and exceptional film with terrific performances by Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. This second feature from talented writer-director JT Mollner is destined to become a cult classic that defies conventional storytelling,” Magenta Light’s Bob Yari said in a recent statement.

Strange Darling is currently 96% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 72 reviews, one of which comes courtesy of Trace Thurman right here on Bloody Disgusting. Trace reviewed the film out of Fantastic Fest, giving the cat-and-mouse thriller a 3.5/5 star rating.

Trace writes, “Writer/director JT Mollner’s Strange Darling [is] a film that dares us to question the roles men and women are expected to play.” He goes on to say that the film ends up being “a smarter-than-you’d-expect entry into the cat and mouse thriller genre.”

Directed by Zoë Kravitz (The Batman), and formerly titled Pussy Island, MGM’s new horror-thriller Blink Twice was also released in theaters nationwide beginning today.

Naomi Ackie stars alongside Channing Tatum in Blink Twice, with the film’s impressive ensemble cast of familiar faces also including Kyle MacLachlan, Adria Arjona, Alia Shawkat, Simon Rex, Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, and Geena Davis.

In Blink Twice, “Tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala, and sparks fly. He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. It’s paradise. Wild nights blend into sun-soaked days and everyone’s having a great time.

“No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality. There is something wrong with this place. She’ll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.” Kravitz wrote the script alongside E.T. Feigenbaum.

Heather Graham unleashes fury in the wild west in the horror-western Place of Bones, which has released in select theaters as well as Digital outlets at home beginning today.

“On a remote ranch, a mother (Graham) and her daughter fight for survival when a wounded outlaw seeking refuge brings a notorious bank robber and his ruthless gang, all desperate to reclaim a stolen fortune, right to their doorstep in this action-packed horror Western.”

Tom Hopper (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (The Equalizer 2), and Corin Nemec (The Stand, “Stargate SG-1”) star alongside Graham.

Place of Bones was directed by Audrey Cummings (She Never Died) and written by Richard Taylor. The cinematography is by Andrzej Sekula, whose credits include American Psycho and Pulp Fiction. The film is produced by David Lipper and Robert A. Daly Jr under their Latigo Films banner.

The latest feature from The Adams Family (Hellbender, Where the Devil Roams), the gross-out body horror creature feature Hell Hole debuted exclusively on Shudder today.

In Hell Hole, “an American-led fracking crew working deep in the Serbian wilderness find themselves at odds with government assigned environmental advisors. When they get approval to drill, the workers uncover the unimaginable: a dormant parasitic monster entombed deep in the frozen rock. Awakened, it tears through the mining facility in search of the perfect host.”

John Adams, Toby Poser, and Lulu Adams penned the script. John Adams and Toby Poser direct.

The film stars Toby Poser, John Adams, Max Portham (Where the Devil Roams), Olivera Peruničić (Subspecies V: Blood Rise), Anders Hove (Subspecies I-V, The Boss of it All) Aleksandar Trmčić, Petar Arsić (Subspecies V: Blood Rise), Bruno Veljanovski (Eight Eyes), Marko Vučković (Subspecies V: Blood Rise), Joana Knežević and Ivan Đorđević.

What’s a creature feature without creature effects? Hell Hole boasts even more impressive talent on that front. The film’s creature effects were created by a 35-year veteran of monster and prosthetic make-up effects, Todd Masters (“From,” Child’s Play), and his studio MASTERSFX, with Trey Lindsay of Moondog Pictures (Hellbender, Where the Devil Roams) overseeing visual effects and the Serbian-based studio Cinergy FX (Hellraiser) contributing additional gore and make-up effects.

While Disney’s Alien: Romulus plays up on the big screen, you knew it was only a matter of time before The Asylum unleashed their own knockoff movie. Alien: Rubicon is out now.

You’ll find the “mockbuster” movie on VOD outlets now.

In The Asylum’s latest, “An alien spacecraft lands in the ocean just off the coast of New York and effortlessly destroys everything in the area without moving. The military investigates as the spacecraft heads inland, destroying everything around it with ease. We figure out that it’s a probe, sent EXPRESSLY to let us throw everything we’ve got at it while it heads directly for Washington D.C. If it reaches our Capital, it’ll destroy it and send a signal to the rest of their species to come down and destroy the rest of the planet.

“Everything we throw at the ship fails, and it’s up to our scientists and military to figure out how to stop the unstoppable before it’s too late.”

Michael Paré stars alongside Preston Geer, Paul Logan, Neeley Dayan, Vinney Pugliese, and Tammy Klein. Adrian Avila directed Alien: Rubicon, written by Glenn Campbell.

A fresh new take on the iconic comic book tale with Bill Skarsgård (IT) taking over the titular role, The Crow is now playing in theaters nationwide courtesy of Lionsgate.

From director Rupert Sanders, Skarsgård leads the cast of The Crow, with FKA Twigs co-starring in the reboot. Danny Huston (30 Days of Night) also stars, alongside Laura Birn (Foundation), Sami Bouajila (A Son), and Jordan Bolger (The Woman King).

In the new movie, “Soulmates Eric (Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA Twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.”

Zach Baylin (King Richard) and Will Schneider wrote the script, with the new movie of course based on James O’Barr’s original graphic novel that spawned a previous film franchise.

After a successful run on the festival circuit, found footage sci-fi horror film Hostile Dimensions unleashes multiverse madness on VOD outlets at home from Dark Sky Films.

Hostile Dimensions is a twist-filled film from writer/director Graham Hughes, whose previous film Death of a Vlogger was a FrightFest hit in 2019 and garnered critical acclaim.

Hughes also stars in the film, alongside Annabel Logan.

Hostile Dimensions tells of “two documentary filmmakers who decide to investigate the disappearance of a graffiti artist who seemingly ‘vanished’. As they delve deeper into their research, they encounter an ominous freestanding door which leads them on a dark journey through the dimensions behind it. Determined to uncover the truth the pair soon realise they have stumbled across something far more terrifying than they could have ever imagined.”

Body-snatching aliens attempt to navigate love in the modern world in genre-bending comedy The Becomers, which begins its extremely limited theatrical run this weekend.

The film will open in New York on August 23 at Cinema Village, in Los Angeles on August 30 at Lumiere Music Hall, and in Chicago on September 13 at Music Box Theatre, with filmmaker Q&As and further cities and dates to be announced. It hits VOD at home on September 24.

In The Becomers: “Dropped to Earth and escaping their dying planet, the two extraterrestrials (played by a sequence of actors) seek each other out —jumping from body to body— on our planet while becoming increasingly drawn into the madness of modern-day America.”

Written, directed, and edited by Zach Clark (Little Sister), the film was shot in Chicago and stars Molly Plunk (Little Sister, Profane), Mike Lopez (All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, Crimes Against Humanity), Frank V. Ross (Drinking Buddies), Isabel Alamin, and Keith Kelly, and features the voice Russell Mael, lead singer of the explosive pop-rock band Sparks.

The Becomers is produced by Joe Swanberg (Depraved, The Rental), and Edwin Linker (Saint Frances, Queen of Earth) of Slasher Films.

The post Friday, August 23 – These NINE New Horror Movies Released Today appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Longlegs will be available for digital purchase and rental August 23, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD featuring bonus materials, including on-set interviews with cast and crew and feature commentary with writer/director Osgood Perkins, starting September 24.

Hailed as the “scariest film of the year,” Longlegs was written and directed by Perkins and stars Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, and Nicolas Cage. To date, Longlegs has grossed an impressive $71 million at the U.S. box office, and over $100 million globally.

[Related] Did You Spot All 15+ Appearances of the Devil in ‘Longlegs’?

In Longlegs, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Nicolas Cage). 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 family.”

What’s next from Osgood Perkins? He’s actually got two new horror movies on the way, including Stephen King adaptation The Monkey and NEON’s Keeper starring Tatiana Maslany.

The post ‘Longlegs’ Heads Home to Digital This Friday and Physical Media in September appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

First reported by Variety today, Longlegs just passed $100 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest grossing indie movie – horror or otherwise – of 2024 so far!

Variety notes, “With a gross of $72 million in the U.S. and Canada and a total $100 million at the global box office, it’s also the top-grossing R-rated horror film of 2024.”

The only other horror movie to pass $100 million at the worldwide box office this year is A Quiet Place: Day One, which is currently sitting at a whopping $260 million worldwide.

Perkins’ Longlegs is also officially the highest grossing indie horror movie of the past ten years at the United States box office, a milestone it actually hit a few weeks back.

The film’s reported production budget was around $10 million, so Longlegs is turning a huge profit for distributor NEON. Domestically, it’s their highest grossing movie of all time.

No word yet on an at-home release for Longlegs. Stay tuned.

[Related] Did You Spot All 15+ Appearances of the Devil in ‘Longlegs’?

In Longlegs, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Nicolas Cage). 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 family.”

What’s next from Osgood Perkins? He’s actually got two new horror movies on the way, including Stephen King adaptation The Monkey and NEON’s Keeper starring Tatiana Maslany.

The post ‘Longlegs’ Just Passed $100 Million at the Worldwide Box Office appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

From August 1st to August 4th, fans born on the 14th of any month can head to Atom and follow the instructions for their promo code to secure one free ticket per customer, while supplies last. This exclusive offer is available for any showtime of Longlegs during these dates.

Longlegs, which has been called one of the “scariest films of the year,” is written and directed by Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, The Monkey), and stars Maika Monroe (It Follows, They Follow), Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, and Nicolas Cage.

In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.

Longlegs has earned over $70 million worldwide since its historic opening on July 12th and has surpassed Parasite to become NEON’s highest grossing film of all time. Longlegs is the top grossing R-rated horror film of 2024, and in its third week of release has become the highest grossing indie horror film of the last ten years at the United States box office.

All tickets now on sale at: atm.tk/longlegsbday or in the Atom Tickets app.

The post ‘Longlegs’ Offering Free Tickets to Anyone Born On the 14th of Any Month! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Longlegs is now the third highest grossing horror movie of the year at the worldwide box office, behind A Quiet Place: Day One ($253 million) and Exhuma ($97 million), and it’s also hit a huge milestone for indie horror. Deadline reports that NEON’s Longlegs is now officially the highest grossing indie horror movie of the past ten years at the United States box office!

Deadline reports, “Now in week 3, the Osgood Perkins pic is also the top grossing R-rated horror of 2024 and the highest grossing indie horror film of the last ten years, topping A24’s Talk To Me, Insidious Chapter 3 from Universal’s Focus, and A24’s Hereditary.”

The film’s reported production budget was around $10 million, so Longlegs is already turning a huge profit for distributor NEON. Domestically, it’s their highest grossing movie of all time.

[Related] Did You Spot All 15+ Appearances of the Devil in ‘Longlegs’?

In Longlegs, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Nicolas Cage). 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 family.”

What’s next from Osgood Perkins? He’s actually got two new horror movies on the way, including Stephen King adaptation The Monkey and NEON’s Keeper starring Tatiana Maslany.

The post ‘Longlegs’ Now the Highest Grossing Indie Horror Movie of Last 10 Years at U.S. Box Office appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Maybe it’s Nicolas Cage’s bloodcurdling transformation into the titular Manson-esque killer that sets you on edge. Or perhaps it’s the grisly murders he enacts, the recurring motif of sinister eyes peering out from the shadows, those hidden devils that are artfully concealed in the frame, or the lingering cinematography that gives you an unshakable feeling that something dreadful could happen at any moment. Whatever causes you to squirm, there’s no denying that Longlegs is filled with all kinds of unsettling imagery.

However, those visuals are only one half of the chilling equation here, with the audio doing a lot of heavy lifting of its own. Indeed, while Eugenio Battaglia’s sound design might not be as attention-grabbing as, say, Cage’s gonzo performance or the striking violence that’s peppered throughout the movie, it still does an excellent job of subtly worming its way into your brain, in a way that feels almost violating. Much like the dolls that Longlegs uses to spread his malign influence across the United States.

To find out more about how he pulled off this psychological assault on your senses, we sat down with Battaglia for an exclusive interview. Among other things, we learned how he covertly smuggled hidden messages into the soundtrack, how he imbued Nic Cage with a sense of rock star “Glam” during his (characteristically memeable) singing scenes, and why he thinks you haven’t truly experienced the movie until you’ve seen it at home.

Bloody Disgusting: I want to start by congratulating you on the film. Not only has it clearly resonated with audiences but, when it comes to your contributions specifically, it’s one of those rare instances where the audio makes just as big an impression as the visuals.

Eugenio Battaglia: Thank you very much!

BD: So, my first question is: How did you come up with the disturbing soundscape of Longlegs? Was Oz Perkins prescriptive about what he wanted, or did he give you free rein to do your own thing?

EB: You know, Oz wasn’t too [explicit] about what he did want from the sound. Instead, he gave me a few restrictions and named the things that he didn’t want. Which is really appreciated direction actually. As a sound designer, you have so many options at your disposal, and it can become quite overwhelming trying to decide which tools to use.

Yet when some of those choices are removed for you, it does help with the creative process. The limitations force you to think outside of the box if you know what I mean.

BD: And what parameters did he give you exactly?

EB: Oz wanted it to feel like something was being transmitted or “projected” onto your brain. Similar to what is happening with the main character [Agent Lee Harker]. But he wanted me to accomplish that without resorting to any obvious, on-the-nose techniques. Then he also mentioned that he wanted the movie to have this sort of Rock n’ Roll vibe. Considering about those two stipulations, I thought: “Maybe the whole thing could play like a ‘70s record!”

And, following that train of thought, I then bought this 360-mic and started messing around with the windscreen: using towels, bowls and stuff like that. It produced this hypnotic crackling sound [like one you might hear on a vinyl] that you can trace throughout the film. And from there I also started experimenting with subliminals.

BD: That segues neatly into my next question. I’ve read there are some secret audio effects here that have been reversed, in a manner reminiscent of backmasking. Presumably, that’s another way you’ve tried to make the soundtrack here evoke a creepy old record, like those ones that are supposed to have hidden satanic messages.

EB: Yeah, that’s true! I’ve watched the movie in reverse myself and those [cues] aren’t super obvious to be honest. But you can definitely make out some things if you listen closely enough.

All I did was grab the mic and whispered these sinister things as if I were Longlegs. I’d call out “Harker,” for instance, and I also did some funny stuff like murmuring: “Give us good reviews!” A lot of that was then reversed and played over the quick flashes of disturbing imagery that you see intermittently throughout the movie. You know, those bits that sound like Sauron’s [Black Speech] from The Lord of the Rings. That’s all me!

Probably the most prominent example of reversed audio that you can hear, however, is a pair of recordings, one of myself and another of a priest, reciting the Lord’s Prayer. They’re used over the montage of Harker pouring through the files. I searched “How to summon a demon” and apparently doing the Lord’s Prayer backwards is the top result!

BD: If they’re so inclined, will people be able to hear that when the film is available to watch from home and they scrub through it in reverse? Or have other effects been added to make the recordings even less recognisable?

EB: I am pretty certain you will be able to make out the Lord’s Prayer at least. The other thing you might notice isn’t even vocal, but it’s still a huge part of the soundtrack.

There’s an effect I call “The Hell Heartbeat” which pulsates throughout the whole movie, as if it is calling out to Lee. That one is just a [backwards] recording of me stomping up and down my stairs at home, layered with a bit of Foley. If you reverse the film, you can definitely tell that’s what you are hearing.

BD: That’s really cool! Another thing that stood out to me is that it’s a very quiet flick. There are long stretches of dead silence where no one is talking, where there’s little in the way of background ambience, and where music is conspicuously absent.

EB: Yes.

BD: Fortunately for me, everyone in my screening was locked in, but that’s still a pretty big risk to take, isn’t it? Having it be so subdued when horror multiplex audiences are known for being rowdy.

EB: Oh, I was super worried about that! I went to see Immaculate and The First Omen recently and, in both cases, the experience was ruined by other audience members just being disrespectful. All around me, people were on their phones, they were talking, and they were making fun of what was happening on screen. I remember one teenager even had headphones on and was listening to something else entirely. I was like: “Holy crap! How short can your attention span possibly be?”

After those experiences, I was kind of terrified about the implications it had for Longlegs. I was thinking: “Oh my god, are people going to be talking all the way through our movie?”

Luckily, the couple of times I’ve been to see it that hasn’t happened. I guess there’s enough tension to keep people off their phones. Which is a huge win for me. But you’re right, it was totally a gamble to have it be so quiet in the first place. It could have easily backfired.

BD: And was it your decision to take that risk or did the direction come from Oz?

EB: Everything related to sound was in my creative control, yes, but the director is the one who makes the ultimate call when it comes to approving the final mix. I think, in this case, it was just a coincidence that Oz and I have similar tastes. I’d obviously seen his previous works and was a huge fan of The Blackcoat’s Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House. So, I knew he was into his quieter, more subdued stuff and approached it with that style in mind.

Like him, I want you to be able to hear the details of every individual floorboard creek and footstep. I don’t want them drowned out by music or ambient noise.

From a horror perspective, that quiet also lulls you into a false sense of security and makes you vulnerable to the next big hit. There aren’t many [jolts] in Longlegs but that only makes the couple we did sneak in all the more effective.

BD: Yeah, it’s pretty light on jump scares isn’t it? How did that impact your work as a sound designer?

EB: It was all about me doing my own thing and my primary focus was the mind control element. Strangely enough, one of my biggest influences in that respect was actually ASMR. I wanted to try and distil the hypnotic effect that people get from that; only here it is much less relaxing and far more unsettling!

Oz was also very adamant about not doing those horror tropes like jump scares. He loves the genre but doesn’t watch many contemporary releases. He just has zero interest. As such, he doesn’t really give you any horror reference points to try and emulate. Instead, he likes to make his films rich on other, outside influences –

BD: Like rock n’ roll?

EB: Exactly! He always emphasized that this was, at its core, a rock n’ roll movie and a story about mothers. But he never once labelled it “horror” or mentioned the Devil when describing what he was going for. Which made me tackle things in an altogether different way.

BD: Do you have any examples of how his unusual steer influenced the direction you took?

EB: One that springs immediately to mind is that the movie is full of gongs because of what Oz said! [The T-Rex track] Bang a Gong is quite a big part of Longlegs as you’ll know. The film opens with a quote from its lyrics and then ends with it playing over the credits. So, I thought it made sense to include a bunch of gong sounds throughout. I then reversed these, and it resulted in a strange humming noise that [characterises] the frequency of those metal ball bearings inside the dolls.

In the end, I found this cool electric guitar and I pitched it to [Nick’s] voice whenever he’s going into that super high register. It makes it sound like he’s tapping into some crazy satanic vibe.

BD: As we just discussed, I had the privilege of watching this in a cinema with near-perfect conditions. Over the speakers, I could hear every ambient hum and ominous whisper. But I’m curious if that’s the target audience you have in mind when you’re putting together the audio mix for a film nowadays, or if you have to cater more to those watching at home or on streaming?

EB: I definitely think about the TV, but it’s the last thing I do. In music, we have this thing called “the car test” [whereby recordists use the sound system of a car radio to do a final pass on their track, making sure it works in every possible environment]. For me, working in the film industry, the equivalent of that is “the TV test.”

The thing is, I personally love watching movies with headphones. To me, that’s the optimal experience. You get great surround, base frequencies and dynamics. So, I kind of develop my mixes with that in mind.

With Longlegs, a lot of the stuff that I recorded on my mic [like rubbing the windscreen with a towel or the reversed whispering] are stereo effects. You can only truly appreciate that with headphones on, as it makes those noises sound like they are enveloping you and coming from behind.

BD: I’ve gotta say, I think that would be unbearably tense. Watching this film alone at night, with your creepy audio being piped directly into my ear, would be pure nightmare fuel.

EB: That’s what I mean! These horror films can work on the big screen for sure — Paranormal Activity scared the shit out of me in the theater — but they can be absolutely heart-stopping when you’ve got headphones on.

And I think that’s true of Longlegs. It really is a whole new experience if you listen to our movie with headphones. I’m stoked for people to have that opportunity when it releases at home.

The post The Hell Heartbeat: ‘Longlegs’ Sound Designer Eugenio Battaglia Reveals Hidden Messages & More [Interview] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

On that note, they’ve uploaded a video this afternoon titled “Fire Fire Fire, Hiss – A Song from Longlegs,” which is creepily described as being “the last known musical recording by Dale Ferdinand Kobble before the voices took over.” That’s the character played by Nicolas Cage in the film, who becomes known by the moniker he signs his work with: “Longlegs.”

The three-minute recording sees Cage singing in character as Dale Ferdinand Kobble/Longlegs, and it’s as unsettling as you’re probably expecting. Give it a listen down below…

[Related] Did You Spot All 15+ Appearances of the Devil in ‘Longlegs’?

The serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The post NEON Releases a Haunting Musical Recording from Nicolas Cage as ‘Longlegs’ [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The company has revealed that Perkins hid “more than 15 appearances of the Devil” in Longlegs, with the nightmarish shadow figure lurking in the background of many key scenes.

To give you a bit of a helping hand, NEON has uploaded a video (below) that points out a small handful of these creepy appearances, leaving you to discover the rest for yourself.

Maybe it’s time to go see Longlegs again. This time, look closer…

The serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The post Did You Spot All 15+ Appearances of the Devil in ‘Longlegs’? [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Longlegs Vinyl Soundtrack from Mutant

Longlegs’ foreboding synth score is available on vinyl from Mutant. It’s composed by Zilgi, the pseudonym of writer-director Oz Perkins’ brother, Elvis Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter).

The album is pressed on 140-gram red and black smoke colored vinyl. It’s housed inside a jacket designed by Greg Ruth with an insert and a surprise envelope. Priced at $40, it’s scheduled for release on September 28.

Michael Myers Doll from Living Dead Dolls

Michael Myers has previously received the Living Dead Doll treatment based on John Carpenter’s and Rob Zombie’s visions. Now The Shape’s eye-bleeding appearance from Halloween II is joining the clan.

The 10.5″ doll features five points of articulation and comes with a knife accessory. Slashing into homes in November, it costs $49.99.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones (My Heart is a Chainsaw, The Only Good Indians) will publish The Buffalo Hunter Hunter on Match 18 via Saga Press.

The 496-page historical horror novel is described as “an American Indian revenge story” set in the Old West of 1912. Presented as a series of interviews, it follows a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire that haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.

Elvira Pop from Funko

Funko has created several different Elvira figures over the years, but this one may be the crown jewel.

The deluxe Pop Ride features the Mistress of the Dark alongside her dog, Gonk, in her signature Macabre Mobile. Shipping in August, it costs $24.99.

The Chronicles of Riddick 4K UHD from Arrow Video

The Chronicles of Riddick lands on 4K Ultra HD on September 24 via Arrow Video with artwork by Dan Mumford. Two cuts of the 2004 sci-fi action film have been newly restored in 4K with Dolby Vision.

Writer-director David Twohy returns to helm the sequel to 2000’s Pitch Black. Vin Diesel stars with Thandiwe Newton, Karl Urban, Alexa Davalos, Colm Feore, Keith David, and Judi Dench.

The three-disc set includes the 119-minute theatrical cut, the 135-minute director’s cut, the theatrical version in an alternate 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and a booklet with writing on the film by Walter Chaw, production notes, and the Chronicles Compendium.

Special features include: commentary by Twohy and Diesel; commentary by Twohy, Urban, and Davelos; Ambition on Another Scale: Chronicling a Blockbuster Sequel, a new documentary with Twohy, David, actor Linus Roache, storyboard artist Brian Murray, and more; new interviews with Twohy, David, and Murray; deleted scenes; various archival featurettes and interviews; and more.

For more merch madness, peruse the Killer Collectibles archives. You can also visit Broke Horror Fan.

The post 5 of This Week’s Coolest Horror Collectibles Including the ‘Longlegs’ Soundtrack on Vinyl appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

NEON released Longlegs into 2,510 theaters here in the United States over the weekend, and the acclaimed horror movie scared up a hugely impressive $22.6 million at the box office!

That gives Longlegs the highest grossing opening weekend for an original horror movie this year, far surpassing the $11.7 million opening of Blumhouse’s Night Swim earlier this year.

It’s also the highest opening for a NEON release in the company’s history, blowing away the headline-worthy $5.3 million opening of their movie Immaculate earlier this year.

To put into perspective how big of a win this is, the $22.6 million opening of Longlegs far exceeds even the highest opening for an A24 horror movie – Hereditary with $13.5 million.

Additionally, Discussing Film notes that Longlegs had the “biggest opening for an independent horror film in a decade,” further establishing NEON as box office horror masters.

The film’s reported production budget was around $10 million, so Longlegs will already be reaching profitability in a matter of days. This is a MASSIVE win for the horror genre at large, and it’s quite frankly a game-changer for independent horror as well as online-targeted movie marketing as a whole. Everyone in Hollywood is taking notes right now, that’s for damn sure.

The serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The post ‘Longlegs’ Scores Highest Opening Weekend for an Original Horror Movie This Year appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Stream the episode below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, and Chucky. This year? Alien.

You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for even more hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Darkman) and one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Poltergeist, Manhunter, Phantasm). Each month promises something new and unexpected from the wildest corners of the genre.

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Much like the marketing, Longlegs plays it close to the vest as it follows young FBI recruit Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), whose uncanny sense of intuition draws the attention of the tenured Agent Carter (Blair Underwood). Harker is so naturally gifted that Carter pulls the agent into his ongoing investigation of serial killer Longlegs (an unrecognizable Nicolas Cage), a demented figure so elusive that the trail to catch him has gone cold. The more that Harker makes headway on the case, though, the stranger things get as Longlegs takes notice of her pursuit. It sets both on a collision course filled with grisly crime scenes and unspeakable evil.

Oz Perkins unmoors Longlegs from time and reality in a way that intentionally disorients, contributing to a pervading and suffocating sense of dread and foreboding. Small details, like a portrait of Bill Clinton hung behind Agent Carter’s desk, give a general feeling of the era, but the sepia hues and vintage aesthetic speak more to Longlegs’ lengthy history with murder spanning multiple decades, so much so that the killer feels otherworldly. That’s further helped by Nicolas Cage’s most unsettling performance yet. Perkins refreshingly keeps this curious character as enigmatic and elusive as possible, giving only glimpses into the killer’s machinations and treating him more as a peculiar boogeyman. It makes the short bursts of Cage’s eerie freakouts all the more impactful and unnerving. 

Cage is operating in rare, depraved form, but the entire cast is firing on all cylinders. Underwood infuses his character with enough warmth and savvy to balance Monroe’s socially awkward, closed-off Lee, helping humanize the prickly protagonist as he mentors her. Alicia Witt is also in rare form as Lee’s mom, a disturbed hoarder who reminds Lee to keep up her prayers. Lee shrugs her mother’s prodding off, but the increasingly oppressive atmosphere suggests that perhaps she should listen.

It’s not just the grainy vintage look, the eerie sound design, and moody color palette that contributes to Perkins’ ability to capture the essence of evil on screen so well. It’s in the subtle, almost subliminal imagery that’s constantly present. Almost imperceptible silhouettes and demonic forms are lurking in the background in scenes. Voyeuristic shadowed figures or inhuman eyes linger just enough to catch your notice before fading quietly into the ether.

Lee’s bid to thwart Longlegs builds to a suitably insane finale, with no shortage of grotesque and shocking violence along the way. Violence that is rendered more effective thanks to the skin-crawling tone that Perkins sets from the outset. Longlegs injects a true crime story with putrid Satanism and refuses to handhold, serving as a visceral rebuttal to society’s compulsive need to find logic in the most heinous of crimes. Evil simply exists, and in Longlegs, it’s everywhere, watching and biding its time while reveling in the carnage its presence wreaks.

Longlegs is as stylish as it is timeless, dripping with claustrophobic dread and rot.

Longlegs releases in theaters on July 12, 2024.

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published on June 10, 2024.

The post ‘Longlegs’ Review – Oz Perkins’ Latest Gets Under Your Skin and Festers Like a Putrid Nightmare appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Here’s all the new horror releasing July 8, 2024 – July 14, 2024!

For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.

Russell Crowe (The Pope’s Exorcist) stars in the new possession horror movie The Exorcism, which Vertical brought to Digital at home this week. You can rent the film for $19.99.

Joshua John Miller, who wrote 2015’s The Final Girls and also starred in films including Near Dark and And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird, directed The Exorcism.

Joshua John Miller also wrote the script with M.A. Fortin (The Final Girls). This one is personal for Miller, as his late father was the star of the best possession movie ever made.

“The Exorcism follows Anthony Miller (Crowe), a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.”

Sam Worthington (Avatar: The Way of Water), Chloe Bailey (Praise This), Adam Goldberg (The Equalizer) and David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) also star.

Of particular note, Kevin Williamson (Scream, Sick) produced The Exorcism.

A young girl is the first to hit puberty among her friends in the coming-of-age horror story Tiger Stripes, and the Malay-language body horror film just came to VOD this Tuesday.

Tiger Stripes is written and directed by Amanda Nell Eu, marking her directorial debut. The film’s unique approach to horror has been compared to Carrie and Ginger Snaps.

“The first amongst her friends to hit puberty, Zaffan, 12, discovers a terrifying secret about her body. Ostracised by her community, Zaffan fights back, learning that to be free she must embrace the body she feared, emerging as a proud, strong woman.”

Zafreen Zairizal, Deena Ezral, Piqa, Shaheizy Sam, Jun Lojong, Khairunazwan Rodzy, and Fatimah Abu Bakar star.

Say your prayers for Thine Ears Shall Bleed, a chillingly haunting new horror that sees a minister and his family experience unholy terror in the wilds of the American West.

Director Ben Bigelow’s feature debut hit VOD on Tuesday.

“It’s the 1860s and a religious family are travelling across the western states in a covered wagon. Ezekiel (Andrew Hovelson) and Sarah (Hannah Cabell), along with their children Abigail (Lea Zawada) and Luke (Duke Huston), hear a mysterious sound from the woods, which they believe to be a calling from God.

“They begin to worship it… but it’s not long before their faith turns to unimaginable terror. What they believed to be divine is far more sinister and they soon realise that they’ve welcomed an ungodly presence into their lives. Will their faith in the almighty deliver them from evil?”

Broadway legend Rob Evan (Les Miserables, Jekyll and Hyde) stars in his first on-screen role in the horror movie Dead Whisper, another indie film that hit VOD on Tuesday.

Evan portrays The Historian, a character who ages 100 years rapidly throughout the film.

Dead Whisper follows Elliot Campbell, a grieving Cape Cod lawyer, who is led to a mysterious island where he faces the ultimate temptation—a reunion with his deceased daughter at the peril of his soul. The film asks the haunting question: What would you do to see a loved one again?

Director Conor Soucy’s film drew inspiration from classic horror films include Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining, and it’s said to “blend classic and contemporary horror aesthetics.”

Pro wrestler David “Gangrel” Heath stars in the vampire movie The After Dark from director Tom Devlin, and the movie made its premiere on free service Tubi on Tuesday.

The After Dark is the story of two warring clans of Vampires and what happens when one jumps clans from the stuffy old world to the fun punk rock nightlife.

“It’s Lost Boys vs. Interview with a Vampire. It’s filled with punk rock music, youth gone wild elements, and just a touch of Buffy,” Devlin said in an official statement.

The film stars David Heath as the leader of the old world, Vigo, alongside Sinn Bohdi. After 30 years of experience being the vampire Gangrel in WWF, WCW, ECW, WWE, and AEW this is Heath’s first time both playing a lead role and vampire in a feature film.

Director Gino McKoy describes Lumina as a film that explores “the psychological effect of losing someone to an alien abduction,” and it’s coming to select theaters Friday, July 12.

“A terrifying sci-fi thrill ride, Lumina follows four friends desperately searching for their abductee friend in a DEEP UNDERGROUND MILITARY BASE.

“Whether they find their friend or not, what they find in the desert of the US to the sands of the Sahara, will change their lives forever.”

Gino McKoy leads a cast that includes Eric Roberts, Rupert Lazarus, Eleanor Williams, Andrea Tivadar, Sidney Nicole Rogers, Ken Lawson, and Emily Hall.

The always entertaining Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead, Nightmare Cinema, Pooka Lives!) is back with The Inheritance, which hits select theaters and VOD on July 12.

In the film, “On the eve of his 75th birthday, billionaire Charles Abernathy invites his estranged children back home out of fear that tonight someone or something is going to kill him. He puts each of their inheritances on the line, to ensure they’ll help keep him alive.”

Peyton List (School Spirits), David Walton (New Girl), Rachel Nichols (P2), Austin Stowell (A Friend Of The Family), and Bob Gunton (The Shawshank Redemption) star.

Chris LaMont and Joe Russo (Nightmare Cinema) wrote the screenplay.

The hype is off the charts for NEON’s new horror movie Longlegs, which arrives in theaters beginning TONIGHT, July 11. The acclaimed nightmare starring Nicolas Cage as a terrifying serial killer is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers,” and early reviews have favorably compared the film to the classic ’90s thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

The serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The post 8 New Horror Movies Releasing This Week Including ‘Longlegs’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

For the past decade, Maikia Monroe has been reinventing the horror genre and her own cinematic legacy one complex role at a time. The California girl who once dreamed of a career as a professional kite-surfer, excels in the juxtaposition of vulnerability and strength and often plays meek characters who eventually find empowerment. Though every horror fan has their favorite Maika Monroe performance, the star is known for more than a single role or particular subgenre. This month sees the accomplished actress tackle the police procedural in Longlegs, a psychological thriller with a satanic core. Already being praised as her best performance to date, Monroe draws from a long list of relatable heroines that have made her one of the genre’s most beloved and versatile Scream Queens.

It Follows (2014)

Monroe made her film debut alongside genre royalty with a background role in the 2012 Piper Laurie vehicle Bad Blood. Having taken the job on a whim, Monroe turned her eyes from the sea to the screen and fell in love with the transformational power of acting. Two years later, she would become an overnight star with the lead in David Robert Mitchell’s harrowing It Follows. Regarded as a stand-out film of the new millennium, this terrifying tale falls somewhere between a rape-revenge narrative and a haunting creature feature. Monroe is Jay, a woman plagued by a sexually transmitted ghost that follows wherever she goes. With the ability to look like anyone and everyone, this shape-shifting entity pursues her relentlessly one step at a time, hellbent on tearing her body apart. The only way to survive is either to endlessly run or pass the curse on by sleeping with someone else. Monroe’s vulnerable performance in a challenging role allowed survivors of sexual assault to see their pain reflected onscreen while displaying the lasting effects of emotional trauma. Though intentionally ordinary in her quiet relatability, Jay’s strength lies in finding the courage to connect with other people rather than succumbing to the darkness of isolation and shame.

The Guest (2014)

That same year, Monroe starred in The Guest, an action horror film from Adam Wingard. The film follows David (Dan Stevens), an discharged soldier who visits the family of his fallen friend. Despite a jaw-dropping performance from the talented Stevens, Monroe steals the show as Anna, a restless twenty-year-old trying to move on with her life. Though initially suspicious, she warms up to the dashing soldier after a fight with her boyfriend. But a call to the local recruitment center reveals that the mysterious guest staying in the next room is not who he claims to be. With his secret revealed, David unleashes his violent power on anyone who tries to stand in his way and the rebellious Anna must do what she can to save what’s left of her fractured family. The Guest is known for its fun action sequences including a bloody battle in a Halloween funhouse, but under this action-packed surface lies a touching story about trauma and loss with Monroe’s Anna shouldering much of the emotional burden. These dual breakout performances not only made Monroe one of the most sought-after actresses in horror, but allowed her to avoid the dreaded pitfalls of typecasting. With two strong characters who find empowerment through different paths, Monroe displayed her unique ability to capture the audience’s heart no matter what situation she finds herself in.

Greta (2018)

After a series of mainstream fare including the blockbuster sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, the sci-fi nightmare Tau, and Michelle Schumacher’s imaginative drama I’m Not Here, Maika returned to the world of horror with a pair of bizarre films that defy classification. In Neil Jordan’s Greta, she stars alongside French icon Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz – arguably a scream queen in her own right. Monroe plays Erica, the best friend of a woman targeted by a sadistic female stalker. At first blush, Greta (Huppert) appears to be a harmless older woman in need of companionship, but her burgeoning friendship with Erica’s roommate Frances (Moretz) soon takes a horrific turn. The film is a unique blend of buddy comedy, chick flick, and psychological thriller that sees Monroe elevate what could easily be a stereotypical role. More than a cinematic device to amplify the terror, Erica becomes an avenger who will stop at nothing to rescue her friend – even if it means stepping into the fire herself.

Villains (2019)

The following year, Monroe would star as an outlaw with a heart of gold in an equally nebulous film opposite one of Hollywood’s reigning Scream Kings. Villains, a dark comedy horror from Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, pairs Monroe with Bill Skarsgård on the heels of his successful reimagining of Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Andy Muschietti’s It. With the cops on their tail, bank robbers Ruth (Monroe) and Mickey (Skarsgård) break into an unassuming home only to find a horrific secret lurking in the basement. Criminals become victims as the house’s owners take the couple hostage and create a nightmare version of suburban utopia. George (Jeffrey Donovan) and Gloria (Kyra Sedgwick) are a bizarre pair determined to have a picture perfect life but their polished personas hide a deep well of murderous insanity. Monroe navigates this bizarre setup and proves not only to be the audience’s conduit, but the heart and soul of this chaotic film. Without her steady hand and grounded performance, we could easily become lost in the wild and weird turns of this outlandish horror comedy.

Watcher (2022)

Monroe next made waves in the genre sphere with Watcher, a psychological horror film from Chloe Okuno. This haunting story follows Julia (Monroe), an American actress who moves to Bucharest when her husband Francis (Karl Glusman)is transferred for work. Still learning the language, Julia spends her days wandering aimlessly through the streets and staring out the picture window of her lonely apartment. She soon spies another solitary soul who seems to be watching her with disturbing intensity. Meanwhile, a killer known as the Spider haunts the city, severing the heads of vulnerable women. When Julia reports her stalker, she’s met with dismissal from the police and scorn from her distracted husband. She’s left alone to defend herself against a vicious killer in a strange city with no help in sight. In many ways a spiritual successor to It Follows, Watcher is a chilly tale of relentless terror that explores the dangers of loneliness and isolation. Monroe commands the screen in a quiet, but intense performance that builds to a shocking conclusion and cathartic release.

Significant Other (2022)

The same year would see Monroe reunite with Berk and Olsen in Significant Other, a sci-fi horror tale following a doomed couple on a weekend hike. Monroe is once again paired with an actor fresh off his own breakout role as co-star Jake Lacy had just captured attention as the unlikeable lead in HBO’s hit series The White Lotus. But Monroe’s part in the story is arguably more challenging as Ruth, a young woman terrified of romantic commitment. After rejecting a marriage proposal from the charming Harry (Lacy), Ruth notices something strange about her partner’s demeanor. Confused and alone, Ruth leaves the trail and discovers the lair of a shape-shifting entity from another world. This ambitious role allows Monroe to stretch her legs as varying versions of the same conflicted character. Part survival horror, part alien invasion, part Marriage Story, Monroe once again helms a film that resists genre classification. With her trademark vulnerability, she delivers a complex performance that asks the audience to decide who Ruth really is while challenging us to ask the same question of ourselves.

God Is a Bullet (2023)

Though Monroe has starred in a number of diverse horror features, she specializes in empathetic heroines who fight back against oppressive darkness. Rarely has she played a villainous or unlikeable character in a genre film. But that all changed with Nick Cassavetes’ God Is a Bullet, a bleak story concerned with the murderous crimes of a satanic cult. Monroe is Case, an off-putting survivor who bristles at vulnerable human connection. Having recently left the sinister family, Case is now left to deal with the trauma of her own childhood abduction and a decade of sex trafficking and physical abuse. Though ostensibly the protagonist, Case is covered in black tattoos and resists acts of kindness with cutting insults and anti-religious diatribes. In an intense performance, Monroe wrestles with the terror of letting down her guard and shows relatable vulnerability amidst overt strength. But the talented actress still manages to capture our hearts though her character is doggedly trying to push everyone away.

Longlegs (2024)

Ten years after her breakout role, Monroe is poised to deliver her best performance to date in Oz Perkins’ Longlegs, a harrowing police procedural thriller-turned occult horror film already being hailed as the scariest of the year. Starring opposite Nicolas Cage (also turning in a career-redefining performance) Monroe is Lee Harker, a young FBI agent with suspected psychic abilities. Assigned to a disturbing cold case, Harker begins to search for the titular serial killer (Cage), a satanic murderer with terrifying influence. Her stunning performance evokes the sensitive power of Jodie Foster’s oscar-winning turn in The Silence of the Lambs, a role that turned the veteran actress into a genre icon. Monroe pulls in elements of her own previous roles as the grounded, but relatable heroine of Perkins’ pitch black film, demonstrating an uncanny ability to channel the audience’s fear. With a number of eclectic roles under her belt, Longlegs proves there’s nothing the talented actress can’t do. Already horror’s reigning Scream Queen just twelve years into her career, there’s no doubt we’ll be screaming along with Maika Monroe in diverse and thrilling films for decades to come.

Longlegs arrives in theaters tomorrow. Get tickets now!

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

The post From ‘It Follows’ to ‘Longlegs’: Maika Monroe Has Defined a Decade of Horror appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Bloody Disgusting’s own Meagan Navarro wrote in her Longlegs review that Cage delivers his “most unsettling performance yet.” With a career as prolific and varied as Cage’s, that statement should not be taken lightly. Ahead of the film’s release in theaters everywhere on July 12th, let’s take a look at some of Cage’s other unsettling, uncomfortable, and unnerving horror performances.

Red Miller – Mandy (2018)

When viewers first meet Red and his partner Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) in Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy, the loving couple leads a life that is just about as picturesque and enchanted as one can imagine. Residing in an introvert’s dream cabin deep in a thick mountain forest, the pair watch movies, discuss sci-fi novels, and simply enjoy being with each other. However, this changes when Mandy crosses paths with delusional cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), his small band of followers, and demon-biker soldiers.

What starts as a casual encounter soon leads to Mandy’s violent, senseless murder. Red’s grief over this loss transforms him into something dark and powerful, fueled by his need for revenge. As Red, Cage demonstrates his immense range as an actor. Seamlessly shifting from soft, subtle and loving to grief-stricken, violent and determined, Cage matches Cosmatos’ uniquely singular style and breathes entrancing and terrifying life into Red in a way few could match.

Peter Loew – Vampire’s Kiss (1988)

Robert Bierman’s Vampire’s Kiss is one of those films whose legacy will forever remain infamous and potent. In the film, Cage plays a young publishing executive who may or may not be turning into a vampire. While the script is competent, it isn’t the writing, ambiguity, or style that gives Vampire’s Kiss such a lasting and famous reputation. Ultimately, it is the performance that Cage delivers that provides the movie with its infamy.

As Loew, Cage absolutely terrorizes a young office assistant named Alva (Maria Conchita Alonso) as he vacillates between simply stressed and horrifically abusive. Cage also makes some performance choices that defy logic and baffle even the most imaginative minds. Scenery chewing isn’t a strong enough phrase for what Cage delivers, and it results in an unnerving anxiety that permeates every second and every frame of the film.

The Janitor – Willy’s Wonderland (2021)

With over 100 acting credits on his resume, it truly says something when a film offers a version of Nic Cage that no one has seen before. In the case of Willy’s Wonderland, that version, funnily enough, has Nic Cage saying absolutely nothing at all. Boasting strong Five Nights at Freddy’s vibes, Willy’s Wonderland features Cage as a drifter who gets tricked into a janitorial gig at a condemned amusement center. Even as meddling teens, homicidal animatronics, and neverending cleaning tasks get in his way, Cage never utters a word. Despite this, Cage captivates and adds bizarre surreality that wonderfully destabilizes an otherwise predictable outing.

Frank Pierce – Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

Critics and commentators have long hypothesized that Cage is an actor who best delivers when a director understands how to utilize and maximize his incredible skills. Unsurprisingly, Martin Scorsese is such a director and Bringing Out the Dead is proof. In the film, Cage plays Frank Pierce, an ambulance paramedic who is burned out in every way a human can be burned out. Tortured by the people he couldn’t save and the grueling demands of the gig, Frank spirals into an existential fever dream crisis complete with flashing lights, caffeine, narcotics, hallucinations, Patricia Arquette, and death’s eternal reality.

While not a traditional horror film, Bringing Out the Dead is an intensely bleak, dark, kinetic, and depressing cinematic outing. Cage and Scorsese feel united in their vision of Frank, creating a simultaneously sympathetic and upsetting character. Through Cage, Frank’s inner turmoil becomes a palpable presence as we watch him navigate the streets of Manhattan, trapped in a purgatory of his own making. Without a doubt, Frank Pierce is one of Cage’s most underrated and compelling performances.

Brent – Mom and Dad (2017)

Before Zackary Arthur became the absolute bane of Chucky’s existence, he portrayed the pre-teen son of Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair in this pitch-black horror-comedy from writer and director Brian Taylor. Flipping the script on classics like The Bad Seed, Children of the Corn, Village of the Damned and The Omen, it is the parents in Mom and Dad that develop a taste for blood. More specifically, their own children’s blood. As one might expect, Cage wholeheartedly embraces his role as a bad dad and takes the film’s uncomfortable premise exactly where it needs to go.

Paul Matthews – Dream Scenario (2023)

In this odd little horror-comedy from Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli, Cage plays a totally normal, totally average guy who suddenly starts appearing in millions of people’s dreams. Now, the horror part of this equation kicks in when these dreams turn into full-on nightmares, with Paul starring as the lead villain. It’s kind of like if Freddy Krueger had a less problematic origin story and was more dad-like, awkward, and endearing.

For the role, Cage had to play Paul navigating this weird new fame in the real world and execute dozens of smaller nightmare segments in which he terrorizes people in myriad ways. Ranging from brutal to simply creepy, Cage commits to these darker moments completely, creating an undercurrent of unease and uncertainty that permeates the entire runtime. In many ways, Dream Scenario is precisely that for Cage: a perfect artistic playground that amplifies and highlights his unique brand of brilliance.

Nathan Gardner – Color Out of Space (2019)

Coming as a surprise to no one, the combination of Nicolas Cage and H.P. Lovecraft in Color Out of Space results in a memorable Cage performance. In the film, Cage plays the patriarch of the Gardner family. Yes, the mysterious meteorite that lands in the Gardner front yard results in a wealth of nightmarish incidents for all involved, but Nathan contains a distinctive set of oddities all his own.

For one, Nathan is obsessed with his alpacas. Disquieting from the very beginning, this character trait only gets more unsettling as the film progresses. In addition to the alpaca thing, as the influence of the alien organism spreads, Nathan develops a speech pattern and inflection that sounds eerily similar to that of Peter Loew in Vampire’s Kiss. Soon spiraling into full-body freakouts and physical aggression, Cage displays the organism’s more subtle effects while elevating the film’s tension and more mercurial narrative aspects.

Unsettling Performance Honorable Mentions:

• The Wicker Man (2006)
• Adaptation (2002)
• Deadfall (1993)
• Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
• Wild at Heart (1990)

Longlegs arrives in theaters this Friday, July 12. Get tickets now!

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

The post 7 Unsettling Nicolas Cage Horror Performances Ahead of ‘Longlegs’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In 1960, an unassuming man stared through a peephole into the site of a looming murder and forever changed the horror genre. Anthony Perkins shocked the world as Norman Bates, a mild-mannered hotel clerk-turned-murderer in Alfred Hitchock’s iconic Psycho, but the horrific legacy of this transgressive act can still be felt today. After making his screen debut playing a younger version of Norman in Psycho II, Oz Perkins would follow in his fathers footsteps, creating cinematic peepholes with the lens of the camera. But rather than gaze into a shower soon filled with blood, Perkins allows us to peek into a variety of waking nightmares and watch as monsters exert their hideous will. The talented writer and director excels in atmospheric horror navigated by sympathetic young heroines determined to survive. His latest film Longlegs continues this trend by following a young woman thrust into a world of satanic depravity.

Lauded as the scariest film of the year, Longlegs opens in the midst of a nightmare and unfolds beneath a blanket of mounting dread. FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is assigned to the cold case of a serial killer known as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage) and must find a way to prevent his evil influence from destroying an innocent family. While the harrowing plot may harken back to Jonathan Demme’s classic The Silence of the Lambs, the film also feels like a perfect encapsulation of Perkins’ narrative style. In addition to a terrifying world of darkness and despair, Longlegs explores the nebulous themes of abandonment, family annihilation, and unknowable death that weave their way through each of his films.

Perkins’ fascination with satanic killers can be felt as early as his directorial debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, which concerns a demonic force invading the quiet halls of a Catholic boarding school. Left behind on a midwinter break, Rose (Lucy Boynton) has intentionally planned a day of isolation. However, Kat (Kiernan Shipka) dreams of a mysterious figure in a black cloak who brings a vision of her parents’ death. Desperate for paternal acceptance, she obeys Satan’s command to kill everyone on campus. In addition to the nuns charged with her care, Kat murders Rose and offers her severed head to the school’s fiery boiler, an object that symbolizes her devilish devotion. Nine years later, she visits the same fate upon Rose’s parents and delivers their heads to the makeshift altar. With two families in ruins, Kat’s crimes mirror those of Longlegs, her satanic devotion creating the kind of nightmares Lee will be tasked with investigating.

In addition to its bloody gore, The Blackcoat’s Daughter shows a world absent of love. Each character mourns a shattered family connection and tries in vain to find warmth in the icy void. It’s a story Perkins knows well having lost both his parents to untimely deaths. The film ends on a nihilistic tone with the murderer’s lonesome sobs on a snowy street. No matter what horrors she tries to create, she cannot bring her parents back and now finds herself utterly alone. This devastating conclusion is arguably a reflection of the director’s attempts to make peace with his father’s massive legacy.

Perkins elaborates on themes of abandonment through death in I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, his most personal film to date. Dedicated to “A.P.”, the eerie script was inspired by an old house inherited after his father’s passing. The opening sequence introduces us to Lily (Ruth Wilson), a home hospice nurse hired to care for an acclaimed horror author in the final stages of dementia. Lily tells us right away that she will soon die in the house of Iris Blum (Paula Prentiss) and we watch as she tiptoes around whatever lurks in the ominous darkness. Perkins bookends the film with unnerving shots that feel like looking through a peephole at an alternate plane of existence – a visual parallel to his father’s most famous role. Here, Perkins uses the device to symbolize a murky connection between the living and the dead, mirroring the auteur’s attempts to connect with his departed father.

Lily enters Iris’s home long after she’s lost her grip on reality. The world-renowned writer (who’s most famous work was published the same year Psycho was released) has based her iconic novel on whispers from Polly (Lucy Boynton), the house’s first occupant. Murdered on her wedding night, Polly’s body has been rotting inside the walls while her ghost roams the house trying to make sense of her brutal demise. The skittish Lily initially resists this heartbreaking tale, but begins piecing the story together as an act of protection. However, one glimpse of Polly’s restless spirit is all it takes to cause a massive heart attack and Lily too becomes eternally lost in the house’s shadowy gloom. Perkins displays the unnerving stillness that has become his trademark with slowly panning shots that plunge us into overwhelming darkness. Every frame is filled with a quiet dread that drags us ever closer to the film’s heartbreaking conclusion.

In addition to worlds filled with palpable dread, Perkins is known for charging an endearing young woman with bearing the light. Lily takes the job as Iris’ nurse hoping her crisp, white uniforms and positive energy will help to push away the closing claws of death. But the memory of this tragic murder proves too strong and she becomes swallowed by the house’s impenetrable darkness. Lee also bears the responsibility of investigating a crime long forgotten and attempts to care for victims who have essentially been abandoned by the world. Like Polly and Rose, they cry out for justice from beyond the grave only to find that few are capable of holding the horror of their unthinkable fates.

Perkins’ next film features an idealistic heroine in a world of sinister magic who must resist the allure of an inhuman monster. Gretel & Hansel is a progressive twist on the classic fairy tale, following a headstrong girl tasked with caring for her precocious brother. Turned out of their home, the frightened siblings stumble upon the ominous house of Holda (Alice Krige), a kindly woman whose generosity seems too good to be true. With nowhere else to go, the children decide to stay and begin to enjoy her lavish meals. The elderly witch seems to see herself in the assertive Gretel (Sophia Lillis) and encourages her to embrace the power dancing at her fingertips. But as this mentorship continues, Gretel begins to doubt her mysterious benefactor and soon learns the truth behind her enticing power. Holda feeds her magic by feasting on children and plans to make Hansel her next meal. Faced with this betrayal, Gretel must decide if she will follow Holda’s enchanted path or forge her own way in this treacherous world.

In addition to themes of abandonment and horrific transformation, Gretel & Hansel shares much of Longlegs’ visual DNA. Occult symbology fills each frame along with hideous depictions of unthinkable death. Triangular imagery not only alerts the audience to dangers lurking in Holda’s home, but each point represents a phase of her transformative power. Lee also studies a series of cryptic signs in an attempt to decipher Longlegs’ murderous intent. Though Perkins never explicitly states the source of Holda’s sorcery, the film begins with a distraught mother seeking help from a woman in a black cloak, similar to the satanic figures worshiped by Longlegs and Kat. Though guided by her own desires, Holda also preys on the vulnerable and encourages Gretel to sever her last remaining family ties.

From a religious school invaded by Satan to a vengeful ghost wandering the halls of a rotting house and the enchanted lair of a cannibalistic witch, Perkins has mastered the art of cinematic terror. Each of his films create worlds of relentless dread and brutal malevolence, each more frightening than the last. Only an idealistic young woman can bring light to the darkness and even then, her success is not guaranteed. Lee is the latest heroine to navigate Perkins’ sinister brand of unrelenting horror, a protagonist mirroring his own need for truth. Her quest to save another doomed family feels like a culmination of the director’s overall message: families are vulnerable entities in need of protection and it is in the absence of parental love that the seeds of evil find a way to take root. Given the director’s nihilistic tendencies, only time will tell if Lee will follow Gretel’s path of empowerment or if, like Rose and Lily, she will be swallowed by whatever lurks in the sinister darkness.

Longlegs arrives in theaters this Friday, July 12. Get tickets now!

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

The post Traversing the Cinematic Nightmares of Oz Perkins appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Longlegs heads to theaters on July 12. Watch the new, final trailer below, emphasizing the scariness ahead.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers,” and early reviews have favorably compared the film to the classic ’90s thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

I wrote in my review, “Longlegs gets under your skin and stays there, immersing you so thoroughly in the repulsive, discomforting nature of evil through terrifying imagery and a tactile atmosphere that it’s unshakable. Its nerve-shredding, insidious style of horror serves as a perfect rebuttal to society’s obsession with true crime; evil just exists, and it taints everything it touches.”

Producers are Nicolas Cage along with his production company Saturn Films (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig), Dan Kagan (Significant Other), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Dave Caplan (The End We Start From) and Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play).

The post ‘Longlegs’ Final Trailer Promises One of the Year’s Scariest Movies is Nearly Here appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Join us on Thursday, June 27th at 9:45 PM for an exclusive screening at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre (3733 N Southport Ave). This is one of the hottest tickets of the summer, so plan to arrive early as seats aren’t guaranteed. This is first come, first serve.

Longlegs is one the genre’s most exciting titles of 2024 — and the hype is very real. Bloody Disgusting‘s Meagan Navarro raved in her 4.5/5 star review that it “gets under your skin and festers like a nightmare” with Nicolas Cage delivering his “most unsettling performance yet.”

Longlegs arrives in theaters July 12.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

The post Hey, Chicago, We’ve Got Exclusive Tickets to See ‘Longlegs’ Early on June 27th appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

NEON has set up a dedicated phone number you can call to have a little chat with “The Man Downstairs,” who happens to be a serial killer dubbed Longlegs. He’s played by Nicolas Cage in the upcoming movie, and dialing the number will result in a deeply unsettling pre-recorded message from Cage’s latest character. The number is 458.666.4355. Dial if you dare…

Longlegs arrives in theaters July 12.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

Bloody Disgusting’s own Meagan Navarro raved in her 4.5/5 star review that Longlegs “gets under your skin and festers like a nightmare.” “Nicolas Cage is operating in rare, depraved form,” Meagan’s review continues, delivering his “most unsettling performance yet.”

The post ‘Longlegs’ Uncaged: Dial This Number for the Creepiest Call of Your Life appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A cryptic ad in The Seattle Times today (seen below) has led clever horror fans to discover TheBirthdayMurders.net, the brand new official viral marketing website for Longlegs.

The in-universe website details the victims of the serial killer known as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage), described as a “Satan-worshipping psycho” who has terrorized families throughout the Pacific Northwest for nearly three decades.

The website details, “A bloody trail of bodies here in the great state of Oregon attests to the depraved savagery of this one-of-a-kind serial killer. With over three dozen victims that we know of, LONGLEGS is one of the most prolific mass murderers ever to have graced the region, and his gruesome endeavors are the stuff of nightmares. At first, all of the killings appeared to be straightforward murder-suicides: the handiwork of average men who suddenly snapped and slaughtered their wives and children. But a series of eerie coded messages left at the crime scenes indicate that someone – or something – is influencing these horrific crimes. The cryptic letters are signed by someone calling himself LONGLEGS.”

“With thirty-eight kills to his name, LONGLEGS has torn apart the lives of eleven different families throughout the Beaver State. His victims were good people: honest fathers, decent mothers, innocent little children.”

The website is loaded with secrets, clues, and gruesome (faux) crime scene photos, and you might even find a mention of yours truly nestled in there. Poke around. Stay a while.

Longlegs arrives in theaters July 12.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

The post The Birthday Murders: Viral Marketing Website Launches for ‘Longlegs’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The eyes may be the window to the soul, but Cage is staring daggers straight through YOUR soul with this latest official poster. Check it out below. Longlegs arrives in theaters July 12.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers,” and early reviews have favorably compared the film to the classic ’90s thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

The post ‘Longlegs’ Poster – Nicolas Cage Stares Directly into Your Soul appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Longlegs heads to theaters on July 12, and it’s been earning rave reviews from seemingly everyone who’s seen it so far. That includes Bloody Disgusting’s own Meagan Navarro, who raved in her 4.5/5 star review that Longlegs “gets under your skin and festers like a nightmare.”

“Nicolas Cage is operating in rare, depraved form,” Meagan’s review continues, delivering his “most unsettling performance yet.” Watch the new teaser below for a fresh sneak peek…

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers,” and early reviews have favorably compared the film to the classic ’90s thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

I don’t ever want to forget him.

LONGLEGS 7.12 pic.twitter.com/dwN3qIQYUT

— ↃL⊥\\Ↄ—\\ᘰ (@LonglegsFilm) June 11, 2024

The post ‘Longlegs’ Teaser Gives Us Our Best Look Yet at Barely Recognizable Nicolas Cage appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This guide covers the highlights of what’s already been announced, but as always, expect a handful of streaming, Digital, and VOD releases to pop up over the next few months as well. 

Here are 24 horror movies you don’t want to miss in Summer 2024…

Under Paris – June 5 (Netflix)

French filmmaker Xavier Gens (Mayhem!, Frontier(s)) ensures this summer is stuffed to the gills with shark horror. This time, a shark swims into the Seine river during the World Triathlon Championships to wreak havoc. A shark in Paris?! We’re in.

Trim Season – June 7 (Theaters and VOD)

A job at a marijuana farm turns nightmarish in Trim Season, directed by award-winning filmmaker and production designer Ariel Vida. Bethlehem Million (Sick, “And Just Like That…”), Hell Fest‘s Bex Taylor-Klaus, Starry Eyes, “Midnight Mass” and Doctor Sleep‘s Alex Essoe, Ally Ioannides (Synchronic), Cory Hart (“Fear the Walking Dead”), Ryan Donowho, Marc Senter and Juliette Kenn De Balinthazy star.

The Watchers – June 7 (Theaters)

Director Ishana Night Shyamalan‘s feature debut stars Georgina Campbell (Barbarian) and Dakota Fanning, and adapts A.M. Shine‘s novel. The plot sees a woman trapped with three strangers, all stalked by mysterious creatures every night.

Tiger Stripes – June 14 (Theaters)

A young girl is the first to hit puberty among her friends in this coming-of-age horror story, and she’s alarmed by the horrifying physical changes to her body. The Malay-language body horror film was written and directed by Amanda Nell Eu, marking her directorial debut.

The Exorcism – June 21 (Theaters)

Russell Crowe stars as Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something demonic at play. Written by M.A. Fortin and director Joshua John Miller, the scribes behind The Final Girls.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person – June 21 (Limited Theaters)

A young vampire struggles with the moral dilemma surrounding her need for blood, but she may have found a solution in a young man with suicidal tendencies. The vampire comedy was co-written and directed by Ariane Louis-Seize.

The Devil’s Bath – June 28 (Shudder)

Austrian filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (The Lodge, Goodnight Mommy) are back with new period horror movie The Devil’s Bath. A newlywed woman finds herself feeling trapped and prone to thoughts of violence in 1750 Austria.

A Quiet Place: Day One – June 28 (Theaters)

The next installment in Paramount’s hit horror franchise, A Quiet Place: Day One takes place at the start of the invasion on the streets of New York City. Lupita Nyong’o (Us),  Joseph Quinn (“Stranger Things”) and Alex Wolff (Hereditary) star.

Kill – July 4 (Theaters)

No, Kill isn’t a horror movie. But it’s so violent and bloody that this actioner should appeal to horror fans all the same. Writer/Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat unleashes mayhem and carnage aboard a New Delhi-bound train when a gang of knife-wielding thieves led by the ruthless Fani (Raghav Juyal) begin to terrorize innocent passengers. Army commando Amrit (Lakshya) embarks on a death-defying kill spree to save the love of his life.

MaXXXine  – July 5 (Theaters)

The third entry in Ti West’s slasher trilogy that began with X and continued with Pearl follows Maxine (Mia Goth), after the events of X, as the sole survivor who continues her journey towards fame, setting out to make it as an actress in 1980’s Los Angeles.

Longlegs – July 12 (Theaters)

Up next from writer/director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel) is the Nicolas Cage horror movie Longlegs, which sees the actor playing a serial killer. Maika Monroe also stars as the young FBI Agent on his trail.

Oddity – July 19 (Theaters)

Writer/director Damian Mc Carthy follows up the creepy Caveat with a supernatural tale of revenge, one that features a sinister mannequin and a blind medium. Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Steve Wall, Jonathan French, and Joe Rooney star.

Starve Acre – July 26 (Theaters)

A folk horror movie set in 1970s rural England. Starring Matt Smith (His House, Morbius) and Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud) in the lead roles, Starve Acre is written and directed by Daniel Kokotajlo and based on the book by Andrew Michael Hurly.

Cuckoo – August 2 (Theaters)

Luz director Tilman Singer is back with another horror movie. Expect things to get weird when a teen relocates with her family to a strange resort in Germany. Cuckoo features a great cast that includes Dan Stevens (The Guest) and Jessica Henwick (Underwater) as well as Hunter Schafer (“Euphoria”), Marton Csókás (Freelance), Greta Fernández (Santo) and Jan Bluthardt (Luz).

Borderlands – August 9 (Theaters)

Unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect a missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power in Eli Roth’s video game adaptation. The ensemble cast includes Jack Black as Claptrap, Florian Munteanu as Krieg, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis, Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Kevin Hart as Roland, and Gina Gershon as Moxxi.

Trap – August 9 (Theaters)

The latest from writer/director M. Night Shyamalan is a psychological thriller that sees a father and daughter attend a concert, only to discover it’s an elaborate trap to catch a serial killer. Josh Hartnett stars.

Alien: Romulus – August 16 (Theaters)

An original Alien feature set between the events of the first two films, directed by Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe). Cailee Spaeny (The Craft: Legacy, Pacific Rim Uprising) leads the cast alongside Isabela Merced, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu. Ridley Scott produces.

Blink Twice – August 23 (Theaters)

Directed by Zoë Kravitz (The Batman), and formerly titled Pussy Island, Blink Twice features an impressive cast and what appears to be a twisted, mind-bending genre-bender. A dream vacation getaway on a private island descends into a nightmare as reality ceases to hold meaning. Naomi Ackie stars alongside Channing Tatum, with the film’s impressive ensemble cast of familiar faces also including Kyle MacLachlan, Adria Arjona, Alia Shawkat, Simon Rex, Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, and Geena Davis.

The Crow – August 23 (Theaters)

From director Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman, Ghost in the Shell), Bill Skarsgård (IT) is leading the cast of a brand new take on The Crow as Eric, with singer/actor FKA Twigs co-starring. Danny Huston (30 Days of Night) also stars, alongside Laura Birn (Foundation), Sami Bouajila (A Son), and Jordan Bolger (The Woman King).

Hell Hole – August 23 (Shudder)

The next film from The Adams Family (Hellbender, Where the Devil Roams) offers an indie rock-n-roll monster movie set at a far-away fracking site. Expect things to get weird and transgressive.

Strange Darling – August 23 (Theaters)

The second feature from talented writer-director JT Mollner stars Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. As for plot, it’s set over one day in the twisted love life of a serial killer, creating a feature length cat-and-mouse game of twisted proportions.

The Front Room – September 6 (Theaters)

Brandy Norwood (I Still Know What You Did Last Summer) makes her return to horror with A24 movie The Front Room, directed by Max and Sam Eggers, brothers of Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Northman). The adaptation of Susan Hill’s short story follows a young, newly pregnant couple forced to take in an ailing stepmother who has long been estranged from the family.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – September 6 (Theaters)

The long-awaited sequel is nearly here, almost 40 years after the original classic arrived in theaters. A family tragedy brings three generations of the Deetz family home, where the Ghost with the Most is summoned, causing trouble in the realms of the living and the dead. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe and Monica Belluci star.

Speak No Evil – September 13 (Theaters)

An American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, but a holiday getaway quickly spirals into a harrowing nightmare. James Watkins (The Woman in Black, Eden Lake) directs, with Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate, Happiest Season) and James McAvoy (Split, Glass) starring in this American remake.

The post Bloody Disgusting’s Summer Horror Preview: 24 Horror Movies You Don’t Want to Miss appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Longlegs heads to theaters on July 12. Watch the new trailer below, which makes the film’s storyline a bit more clear while still preserving all the creepy mysteries at its dark heart.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers,” and early reviews have favorably compared the film to the classic ’90s thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

Producers are Nicolas Cage along with his production company Saturn Films (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig), Dan Kagan (Significant Other), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Dave Caplan (The End We Start From) and Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play).

The post ‘Longlegs’ – New Trailer Reveals Nicolas Cage’s Terrifying Voice appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

While you wait, check out another brand new official poster below.

Longlegs heads to theaters on July 12, 2024.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.”

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

Producers are Nicolas Cage along with his production company Saturn Films (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig), Dan Kagan (Significant Other), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Dave Caplan (The End We Start From) and Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play).

The post ‘Longlegs’ – New Poster for Nicolas Cage Horror Movie Promises New Trailer Next Week appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Longlegs heads to theaters on July 12, 2024. Watch the full trailer below.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.”

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

Producers are Nicolas Cage along with his production company Saturn Films (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig), Dan Kagan (Significant Other), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Dave Caplan (The End We Start From) and Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play).

The theatrical cut of the “Dirty” and “Sweet” teasers for ‘LONGLEGS’ has debuted online.

The teasers explore the two main characters of the film: FBI Agent Harker (Maika Monroe) and the serial killer, Longlegs (Nicolas Cage). pic.twitter.com/PM4aR9o37R

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) May 13, 2024

The post Full Theatrical Trailer for ‘Longlegs’ Has Creeped Its Way Online appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Longlegs heads to theaters on July 12, 2024.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.”

The poster is dubbed “Dirty: Part One” while the video is labeled “Dirty: Part Two,” and the latter features some new clips from the film along with a cryptic poem of sorts…

Listen loud the serpents

See the darkness slithering

Tell me what good is that body

If not for hiding shiny red parts

This mysterious teaser features Nicolas Cage, breathing and wheezing creepily over unsettling horror imagery. It refers to him as “the man downstairs.”

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

Producers are Nicolas Cage along with his production company Saturn Films (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig), Dan Kagan (Significant Other), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Dave Caplan (The End We Start From) and Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play).

Both halves of the cryptic Longlegs teaser played ahead of Abigail in theaters this weekend.

You’ll also find the aforementioned poster art and teaser video below.

The post ‘Longlegs’ – Part Two of New Teaser Video for NEON Horror Movie Gets Even Weirder and Creepier appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

At the very least, we can assume NEON’s upcoming film is going to be a dark, horror-fueled hunt for a serial killer. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five disturbing serial killers-versus-law-enforcement stories to get us even more jacked up for Longlegs.

MEMORIES OF MURDER (2003)

This South Korean film directed by Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) is a wild ride. The film features a handful of cops who seem like total goofs investigating a serial killer who brutally murders women who are out and wearing red on rainy evenings. The cops are tired, unorganized, and border on stoner comedy levels of idiocy. The movie at first seems to have a strange level of forgiveness for these characters as they try to pin the murders on a mentally handicapped person at one point, beating him and trying to coerce him into a confession for crimes he didn’t commit. A serious cop from the big city comes down to help with the case and is able to instill order.

But still, the killer evades and provokes not only the police but an entire country as everyone becomes more unstable and paranoid with each grizzly murder and sex crime.

I’ve never seen a film with a stranger tone than Memories of Murder. A movie that deals with such serious issues but has such fallible, seemingly nonserious people at its core. As the film rolls on and more women are murdered, you realize that a lot of these faults come from men who are hopeless and desperate to catch a killer in a country that – much like in another great serial killer story, Citizen X – is doing more harm to their plight than good.

Major spoiler warning: What makes Memories of Murder somehow more haunting is that it’s loosely based on a true story. It is a story where the real-life killer hadn’t been caught at the time of the film’s release. It ends with our main character Detective Park (Song Kang-ho), now a salesman, looking hopelessly at the audience (or judgingly) as the credits roll. Over sixteen years later the killer, Lee Choon Jae, was found using DNA evidence. He was already serving a life sentence for another murder. Choon Jae even admitted to watching the film during his court case saying, “I just watched it as a movie, I had no feeling or emotion towards the movie.”

In the end, Memories of Murder is a must-see for fans of the subgenre. The film juggles an almost slapstick tone with that of a dark murder mystery and yet, in the end, works like a charm.

CURE (1997)

If you watched 2023’s Hypnotic and thought to yourself, “A killer who hypnotizes his victims to get them to do his bidding is a pretty cool idea. I only wish it were a better movie!” Boy, do I have great news for you.

In Cure (spoilers ahead), a detective (Koji Yakusho) and forensic psychologist (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) team up to find a serial killer who’s brutally marking their victims by cutting a large “X” into their throats and chests. Not just a little “X” mind you but a big, gross, flappy one.

At each crime scene, the murderer is there and is coherent and willing to cooperate. They can remember committing the crimes but can’t remember why. Each of these murders is creepy on a cellular level because we watch the killers act out these crimes with zero emotion. They feel different than your average movie murder. Colder….meaner.

What’s going on here is that a man named Mamiya (Masato Hagiwara) is walking around and somehow manipulating people’s minds using the flame of a lighter and a strange conversational cadence to hypnotize them and convince them to murder. The detectives eventually catch him but are unable to understand the scope of what’s happening before it’s too late.

If you thought dealing with a psychopathic murderer was hard, imagine dealing with one who could convince you to go home and murder your wife. Not only is Cure amazingly filmed and edited but it has more horror elements than your average serial killer film.

MANHUNTER (1986)

In the first-ever Hannibal Lecter story brought in front of the cameras, Detective Will Graham (William Petersen) finds his serial killers by stepping into their headspace. This is how he caught Hannibal Lecter (played here by Brian Cox), but not without paying a price. Graham became so obsessed with his cases that he ended up having a mental breakdown.

In Manhunter, Graham not only has to deal with Lecter playing psychological games with him from behind bars but a new serial killer in Francis Dolarhyde (in a legendary performance by Tom Noonan). One who likes to wear pantyhose on his head and murder entire families so that he can feel “seen” and “accepted” in their dead eyes. At one point Lecter even finds a way to gift Graham’s home address to the new killer via personal ads in a newspaper.

Michael Mann (Heat, Thief) directed a film that was far too stylish for its time but that fans and critics both would have loved today in the same way we appreciate movies like Nightcrawler or Drive. From the soundtrack to the visuals to the in-depth psychoanalysis of an insanely disturbed protagonist and the man trying to catch him. We watch Graham completely lose his shit and unravel as he takes us through the psyche of our killer. Which is as fascinating as it is fucked.

Manhunter is a classic case of a serial killer-versus-detective story where each side of the coin is tarnished in their own way when it’s all said and done. As Detective Park put it in Memories of Murder, “What kind of detective sleeps at night?”

INSOMNIA (2002)

Maybe it’s because of the foggy atmosphere. Maybe it’s because it’s the only film in Christopher Nolan’s filmography he didn’t write as well as direct. But for some reason, Insomnia always feels forgotten about whenever we give Nolan his flowers for whatever his latest cinematic achievement is.

Whatever the case, I know it’s no fault of the quality of the film, because Insomnia is a certified serial killer classic that adds several unique layers to the detective/killer dynamic. One way to create an extreme sense of unease with a movie villain is to cast someone you’d never expect in the role, which is exactly what Nolan did by casting the hilarious and sweet Robin Williams as a manipulative child murderer. He capped that off by casting Al Pacino as the embattled detective hunting him down.

This dynamic was fascinating as Williams was creepy and clever in the role. He was subdued in a way that was never boring but believable. On the other side of it, Al Pacino felt as if he’d walked straight off the set of 1995’s Heat and onto this one. A broken and imperfect man trying to stop a far worse one.

Aside from the stellar acting, Insomnia stands out because of its unique setting and plot. Both working against the detective. The investigation is taking place in a part of Alaska where the sun never goes down. This creates a beautiful, nightmare atmosphere where by the end of it, Pacino’s character is like a Freddy Krueger victim in the leadup to their eventual, exhausted death as he runs around town trying to catch a serial killer while dealing with the debilitating effects of insomnia. Meanwhile, he’s under an internal affairs investigation for planting evidence to catch another child killer and accidentally shoots his partner who he just found out is about to testify against him. The kicker here is that the killer knows what happened that fateful day and is using it to blackmail Pacino’s character into letting him get away with his own crimes.

If this is the kind of “what would you do?” intrigue we get with the story from Longlegs? We’ll be in for a treat. Hoo-ah.

FALLEN (1998)

Fallen may not be nearly as obscure as Memories of Murder or Cure. Hell, it boasts an all-star cast of Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, James Gandolfini, and Elias Koteas. But when you bring it up around anyone who has seen it, their ears perk up, and the word “underrated” usually follows. And when it comes to the occult tie-ins that Longlegs will allegedly have? Fallen may be the most appropriate film on this entire list.

In the movie, Detective Hobbs (Washington) catches vicious serial killer Edgar Reese (Koteas) who seems to place some sort of curse on him during Hobbs’ victory lap. After Reese is put to death via electric chair, dead bodies start popping up all over town with his M.O., eventually pointing towards Hobbs as the culprit. After all, Reese is dead. As Hobbs investigates he realizes that a fallen angel named Azazel is possessing human body after human body and using them to commit occult murders. It has its eyes fixated on him, his co-workers, and family members; wrecking their lives or flat-out murdering them one by one until the whole world is damned.

Mixing a demonic entity into a detective/serial killer story is fascinating because it puts our detective in the unsettling position of being the one who is hunted. How the hell do you stop a demon who can inhabit anyone they want with a mere touch?!

Fallen is a great mix of detective story and supernatural horror tale. Not only are we treated to Denzel Washington as the lead in a grim noir (complete with narration) as he uncovers this occult storyline, but we’re left with a pretty great “what would you do?” situation in a movie that isn’t afraid to take the story to some dark places. Especially when it comes to the way the film ends. It’s a great horror thriller in the same vein as Frailty but with a little more detective work mixed in.

Look for Longlegs in theaters on July 12, 2024.

The post Five Serial Killer Horror Movies to Watch Before ‘Longlegs’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The poster is dubbed “Sweet: Part One” while the video is labeled “Sweet: Part Two,” and the latter features some new clips from the film along with a cryptic poem of sorts…

So close the crimson and clover

All gone now to the edge

Where the black begins

The long forked tongue hisses

This mysterious teaser seemingly refers to Maika Monroe’s character as “daughter of the seventh she,” and also notes: “Ever since she was a little girl she wanted to catch a killer.”

Stranger still is an “application process” that’s included with today’s press email. “The application process consists of the below-listed steps,” the email reads. “You must successfully complete each step of the process.” Let us know if you can make any sense of this…

You’ll also find the aforementioned poster art and teaser video below.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.”

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Look for Longlegs only in theaters on July 12.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

The post ‘Longlegs’ – New Teaser Video for NEON Horror Movie Is Soaked in Cryptic Eeriness appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.”

This first look at the movie doesn’t tell us much more about it than we already know, instead conveying an unsettling atmosphere that’s loaded up with mysterious visuals. We get several shots of Maika Monroe’s character (FBI Agent Lee Harker), a glimpse of a book exploring the Nine Circles of Hell, and even a person being killed from behind with an axe. Whatever’s going on here, Longlegs promises to be one of the most talked about horror movies of the year.

Watch the official Longlegs teaser trailer below. It’s in theaters July 12.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

The post ‘Longlegs’ Teaser Trailer – New Horror Movie from Osgood Perkins Dives into the Nine Circles of Hell appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Yes, those cryptic teasers we’ve been sharing across the last several weeks were all for Longlegs, and today we’ve been provided with four pieces of official poster art for the film.

The posters were debuted on social media by outlets including Letterboxd, ComicBook.com, Rotten Tomatoes, and Bloody Disgusting, and they were paired up with cryptic captions.

Check out all four posters below, along with the aforementioned captions…

The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.”

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) also star.

The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

The post ‘Longlegs’ – Four Eerie Posters Bring Us One Step Closer to Nicolas Cage Serial Killer Movie’s Trailer appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Coming soon from NEON, Longlegs is rated “R” for…

“Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”

Recently announced, Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) will join Maika Monroe (It Follows) and Nicolas Cage in the film.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.” And the official plot reveal lets us know that Nicolas Cage is playing a serial killer in this one.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

Producers are Nicolas Cage along with his production company Saturn Films (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig), Dan Kagan (Significant Other), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Dave Caplan (The End We Start From) and Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play).

The post ‘Longlegs’ – Upcoming Nicolas Cage Horror Movie Rated “R” for Bloody Violence and Disturbing Images appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Deadline reports today that Alicia Witt (“The Walking Dead”) and Blair Underwood (“American Crime Story”) have joined Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage in the film.

Longlegs is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.” And the official plot reveal lets us know that Nicolas Cage is playing a serial killer in this one.

In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). 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.”

C2 Motion Picture Group is producing and financing the feature.

Producers are Nicolas Cage along with his production company Saturn Films (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig), Dan Kagan (Significant Other), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Dave Caplan (The End We Start From) and Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play).

The post ‘Longlegs’ – Alicia Witt and Blair Underwood Join Nicolas Cage in Osgood Perkins Horror Movie appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.