LONGLEGS : Tuesday 23rd July 2024.

I saw the MA15+ rated 'LONGLEGS' at my local multiplex earlier this week, and this American horror film is Written and Directed by Osgood Perkins, whose prior feature film credits take in his debut with 'The Blackcoat's Daughter' in 2015, then 'I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House' in 2016, 'Gretel & Hansel' in 2020 with 'The Monkey' based on a 1980 short story by Stephen King set for a cinema release in February 2025. Released in the US last week, this film has garnered generally positive reviews and has so far grossed US$59M off the back of a production budget of less than US$10M. 

The film opens with car driving along a snow covered road and coming to halt outside a remote house. It is Oregon, sometime in the 1970's. A little girl observes the car, puts on a winter jacket and goes outside to investigate. She follows a strange voice coming from behind the house and is confronted by a man wearing pale makeup and long white straggly hair who is acting erratically. 

We then fast forward to sometime in the 1990's, and newly recruited FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) seems to posses the gift of intuition in the field, as is evidenced when she correctly points to a local house on a cookie-cutter estate in which a murderer is hiding, and whom she captures, but not before the murderer had gunned down Agent Horatio Fisk (Dakota Daulby), Harker's partner while he was conducting a routine house to house enquiry.

As a result of her testing for possible precognition she is assigned to a decades-long case of a series of brutal murder/suicides involving families throughout Oregon state. In each incident, the father brutally murdered his wife and children before taking his own life, and left behind at each crime scene a letter with cryptic, seemingly Satanic coding, that is signed 'Longlegs'. The handwriting belongs to none of the victims, despite no forensic evidence of any home invasion or third parties having been present.

While Harker is talking on the phone one night to her mother, she is visited by a mysterious figure who leaves behind a 9th birthday card with a coded message. Harker decodes the text with the aid of a Bible, which states that if she reveals to anyone how she figured out the code, Longlegs will kill her mother. Harker is able to quickly connect certain similarities between the families, namely that each had at least one nine-year-old daughter born on the 14th of the month, and the murders all occurred within six days before or after the birthday itself. When scribed out on a linear calendar, the dates of the murders form an occult symbol of an inverted triangle, with one date missing to complete the shape. 

Armed with a clue, Harker and her supervisor, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) travel to a remote farmstead some eighty miles away and there upstairs in a barn, unearth a doll buried under the floorboards of one of the former crime scenes. A forensics expert performs an autopsy on the life size and realistic looking doll and inside its head, find a strange metal orb that emits high energy sounds despite being empty inside. Despite Carter's skepticism of the supernatural, Harker hatches a theory that each family received a similar doll from Longlegs, and he has been infusing the orbs within each doll with some sort of evil energy that can possess and influence those in close proximity to it. Carter grows concerned that Harker is connected to Longlegs after seeing hints of Longlegs' knowledge of Harker and her mother Ruth (Alicia Witt).

Harker visits her mother who still lives in the same home that she grew up in, who denies any memory of her daughters 9th birthday but subtly directs her to search through her childhood belongings, as she never throws anything out. Harker finds a chest in her childhood bedroom containing a pile of Polaroids. Among them is a picture of the pale-faced man, revealing her to be the girl from the films introduction. Knowing now that she was visited by Longlegs (Nicolas Cage, who also Co-Produces here), she hands the picture over to Carter, allowing the FBI to track him down and arrest him at a bus stop with two suitcases containing letters written in the same Satanic code.

After realising the missing date on the inverted triangle is that day, Harker believes Longlegs may have an accomplice. In the interrogation room, he tells her that he serves 'the man downstairs'. He tells Harker to question her mother's involvement in his crimes, proclaiming 'Hail Satan' before repeatedly slamming his face and jaw into the metal table, finally killing himself after splintering open his forehead and nose. 

Agent Carter is somewhat distressed that Harker's line of questioning led Longlegs to kills himself so bringing their investigations to a premature end. Agent Browning (Michelle Choi-Lee) seeing that Harker is in no fit state to drive herself, drives Harker back to her mother's home. While investigating the house, Harker witnesses her mother unloading with both barrels of a shotgun on Browning who was waiting patiently in the car for Harker to return. Harker then stumbles to a back yard and sees Ruth shooting the head off a doll resembling a young nine-year-old Harker, causing her to lose consciousness.

Seen in flashback, it is revealed that Ruth has been Longlegs' accomplice ever since Lee's encounter with him as a child. Longlegs returned in the night to attack and subdue Ruth, forcing her to make a choice—let her daughter be murdered as part of the ritual, or to comply with his wishes to spare her. She complied, leaving Lee to be the missing birthday on the triangle. Longlegs has lived in the Harker house basement ever since, creating dolls he would infuse with his Satanic magic. Ruth would pose as a nun delivering a gift from the church to bring the dolls to the families who are then possessed and proceed to kill one another. Lee's doll has been guiding her with the Satanic influence of Longlegs since that time.

Coming around in the basement to the sound of a distant phone ringing, Harker makes her way upstairs to the kitchen and answers the phone to hear a demonic voice proclaim, 'You're late for Ruby's party'. Realising Agent Carter's daughter, Ruby (Ava Kelders), has her ninth birthday that day and that the Carters' deaths would complete Longlegs' triangle, Harker races over to the Carter household to intervene, only to discover that Ruth had already delivered the doll to the family, who are all already possessed. After Carter murders his wife in the kitchen, Harker shoots and kills Carter to protect Ruby. Ruth stands up maniacally brandishing a dagger, leaving Harker little option but to shoot and kill her mother with a bullet to the forehead. Harker tries to shoot the doll's head, but her gun is either out of ammunition or it jams. She then tells Ruby they need to leave but remains transfixed on the doll. 

With 'Longlegs' Director and scribe Osgood Perkins has crafted a chilling and thrilling slow burn police procedural horror film that is akin to 'Silence of the Lambs' with a little bit of 'Se7en' thrown in for good measure, and his film succeeds on almost every level. Maika Monroe's performance is a stand-out and Nicolas Cage still has what it takes to play the gonzo bat-shit crazy unhinged role that this film requires. The film mixes the supernatural with the psychological all woven together in a neat package that is at once terrifying, creepy and will crawl under your skin and hibernate there long after the end credits have rolled. 

'Longlegs' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 18th July 2024.

This years Fantasia International Film Festival opens on Thursday 18th July and runs through until Sunday 4th August. The official website reads that this year the 'Festival will celebrate its 28th edition. Located in the heart of beautiful Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Fantasia is a cultural and professional destination point, and since its first edition, the festival’s ever-growing popularity has attracted the attention of the international film industry alongside a legion of attendees from across the world. Every facet of the filmmaking chain is increasingly represented with in-person delegates at the festival: Directors, Actors, Producers, studio representatives, distributors and festival programmers, who get to experience the legendarily enthusiastic, taste-making audience of Fantasia'. The Festival focuses on niche, low budget movies in various genres, from horror to sci-fi, and its mission is to promote genre, anti-Hollywood cinema and assist independent filmmakers.

This years Opening Film and World Premiere showcasing is the family comedy 'Bookworm' Co-Written and Directed by New Zealander Ant Timpson and starring Elijah Wood and Nell Fisher in this film about a washed-up illusionist and his long estranged precocious daughter who venture out into the New Zealand wilderness in search of a mythical black panther. The Closing Film and also a World Premiere screening is the comedy drama 'Ababooned' Co-Written and Directed by Canadian Andre Forcier and centres on a conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and a young team of baseball players in 1950's Montreal.

Fourteen feature films this year are in the main competition, The Cheval Noir, these being :-

* '4PM' - from South Korea, this thriller is Directed by Jay Song.

* 'Ababooned' - from Canada, this drama, comedy fantasy is Directed by Andre Forcier. World Premiere.

* 'Le Comte de Monte-Cristo' - from France, this action thriller is Written and Directed by Alexandre De la Patelliere and Matthieu Delaporte.

* 'Confession' - from Japan, this thriller is Directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita.

* 'Electrophilia' - from Argentina and Chile, this drama fantasy is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Lucia Puenzo.

* 'In Our Blood' - from the USA, this drama horror thriller is Directed by Pedro Kos. World Premiere.

* 'Infinite Summer' - from Estonia and Spain and Written and Directed by Miguel Llanso. World Premiere.

* 'Mash Ville' - from South Korea, this comedy action Western is Co-Written and Directed by Wook Hwang. World Premiere.

* 'Out of the Shadow' - from Hong Kong, this martial arts action comedy drama is Directed by Ricky Ko.

* 'Parvulos' - from Mexico, this horror fantasy is Co-Written and Directed by Isaac Ezban. World Premiere.

* 'Penalty Loop' - from Japan, this drama thriller is Written and Directed by Shinji Araki. 

* 'Rita' - from Guatemala, this drama fantasy is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jayro Bustamante. World Premiere.

* 'A Samurai in Time' - from Japan, this comedy Sci-fi is Written, Co-Produced, Directed, lensed and Edited by Junichi Yasuda. 

* 'Steppenwolf' - from Kazakhstan, this action thriller is Written and Directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov.

For the other competitive film strands, plus details of the juries presiding over the competitions and special events including the Artist Talk with Director, Writer and Editor Mike Flanagan, you can go to the official website at : https://fantasiafestival.com/en

Turning attention to this weeks latest releases, we kick start with a couple of horror offerings beginning with an FBI agent in pursuit of a serial killer, who uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree. This is then followed by a movie centering around a giant arachnid who has a taste for human flesh, and it seems that only a twelve year old girl who raised the tiny spiderling initially, knows how to stop it. Next up is an Aussie mystery thriller that follows a soon-to-be-married couple who invite their closest friends to a remote country property for a night of pre-wedding shenanigans, but the evening starts to take a feral turn when alarming details of their relationship are exposed. Then we turn to a German and French production about a music journalist who accompanies her father, a charmingly stubborn Holocaust survivor, on a journey to his homeland, and while she's eager to make sense of her family's past, her dad has an agenda of his own; before closing out the week with a French offering about a widowed British businessman who takes a job as butler of a manor house in France, but his life takes a turn as he navigates the eccentric behaviour of the lady of the manor and the household staff.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'LONGLEGS' (Rated MA15+) - this American horror film is Written and Directed by Osgood Perkins whose prior feature film credits take in his debut with 'The Blackcoat's Daughter' in 2015, then 'I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House' in 2016, 'Gretel & Hansel' in 2020 with 'The Monkey' based on a 1980 short story by Stephen King set for a cinema release in February 2025. Released in the US last week, this film has garnered generally positive reviews and has so far grossed US$25M off the back of a production budget of less than US$10M. 

FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) 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, known as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage, who also Co-Produces here), and must stop him before he strikes again. Also starring Alicia Witt and Blair Underwood. 

'STING' (Rated MA15+) - is an Australian and US horror thriller film Written, Directed and Co-Edited by Kiah Roache-Turner whose first feature film was 'Wyrmwood : Road of the Dead' in 2014 and which she would follow up with 'Nekrotonic' in 2018 and 'Wyrmwood : Apocalypse' in 2021. Filmed in Australia, the story here is that after raising what at first seems like a perfectly innocent little spider as a pet, twelve year old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) must face the harsh reality about her pet, and fight for her family's survival, when the once-charming creature very quickly mutates into a giant, flesh-eating monster. Also starring Ryan Corr, Penelope Mitchell, Noni Hazelhurst and Robyn Nevin. The film was released Stateside in mid-April, in the UK at the end of May and has so far taken US$2.3M at the Box Office and has generated mixed or average reviews. 

'BIRDEATER' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian mystery thriller is Written, Directed and Co-Executive Produced by Jack Clark and Jim Weir in their feature film making debuts. Here then, a bride-to-be Irene (Shabana Azeez) is invited to join her own fiance Louie's (Mackenzie Fearnley) bachelor party on a remote property somewhere in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare. The film has generated much positive buzz so far.

'TREASURE' (Rated M) - this German and French Co-Produced tragicomedy film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Julia von Heinz whose previous feature film credits include 'Nothing Else Matters' in 2007, 'Hannah's Journey' in 2013 and 'And Tomorrow the Entire World' in 2020. Based on the 1999 novel 'Too Many Men' by Lily Brett, this film is set in 1990, and tells the story of an American journalist Ruth (Lena Dunham) who travels to Poland with her father Edek (Stephen Fry) to visit the places from his childhood. But Edek, a Holocaust survivor, resists reliving his trauma and sabotages the trip creating unintentionally funny situations. It was selected in the Berlinale Special Gala section at this years Berlin International Film Festival and was screened in mid-February, released in the US in mid-June having so far taken US$743K at the Box Office and has garnered mixed or average reviews at best.

'MR. BLAKE AT YOUR SERVICE' (Rated PG) - is a French comedy drama film that is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Gilles Legardinier, is based on the Director's own novel 'Completely Burnt Out!' and is also his feature Directorial debut. Here, Mr. Andrew Blake (John Malkovich), a recently widowed British businessman, takes a job as a butler in a manor house in northern France, in a bid to get closer to the memory of his late French wife. His life takes an unexpected turn as he navigates the eccentric behaviour of Nathalie (Fanny Ardant) his new widowed boss, and the other household staff. The film saw its US premiere showcasing at the Newport Beach Film Festival in mid-October last year and only now does it get a release here in Australia having so far grossed about US$1.6M, having generated mixed or average reviews. 

With five new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-