Jakarta. The American film industry has been missing some good horror lately, and the upcoming “Longlegs” -- starring the critically acclaimed Nicolas Cage as the pale-faced serial killer of the same name -- is about to come to the rescue.

Written and directed by Osgood Perkins, “Longlegs” follows the 1990s set story of FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) who is in pursuit of a serial killer. The FBI has been trying to bring down the person behind a series of family killings. The modus operandi? All cases appear to be murder-suicides without any sign of forced entry by an intruder. There is always a letter -- with cryptic runes and signed “Longlegs”-- left at the crime scene. The families also have a daughter whose birthday falls on the 14th of any given month.

After having watched the movie in a screening, I can say that Perkins has made a stylish, well-executed horror. The camerawork, acting, storyline, sound, and even colors all come together perfectly. It is far from being a horror movie with subpar acting and story that we often see nowadays.

“Longlegs” opens with an old home movie-like shot of the young Lee (Lauren Acala) playing in the heavy snow. Longlegs makes his first appearance, but the movie only shows a partial glimpse of the messy-haired man with a face covered in white powder. You cannot exactly see his face clearly, but that shot will send chills down your spine.

White appears to be a key color in the movie --particularly in the interactions between Lee and Longlegs-- from the heavy snow, white country house, Longlegs’ pale face to what the characters wear. White is usually the symbol of peace and purity, but “Longlegs” has turned the color into something unsettling. Years after their first encounter, the adult Lee gets to interrogate Longlegs as an FBI agent. In this interrogation scene, almost everything is white: Lee’s shirt, the walls, Longlegs’ appearance. How everything is almost white feels like a callback to their past encounter in the heavy snow, before Longlegs smashes his head and has his red blood splattering across the room.

There are some splashes of vibrant colors here and there, as seen in what seems to be a vibrant-colored number generator test taken by Lee. As the story progresses, we keep seeing random shots of red snakes -- which also gave me quite a jump scare considering how they appeared out of the blue.

The amazing camerawork is what draws the audience into the horror. The switch in aspect ratios and the vintage-style filming also become the movie’s unique attributes.

Aside from the camerawork, “Longlegs” delivers quite a powerful story -- supported by great acting. 

It goes without saying that Cage has done an exceptional job as the satan-worshipping dollmaker -- so good that it is quite a nightmare fuel. Your typical thriller horror oftentimes focuses too much on the protagonist and how they plan on escaping from the big bad. Perkins did well by letting the audience take a peek at Longlegs’ daily “ordinary” life, as the bone-chilling killer goes shopping and rides his car, just like everybody else. 

Monroe does not get overshadowed by Cage in the acting department. Cage and Monroe make a great duo in one of my favorite scenes: the car ride. After being kicked out of the store, Longlegs rides his car with fury, screaming “Mommy! Daddy!” out of rage. In the later half of the film, we see Lee -- who is also on the verge of losing her mind -- reenacting the scene, also screaming inside her car. 

Alicia Witt, who plays Lee’s mother, Ruth, deserves a thumbs-up for her performance. At first, we can only hear her voice in phone calls. It is only until later that we learn that Ruth has been the accomplice all along -- posing as a nun to sneak a doll into the victim’s house that can hypnotize the father into murdering his family. And in every scene that Witt is in, the actress proves that she is meant for this role.

All in all “Longlegs” is a horror movie that you can tell is made with love and care. This dread-filled yet beautiful piece of work will soon hit Indonesian cinemas.

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