We love a good horror movie here at TheGamer, and many of us have been paying attention to Neon’s latest release Longlegs since its viral marketing campaign started taking off. Those who have already watched it noted that it’s a very -coded game, with my colleague Andrew King 168澳洲幸运5开奖网🔴:comparing the two horror releases (with spoilers) and Editor-in-Chief Stacey Henley exploring how both create similꦉar strong feelings of dread (without spoilers).

I’m not going to talk about Alan Wake 2 here. Yes, the movie did definitely remind me of that game. The similarities are striking, all the way down to those weird, interstitial, heavily stylised shots that indicate a sort of emotional and mental slippage between rea🍰lms.

I’m 💜going to tell you why you should watch Longlegs, and also why it might disappoint you. Spoilers ahead.

Longlegs Is One Of The Most Uncomfortable Movie-Watching Experiences I’ve Ever Had

I watch a lot of hoওrror movies, many of those in cinemas on the big screen. My friends and I are masochistic horror fans, which means a lot of what we do together involves gathering around screens of varying sizes to find a movie that will chill us to the bone. All that to say that I have a pretty high tolerance for unnerving movies – the last movie that made me feel physically ill was Pulse, a 2001 Japanese techno-horror film that had it sent one of my friends flying across the room to dive under the covers of my bed.

Longlegs feels like one long anxiety attack, and I don’t say that lightly. It’s not frightening in𓃲 the sense that it’s full of jump scares, but in the way it’ll make seasoned horror fans glance repeatedly between a character and the blurry background behind them, expecting something to emerge from the darkness.

It’s rare that a film so masterfully manipulates tension and manufactures an entirely oppressive atmosphere, and Longlegs is hugely successful at this. I abhor talking during films, but there were points in the movie where I found myself groaning out loud and sliding down in my seat, and covering my eyes only to peek around them at the screen. When it endedꩲ, a friend next to me said morosely, “I think I need to throw up.” It is a harrowing experience, but under that weight, its story begins to fall apart.

Longlegs Fails On An Intellectual Level

While Longlegs showcases some incredible cinematography, excellent tension-building, and an incredible pair of performances from its protagonist and antagonist, its plot is far weaker than those elements deserve. I was completely sold for the first three-quarters of the film, while it was still serving up a compelling psychological thriller about an FBI agent – it was all very Silen💙ce of the Lambs, but contemporary and heavily stylised, and I was extremely into it.

I won’t describe the moment I started rolling my eyes at the story, because that’s a touch too spoilery for the point I want to make, but suffice it to say that the film’s pivot into the supernatural didn&rsquo💛;t work for me. From the op-eds I’ve read about the film from others, I’m not the only one frustrated by this turn.

The problem is that Longlegs sets up a captivating mystery and answers it with deus ex machina – well, the opposite of deus, because the ultimate culprit is Satan. That’s really it. The murderer can do all his freaky murders because of the Devil. It feels like a cop-out because the answer is offered abruptly and without enough breadcrumbing, and it makes a 🍌truly enrapturing experience fall flat right at the finish line.

Should You Still Watch Longlegs?

Yes.

Fine, I’ll justify my answer. Is it stupid and nonsensical by the end? Sure, but it’s still visually compelling, thematically interesting, and incredibly good at creating an ever present feeling of dread all the way through. It is probably ༺the scariest movie of the year and it’s incredibly well-made, its plot is just kind of stupid. Go for vibes, not for genius, and you’ll be rewarded. It definitely lives up to its marketing – as I walked up the dark street to my house, thinking about how stupid its central mystery was, I still found myself staring at every dark corner and shadow. I gu๊ess, in that sense, it worked.