The serial killer horror thriller also stars ‘It Follows’ alum Maika Monroe.
THE BIG PICTURE
The intense teasers and posters for the film hint at a disturbing story involving Nicolas Cage as a deranged killer.
Longlegs is prioritizing immersive storytelling in its marketing campaign, creating a terrifying and thought-provoking experience for viewers.
Horror fans have been eating well in 2024 so far with a great blend of sub-genre offerings. However, this summer, things are about to take an extremely dark turn with the release of Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs.
The serial killer nightmare from Neon has already had an iconic marketing campaign with a handful of disturbing posters and teasers. Now, the film’s latest cryptic teaser comes with a second puzzling message for Maika Monroe to solve as she tries to hunt down Nicolas Cage’s deranged killer.
The short teaser titled “Dirty: Part Two,” is an intense collage of shots and thick atmospheric sequences. Layered over the footage is the message, “Listen loud the serpents, see the darkness slithering, tell me what good is that body, if not for hiding shiny red parts.”
The story revolves around new FBI recruit Agent Lee Harker (Monroe), who’s been assigned the unsolved case of a deadly serial killer (Cage) still on the lam. However, if you’re a fresh FBI agent chasing a serial killer in a horror movie, it’s not bound to go well — just ask Jodie Foster.
Monroe plays a detective hunting down Nicolas Cage’s demented serial killer in the ominous new horror film.
As Harker tries to save another family from this killer’s wrath, known as “the man downstairs” in this trailer, she learns she has a shocking connection to his horrific game. While this is another very vague trailer, it does give us a bit more to chew on with Cage’s character seemingly holding a little girl hostage.
Horror fans also get another tease of Cage’s eerie voice with the line that closes out the footage: “ There she is.” The villain is seen from the back at a table with someone in the companion poster for the new teaser. Whether that’s Monroe questioning Cage or the missing girl in question is still a mystery.
Horror Movie Marketing Is a Killer Game
There have been a ton of great horror marketing campaigns in recent memory. In the last year alone, M3GAN, Scream VI, and Evil Dead Rise come to mind. However, Longlegs has taken the genre’s marketing game to the next level just by letting Perkins’ emotionally destructive imagery, along with the soul-crushing sound design, do the talking.
It has made the horror community feel a part of the investigation as we know just as much about this killer — if not less — as Monroe’s character. That’s a scary thought, to say the least.
While Longlegs will most likely receive a more traditional trailer before its theatrical release, these dreadful yet thought-provoking puzzle pieces are what the lead-up to Longlegs will be remembered for.
Most horror films would bank on the fact that their film stars horror icons like Monroe (It Follows, Watcher) and Cage (Renfield, Mandy), but that doesn’t seem to be Longlegs‘ concern. Their priority lies in immersing us in the characters and the traumatic world that surrounds them.
Longlegs is releasing in theaters on July 12, 2024. Until then, you can view the new teaser above and the poster below if you dare. The way this latest warning message ends makes it feel like we’ll be getting a third clue with another riddle to solve soon, so stay tuned at Collider for more!
