Longlegs

Name: Longlegs
Director: Oz Perkins
Released: 2024
Cast: Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Nicolas Cage

Transcript

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Lee Good evening and welcome to Horror. I'm Lee.

Chris I'm Chris.

Adam I'm Adam.

Lee And as promised, we are here this evening to discuss 2024's Longlegs.

Lee there will be swearing, there will be spoilers, there will be confusion.

Adam There will be possible controversy, but we shall see.

Lee So,

Lee Chris, as this is your first viewing of the film today, what do you make of Longlegs?

Chris Yeah, well, you mentioned confusion there, preamble.

Chris There's a slight, I mean,

Chris sometimes when we watch these films, I think, am I getting thicker?

Chris It's quite possible I am, so that would be an explanation.

Chris and I'd take that one.

Chris However, like,

Chris you know, you follow it all the way through.

Chris and we got to try not to spoil.

Chris But

Lee Now, it's fine.

Lee I think at this point we can say

Adam We'll spoil away on this one, it's not going to

Lee Oh, right.

Lee Anyone who hasn't seen it, stop now, go and watch it.

Lee I am 100% convinced it's going to be a recommend from all of us.

Lee so definitely go and watch it and then return.

Lee to spoil away, Chris, you're good to go.

Chris Okay.

Adam Oh, we're it's a big enough film, we're not going to get Nicholas Cage is gonna send us the link and then moan.

Chris You just pre-spoiled my spoiler that I didn't even know Nicholas Cage was in this and I was like

Adam That's that's kind of fun. Wow, that's a

Lee shot in the fucking dark if you don't see that one coming.

Chris It might have even taken me a little while to realize it was him.

Adam Yeah.

Chris Because

Adam like Samuel L. Jackson.

Chris well, yeah.

Adam I I prefer to think of him as a sort of albino version of Tiny Tim.

Lee Yes.

Lee Tim, through the tulips.

Chris But

Chris but wait, is he actually albino or

Adam He's wearing porcelain style makeup. Yeah.

Lee Okay.

Adam Let's face it, Chris, who the fuck knows?

Chris Yeah.

Lee Nobody involved in this film, I'm sure.

Lee But it doesn't suffer for it, if you're honest.

Chris

Chris So, other things I've learned, spoilers, check people's IDs when they come into psychiatric hospitals.

Chris sounds like a good idea that.

Adam I'm glad.

Adam I'm glad you've mentioned that because there's so

Adam although there's quite a big, there's a there's quite a big cast list, but actually of intergal speaking roles, there's not actually that many key figures in the film.

Adam But that guy who's like the head of the psychiatric hospital, Oh, he's fucking brilliant.

Lee Yeah.

Adam And it's like, yeah, that that guy's in there for one scene and he's perfect.

Adam I fucking love that bit.

Adam When he's just so sort of vague and a bit so

Adam and sort of camp and

Chris Oh, I wasn't here that day, but let's have a look in the logs.

Chris Oh, look, it was you that came here.

Chris Okay.

Chris Yeah, so like, so there must be quite a bit more going on with this.

Chris No, I,

Chris so the other thing I had no idea about was that it looks like it's based on possibly a real world or it seems like it's taken from real world serial killers in parts.

Adam It takes a bit, mostly it takes a bit from Zodiac, and the Zodiac killer is still unsolved, they've still not

Adam but the main thing that came from the Zodiac killer was that he would

Adam send cryptic puzzles to the to the police and to newspapers.

Adam And interestingly enough, they even have the thing in this that he's got like poor grammar and spelling.

Adam Because that was what happened with Zodiac is actually the reason that some of the I think only one of like one of them only got solved about three years ago or something like that.

Adam even though the case was sort of 70s.

Adam But because this guy was being really clever and writing all these cryptic messages

Adam and you'd have to find the cipher and you can decipher it.

Adam it's like, yeah, it's a lot easier to decipher if you can spell correctly.

Adam if you're a passer.

Chris Yeah, yeah.

Adam And it's similarly, so they even include that in there.

Adam So I think Zodiac's definitely in there.

Adam There's an element of like BTK where it's like wiping out a whole family.

Adam and they mention like cult behavior because of like Manson and stuff like that.

Adam because obviously the the mystery is, well how is he doing this without actually being there?

Chris Doing it himself. Yeah.

Chris Which that is still a mystery to me in a sense.

Chris Because there's the obvious answer, but that doesn't quite seem enough.

Chris Because why would it have continued?

Adam Well, I I think the thing is is that certainly, and the thing that I I really enjoyed about this film was having loved, I mean, obviously Silence of the Lambs is a real big

Chris Right. thing on it.

Adam Yeah.

Chris Well, and Seven. I thought it was going to get

Chris as dark as that, but with

Chris more children. I was like, this is going to be awful.

Chris Like, this is going to be so hard to watch and it didn't go there.

Chris It was a lot more mainly focused on her journey.

Adam Well, because fortunately, it then it takes the it takes the turn because you because those films as like when we discussed seven as we said, it's like

Adam it's a police procedural dressed up as a horror film.

Adam And

Chris But yeah, it's pretty full on.

Adam It's a horror film dressed as a police procedural.

Adam So it tricks you into that feeling that you're in a sort of Silence of the Lambs Seven sort of.

Adam And then the rug pull is and and you've got like Agent Carter spends the whole time saying, oh, it's not voodoo, it's not all this.

Chris Yeah.

Adam Even though, even though he does seem to be quite pleased that she's kind of psychic.

Lee Yeah.

Adam Do you know what I mean?

Adam It's like, you can't you can't have it both ways, Agent Carter, I don't think you can be like that sort of dismissive of, you know,

Adam if you're going to be, well, maybe she's a psychic, that's how she can find people.

Adam But equally, you can't then just go, no, that's absolutely crap. There's there's got to be a reality to it.

Adam Whereas actually the turnaround on it is that it's this is, you know, this is genuinely a cult.

Chris Yeah.

Adam We've asked that they're trying to fucking investigate like a straightforward murder.

Adam So,

Adam Which in in many ways kind of is

Adam there's elements of that with Zodiac. I'm not for one moment suggesting that the Zodiac crimes were in any way supernatural or

Chris But it does make you feel

Adam But they they developed that sort of notoriety and

Chris Okay.

Adam aura around them.

Adam And especially because he's not been he was never captured.

Chris Right.

Adam He was never found.

Adam So, and there's sort of like, like there were reports

Adam where he would tell like one of the letters that he wrote was saying that he was like

Adam identifying stuff that was taking place at the crime scene when they were investigating.

Adam So they were like, well, he was obviously there when that took place.

Chris Yeah.

Adam So why didn't we find him?

Adam Why didn't we spot him?

Adam And so you get these sort of weird, you know, it then mythologizes.

Chris Yeah, it's hard. Yeah.

Adam Yeah, and goes like that.

Adam And I think it's kind of like that almost plays into that side of it.

Adam But this is without a shadow of a doubt.

Adam supernatural.

Chris Yeah.

Adam Voodoo bullshit to quote the thing.

Adam You know.

Chris So that's why, so he's yeah, so he's convinced her mum to be involved and she is fully involved now.

Adam Yeah.

Chris Like pretty much on board with it as in it needs to play out no matter what.

Adam Yeah and it's it's sort of feels a bit like what's it like Stockholm Syndrome thing almost?

Chris Yes, right. Yeah.

Adam And and but also as you watch it, you realize that Harker, like Lee might be in because obviously

Chris Well, that's so yeah, I thought it would be her doing it.

Adam Yeah, oh, I see. Yeah.

Lee Okay.

Chris So I thought she was going to be way more involved than she realized she was, but yeah, go on.

Adam But I think because because she sort of certainly initially with the first sort of like time you watch it,

Adam she comes across that you think, oh, is she like

Adam maybe like on the spectrum in that she's sort of like, you know,

Chris Yeah.

Adam she doesn't have sort of social skills, interpersonal skills and things like that.

Adam But she's obviously brilliant at what she does and, you know,

Chris Yeah.

Adam But then you sort of relate that back to the fact that Longlegs has apparently been living in the basement since she was a kid.

Adam And it's like, oh, is this trauma response?

Lee Yes.

Adam Or is this mind control?

Lee See that's what I got. I thought the whole way through I was like, she's clearly got some form of PTSD.

Lee So something has happened somewhere.

Lee But yeah, I didn't realize that it was going to turn out that she was as integral in the investigation she's been brought into look at as she ended up being.

Adam And because the curious thing is as well, because I it was only watching it this time around that I suddenly sort of thought of it is because obviously the whole what the the mechanics of it that I can see are

Adam Longlegs builds a doll that is the image of a child who's born on the 14th, yeah, the Ruth takes it round or before Ruth, presumably just Longlegs takes it round and here's a present.

Adam They take it in, it's filled with.

Chris Wasn't she the first one?

Adam No, I don't think she is because they actually back it dates back to the 60s, I think they say in the

Chris Okay.

Adam Because this is because it's set in 95.

Chris Right.

Adam and otherwise that'd be really weird to have Bill Clinton on your wall, wouldn't it?

Lee Yeah.

Adam He just be like, yeah, no, I just think I just thought he was a good saxophonist, okay?

Adam You know, what's your problem?

Adam But

Adam yeah, and so I think the so like Longlegs basically builds the the builds the the doll.

Lee Yeah.

Adam The sphere contains his demonic energy or possibly some form of capturing the soul of the Because the golden orb is like, that's a old ancient

Adam artifacts like for sort of like trapping of souls and things like that in certain mythologies and stuff.

Adam And so presumably the doll turns up, the doll essentially replaces the child in the father's eyes.

Adam And that's why the fathers are all like, that's not my daughter, like when you hear the 911 call from one of them and it's like, that's not my daughter.

Adam So they don't recognize the actual real child anymore.

Chris Yeah.

Adam The mother attempts to defend, the mother gets killed and then the child gets killed.

Adam And

Adam I wondered, is the reason that Longlegs sort of interesting enough, Cuckoos his way into the Harker house,

Adam is because there wasn't a father.

Chris Right.

Lee Oh, yes.

Adam There wasn't anyone to to perpetrate the the plan, you know, to effect in that sense.

Adam So, I don't know if that's like, you know, that's why Longlegs could would infiltrated their home.

Chris Yeah.

Adam And sort of became part of that, he essentially becomes the father.

Adam And yeah, very it's yeah, some very

Chris Yeah, well, interspersed with the the the singing and some somewhat different styles.

Chris Yeah.

Chris And you're trying to work out what does any of that mean anything particularly or is it just a sign of his being essentially somewhat insane, I suppose?

Lee So is it part of an actual ritual or is it just a serial killer's

Adam Yeah.

Chris personality coming out.

Chris Yeah. the words are actually him saying actual words sometimes about either what's happened or

Chris cause that's what he says to yeah.

Lee So that's what he says Lee's mum.

Lee Yeah.

Lee I'm going to come back as many times I want.

Lee But we never see the deciphered letters, which is interesting.

Lee So you never find out what the coded letters actually say apart from the one the one that she decodes which is her birthday card.

Chris Yeah. yeah.

Lee And the first line of the other card, but again, we don't see her open it and decipher the rest of what's in it.

Adam Well, there's some really helpfully, there is, well, for a start, there's a website.

Adam which is, I want to get the right,

Adam the right thing for it. Yeah, there's a website called

Adam the birthday murders.net.

Adam And it's an in universe website that they built for the film and it was actually put up before the film came out.

Lee Wow.

Adam And it is it's fucking beautiful because it's set in 1995.

Adam It looks like a fucking Geo City's.

Chris Yeah.

Adam Like, you know, it's that it just looks absolutely perfect for when the Internet was text based and so you've got the you've got murder pictures on there.

Adam And the best thing about it is it includes murders that they don't include in the film.

Lee Oh.

Adam Because it's like people have got some murders wrong.

Lee Right.

Adam They've mixed it in because they're just other unsolved murders.

Adam So they've put those in there, but interestingly enough, the camera family aren't on the website because the camera family doesn't follow the pattern because the girl survived.

Lee Yeah.

Adam So the people who are doing the birthday murders haven't put two and two to like made this website, haven't been able to put two and two together that that's actually what happened.

Lee Genius.

Adam And it's so cool but on there, they've got the they've got sort of like they've they give you like some of the translations of some of the cryptic messages and stuff like that.

Lee Okay.

Adam And so there's stuff from the Book of Revelation, like on the sands of the sea and things like that, which is in the birthday card and stuff.

Adam There's also quotes from a poem called Satan Says, which is a poem by Sharon Olds and it's about a girl who's locked in a cedarwood box by the devil.

Adam and made to say like blasphemies about her parents in order to be released.

Chris But he doesn't

Adam But he doesn't release her.

Chris No.

Adam And that's He's a bit of a devil, that one.

Lee Yeah, he is.

Adam He's a cheeky he's a cheeky fella.

Lee He's a cheeky.

Adam Yeah.

Adam And so but there I've been watching

Adam and to to the point of there's a I will I will say that there is a video on YouTube

Adam by someone called Mr. Hunteru, that's MR HUNTERU.

Adam And it's called Longlegs, The Birthday Murders ARG, the terrifying marketing explained.

Adam Because and this.

Adam And this is a couple who've put this video up, it's about an hour and 40.

Adam They did the video before the film came out.

Adam They did it from the teaser stuff from the birthday murders website.

Adam The amount of shit they hit right for the film.

Lee Oh, really?

Adam Because obviously, you know,

Adam is it's it's impressive.

Adam And like I say, I've never seen

Adam any of this, I've never seen any of these people's other videos, so I don't know, you know, quite

Adam I don't know who they are, but this video looks is pretty fucking amazing.

Adam And genuinely worth having a watch.

Chris Yeah.

Adam and to to be honest, it was just the fact that they was because it was only like what as I was watching it,

Adam it was like, I realized that they would this was a pre this was pre the film coming out.

Adam because it basically ends with their theories of what they think the film will feature.

Lee Yeah.

Adam But actually it's like, holy shit, you're hitting upon stuff.

Adam And it's like from trailers where they're going, oh yeah, you see a golden orb in her hand for a second.

Adam but the golden orb could be there and and you know, making sort of connections about doll makers and evil Jepetto and satanic worship.

Chris Yeah.

Adam They keep mentioning the serpents and obviously that's a thing that keeps appearing as a very like a flash frame thing whenever, you know, there's like nest of vipers essentially, you know.

Adam And no, they've done a incredible job of that.

Adam But the birthday murders like the actual website is just a thing of beauty.

Adam And I didn't realize this, but there was like a whole like the first bit of marketing they did for Longlegs,

Adam is they just put up a billboard and it was just like a a real sort of angular close-up of a bit of Nicholas Cage's face.

Adam and a phone number.

Adam And you found it and it was just a a 30 second recording of like him.

Adam Yeah, nuttering.

Adam yeah.

Adam mumbling like a nutter in a room for 30 seconds.

Chris Yeah.

Chris I wonder what he's made of

Chris of this film.

Chris Because he does make some crazy films, but this

Chris I suppose he hasn't has he played a role quite like this?

Adam Well, apparently, he said that this is it.

Adam He's this is the only serial killer he will play.

Adam because I think he's been asked to do it.

Chris Because he's played crazy people go around doing bad stuff, but yeah, this is definitely a little bit.

Lee This is perfect casting, isn't it? We've said it before with Nicholas Cage, when you get him in the wrong role, it's awful.

Lee but if you put him in the right role, nobody else could have done anywhere near as good a job and this is one of those absolute instances.

Lee It's fantastic.

Lee He's just.

Lee It makes you feel unwell watching him. He's so uncomfortable.

Chris Yeah.

Lee and sinister and just raw.

Adam Incredible.

Adam The weirdest thing is as well is that usually when you get some because I I feel that to to be honest, I feel this is quite an iconic film.

Adam An iconic horror film.

Adam I think this is, you know, Oz Perkins is knocking it out the fucking park.

Adam And actually, have you seen the Blackcoat's Daughter or February?

Adam I can't remember.

Adam Yeah.

Adam very, they link so much to this because

Adam there's all the way through this.

Adam And it's very difficult to spot.

Adam It was only like rewatching it.

Adam And obviously, Chris, you got it for me on Blu-ray, you beautiful, beautiful man.

Adam And so I was able to watch it in.

Chris All the details.

Adam Well,

Adam because a good sort of 10 or 12 times in the film, the devil's in the background. There is a giant beast with fucking horns.

Lee I saw it once.

Adam Looming in the background.

Adam Yeah.

Adam But he's in there quite a few times.

Adam And the the weirdest thing is, the way to watch for it is in the sort of usually it's in wider shots and it's usually when it's Harker on her own.

Adam though he does appear in like Longlegs basement as well and stuff like that.

Adam But usually, if you're watching a scene, if you notice a bit of the if you notice a bit of the background suddenly get lighter, that's because he's disappeared.

Chris Oh.

Adam So rather than it appear.

Chris Yeah.

Adam They show you the scene and then slowly a bit of the shadow falls away and you go, hang on, there was something there.

Adam And when you look back at it, and a lot of the time, the only thing you can see is like the sort of McDonald's M of his horns because they're white and the rest of him is just in darkness.

Chris

Adam And but it's very but the trouble is is that I'm I'm watching it yesterday like fucking Ghost Watch then.

Lee Yeah.

Adam Like he was pipes, I'm just like, was that was that him?

Adam No, no, that was, oh, no, I think that was me.

Adam Like reflected back in the TV or something.

Lee That's the thing with this film, that gives me another reason to go back and rewatch it because although I literally finished watching it about an hour ago,

Lee I feel I could definitely sit down and watch this again tomorrow and enjoy every minute of it just as much.

Chris Yeah, they've clearly put a lot of details in it.

Lee It's so much stuff.

Chris Try to work out, yeah, what references are in there.

Chris I mean, I was wondering a bit about why particularly it was a a religious like, as if you've won something from the church.

Chris I mean, I figured maybe that is just a that's an easy way to convince people particularly in America.

Lee Wouldn't question a nun.

Adam Well, she is the trope, isn't it? A nun, a nurse, ironically, a policeman, you know,

Adam there's sort of like the the type of people that because funnily enough, that's what Zodiac used to do.

Adam is he used to approach cars claiming to be a policeman.

Chris Yeah, right.

Adam And stuff like that and then he just shoot and shoot people in cars and things like that.

Adam So he was just he was statutory policeman that we need to

Lee Oh, yeah, exactly.

Chris Yeah.

Chris Progress is made somewhat.

Adam not quite sure.

Lee I we've got to say the casting on this is excellent as well.

Lee I mean, so obviously as we said Nicholas Cage is perfect in his role.

Lee Agent Carter is fantastic.

Chris Yeah, it's great.

Lee Lee Harker who I remembered from It Follows was as we say played that kind of PTSD hidden very academic, very focused, just not perfect.

Lee I didn't know Alicia Witt played her mother until just now when I opened up the IMDb for this.

Adam Really?

Adam Because that was the thing is I knew I knew because

Adam I love Alicia Witt, she's fucking amazing.

Lee Yeah, I do.

Adam And she was in like I follow her on Instagram and she was like,

Adam oh I've had my hair cut from Longlegs and it was the first I heard that she was in Longlegs.

Adam And I was like, oh,

Adam probably not that much of a, you know, maybe she's just in it or whatever like that.

Adam Yeah, that turned out to be, it was like, oh, no, this is actually, yeah, a fucking proper role.

Adam I mean, basically

Adam we I was discussing with Claire, is it a good couples' Halloween costume?

Adam You know, you can go Longlegs and and Ruth, you know.

Lee So that's a good call.

Lee but also Kiernan Shipka as well.

Adam Yeah.

Lee Like such a fantastic actor.

Lee Like obviously, really liked her in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Lee I thought she was really good in that.

Lee but yeah, then to sit and and again, the the film she did before this, which was called I've brought it up and then subsequently minimized it again.

Lee I'll totally killer.

Lee Which was a slasher film, a time travel slasher film where she went back to the '80s.

Adam Oh, yes.

Lee And it was a comedy one.

Lee It was excellent and she was so good.

Lee Because obviously she's a little bit funny in Sabrina, but that was full on comedy.

Lee And then to go from that to that's only a very small role in this, but like super dark and serious.

Adam And and she was in The Blackcoat's Daughter as well, who's fucking amazing in that.

Adam So, you know, there's fun with it.

Adam But I mean, Alicia Witt, I don't know if you recognized, do you know Alicia Witt, Chris? Because

Chris No.

Adam She is her first film role is she is the little girl in June.

Chris Oh.

Adam You know, David Lynch's June, little little

Chris Yeah.

Adam A a Leia or Aaliyah. I can't remember.

Adam But, yeah.

Adam And

Chris Oh, that's cool.

Adam But she's also.

Chris I'm the only one who likes that that film.

Adam No, you're not the only one who likes that.

Adam It's

Adam But the film I've been trying to track down.

Adam She was in a film called Fun.

Adam Which was like it was like 19 it's like '94 or '95.

Lee He's '94, I can see you.

Adam '94, thank you.

Adam And it's her and another girl and basically they're sort of like they both bunk off school,

Adam like sort of meet up and just sort of like spend the day sort of gradually daring each other to do more and more extreme things like shoplifting and everything.

Adam And by the end of it, they've killed an old woman.

Chris Yeah.

Adam Okay.

Adam And it veers between the foot there's footage of her of the two girls being interrogated by the police.

Adam All done in black and white and very documentary style.

Adam And then them reflecting back on the day is all done in color.

Adam and he's really sort of vibrant and vivid and everything else like that.

Adam And it's just an amazing film.

Chris That sounds like it would work really well.

Adam Yeah.

Adam And she's.

Adam And she's and she's in my favorite John Waters film, she's in Cecil B Demented.

Lee Yeah.

Adam And and and she's done her sister in Twin Peaks and actually came back for the return series in 2017.

Lee Yeah, I think that's why I didn't recognize her because I remember her from like

Lee Four Rooms and Urban Legend, like and and Cecil B Demented.

Lee So that '90s early 2000s stuff, and I haven't really seen it a lot of her since.

Lee So yeah, I haven't seen her in 20 odd years, so it's hardly surprising I didn't recognize her.

Adam Well, I only I only watched it follows this week.

Adam First time.

Chris Because

Adam we were doing this.

Adam So I've got a real appreciation of Maika Monroe now as well.

Adam didn't I don't know if you're aware that she was she's also a professional kite boarder.

Lee Wow.

Chris Oh, right.

Adam Apparently that's what she was doing before like she went into acting.

Adam She had her own she had her own clothing line as well in it, apparently as well.

Lee Oh wow, that's old.

Adam But

Adam and Agent Carter, it's that actor Blair Underwood is fucking great.

Adam I mean, he's brilliant in that.

Lee Yeah.

Adam in this, I think he is just because he's the one he's the one bit you he's the one funny bit in it that isn't you're laughing uncomfortably.

Lee Yeah.

Adam You know, he's actually genuinely funny.

Adam And apart from that the turn at the end, when it's like when they go to the party.

Chris Yeah.

Adam And he's been affected by the doll.

Chris Yeah.

Adam And it's that is that whole sequence plays out so horrifilly.

Adam where the family have just become so twisted and altered by the the influence of the doll.

Adam But the most shocking thing was is because I was like, Blair Underwood, he was in LA Law.

Adam That's how I fucking knew him.

Adam because LA Law used to my folks watched LA Law for years.

Adam And so it was in.

Adam I just said,

Adam that man is 60.

Lee No.

Adam Yeah.

Lee Bloody hell.

Adam Because I was like, hang on, he was in LA Law, that was like fucking '80s and he wasn't kidding it.

Adam Do you know what I mean?

Adam It was like, it wasn't like, oh, Alicia Witt's in Twin Peaks, but yeah, when when she was in Twin Peaks, she was like eight or whatever.

Adam You know, this was like, hang on, so he must.

Adam And yeah, no, he's 60.

Adam So.

Lee Fuck you.

Adam Oh.

Adam

Adam Fuck hell.

Adam But respect is due.

Adam So.

Adam But obviously, this, so is this the second Ozgood Perkins film we've done?

Adam Because we did Gretel and Hansel, didn't we?

Lee Yes, we did.

Chris Yes.

Adam So I think maybe at some point, if if only just so Chris can see it, we need to do Blackcoat's Daughter.

Adam Because I genuinely.

Adam If people haven't seen that who've seen Longlegs, I think the two marry quite well in that.

Adam I think he has his very specific internal mythology for satanic sort of like this this area of satanic or like satanism as it is.

Adam Because that's something I've really enjoyed with it is that it's not I mean, I I love

Adam say for example, like hereditary, I loved like looking up all about Paimon and stuff like that and seeing how much they're actually bringing in.

Adam Or or indeed like a dark song where it was the Abram ritual and you know, and the factual sort of basis of all this stuff.

Adam What I really like with Longlegs is we're sitting here trying to pick apart fucking mythology that probably only really exists in Oz Perkins' head.

Lee Yeah.

Adam And that is brilliant.

Lee And that's what I love about it.

Lee It gives you it so the fact that at the end you see it actually happening.

Lee I yeah, I don't need to know anymore than that.

Lee I I think this film, although it still leaves so many questions, it gives me enough to thoroughly enjoy it and be and not go,

Lee I didn't understand any of that, that was pointless. It gives you just enough. It still feels mysterious.

Chris Yeah, no, you can fully appreciate.

Lee It still feels like you don't know everything and you want to, but it just isn't there and I love that. It's such a

Adam Yeah, it's it's almost a bit sort of it's a bit like a sort of it feels like a classic like a bit like an MR James or something like that.

Adam where it's like,

Adam we're not going to reveal everything here.

Adam We're going to give you, we're going to give you enough.

Chris Which they would do in a proper police crime

Adam Oh, absolutely.

Adam Well, because

Adam there would be because essentially you've got to

Adam hound the Baskervilles it.

Adam You've got to explain, right, this seems like a supernatural crime.

Adam So.

Chris Really?

Adam How did that come about?

Adam You know?

Adam How did you make it look supernatural?

Adam When it wasn't?

Adam And it's like, oh, no, the reason you can't solve it is because it's fucking supernatural.

Adam It's weird.

Adam It's madness.

Adam And I just, yeah, I just really appreciate that sort of.

Adam And I'm really looking forward to

Adam Oh, fuck, what's his new one, The Monkey?

Lee Oh, yes. Yeah, that trailer for that looked excellent.

Adam Well, and and let me tell you, I can I can imagine why because I thought to myself,

Adam that's come out really fucking quick.

Adam You know, following Longlegs that it's like it's a year later.

Adam Usually, nowadays,

Adam sort of, you know, film turnarounds unless it's something, you know, like a a big franchise or something like that.

Adam That sort of turnaround doesn't usually happen.

Adam However, I did find out that this film made 10 million on the opening day.

Lee Oh.

Adam And that was greater than the budget.

Lee Oh.

Adam So this made its fucking money back on day one.

Lee So.

Lee Jesus.

Adam Surely there was no other way.

Adam The other thing that obviously pleases me no end with this is just the fact that Longlegs is a T-Rex fan.

Adam And you've got a quote from T-Rex at the start of it.

Adam And

Adam because T-Rex just are an amazing fucking band.

Adam They're probably the apotheosis of pop.

Adam But also, they've got all the weird shit in there.

Adam They've talked, you know, it was all stuff about like Beltaine and Tolkien and sort of references and stuff like that.

Adam So a lot of that, you can see why he would be a fan.

Adam Yeah, he also he's also got a poster up of Transformer Lou Reed's album that David Bowie produced.

Adam Which is just again, it's also got that.

Adam But the main thing I'm really pleased about is it's like, yeah, that's right.

Adam Take it away from fucking Billy Elliot.

Lee Yeah.

Adam I don't want that to be the cinematic legacy of fucking T-Rex.

Adam Have this, this is fucking good.

Adam So.

Adam The other thing I would say,

Adam and I this is you know, people need to realize that screaming behind the wheel of your car is not weird. Why do they always put it in films to show that people are having a breakdown?

Chris Oh, that's crazy. That's crazy. Yeah.

Adam It's fucking weekly.

Adam As far as I'm concerned, you know,

Adam I don't know if that sets me out as an outlier,

Adam but no, I've plenty of was driving along.

Adam You know.

Adam So.

Lee I say I think the main takeaway from this film for me,

Lee is the word that kept coming back when everybody said what did you think of it?

Lee I was like, it's sinister.

Lee There's something so sinister about it.

Lee and and oddly enough, yeah, the other film that it does remind me of is Sinister, which is the only other film that's creeped me out to this degree.

Lee But I sort of missed all the all the buildup of this.

Lee and it came out and literally it was just like within a week, I had so many people, even non-horror fans going, oh my God, have you seen your Longlegs yet?

Lee And I was like, no, don't tell me anything.

Lee I'd need to get my hands on it, so don't you know, what or not?

Lee yes, so went in knowing literally nothing.

Lee Like yourself, Chris, I didn't even know Nicholas Cage was in it until it started. and yeah, just utterly blown away by it.

Lee Because you know,

Lee it's like.

Lee As soon as the general populace starts raving about a horror movie, you're like, chances are this is going to be wank.

Chris Yeah.

Lee If if it's easily accessible, it probably means it's doll down and it's a little bit stupid and

Adam Oh,

Lee it's just.

Adam If I'm honest.

Adam That was that was the level that I got with it was just basically a lot of I saw I heard that there was a film called Longlegs, that I heard there was Nicholas Cage.

Adam That was about it.

Adam and then

Adam and then as you say, I was immediately of the, oh, well, this is going to be a bit shit, I reckon.

Adam then because lo

Adam lo of people had bigged it up.

Adam And then it was just a couple of people who were like basically saying the same thing going, no, no, although loads of people like it is actually good.

Lee Yeah.

Adam You know, which

Adam sounds mental but it is,

Adam you know, we we all know the feeling.

Adam You know,

Adam it's like the same when it's like, you know, it's.

Adam Let's face it, it's it's somehow you I almost find it's the same with Oscar films.

Lee Yeah.

Adam You know, it's like a film won an Oscar and I'm like, oh, well, I won't worry then.

Lee Yeah.

Adam And

Adam then they're like, no, no, no, genuinely, you know, it wasn't just, you know,

Adam it it wasn't just a sort of a political moment or the fact that sort of like

Adam so many people put money into this, it had to it had to win the fucking Oscar.

Adam So.

Lee Yes, so so one of the things that really took me, was actually with

Lee the performance by Maika Monroe.

Lee I loved the fact that despite the fact she's a trained FBI agent, every time she takes her gun out,

Lee she suddenly gets really breathless and like anxious and she just portrayed that so well. I was like, it is, it doesn't matter how much training you've had, when you're in that life or death situation,

Lee as much as you would try and breathe as quietly as possible, you just can't.

Lee And I'd be like,

Lee we'd all be the same in that situation and I just thought it's one of those.

Lee You never see it in cop shows.

Lee Whatever, they always pull the gun out and they always seem really, you know, confident.

Chris Yeah, yeah.

Lee And she seemed like it just felt so genuine, it was especially because she kind of.

Adam That initial one, when Fisk just gets his head blown off.

Adam because even though

Adam she has clearly worked out psychically as it turns out the right address.

Adam That still comes as such a jump.

Lee Yeah.

Adam That she's like sort of, you know, it's like right now the training's kicking back in but it's like right now calm, right, get that and yeah.

Adam And especially because she was the one who said should we phone for backup?

Adam But

Lee Yes.

Adam Yeah and if you'd phone for backup, you still have the bad your head, mate.

Lee Before she went in the door, I was like phone it in.

Lee phone it in or you pull your gun.

Lee Pull your gun, phone it in, go into the house.

Lee And the same with the letter when she found the card, I was like, right, pick up your gun, back into a corner, call for backup.

Lee Stay there until somebody turns up.

Lee You know, the serial killer has just been in your house.

Lee Don't be like, I'll keep this.

Chris I assumed that was what you'd said that it's a bit of her.

Chris This clearly something's gone a little bit of right with her.

Chris life experience.

Lee See, one one thing I thought that was really good as well, because apparently

Lee the decision was made that they weren't going to market it off of Nicholas Cage as long legs.

Lee So he wasn't really appearing in trailers and stuff like that.

Lee You know, he would just be they'd be real brief flashes and stuff like that.

Lee But obviously there's the bit where

Lee she when she meets him as a child and it's framed so oddly.

Lee Because it's just his body and just

Lee and there was a part of me that was like, but surely even

Lee because I know it was like, oh, well, she's at that height, so she's looking at him like that.

Lee And there was a part of me that was like,

Lee well, surely you'd just look up.

Lee But actually the character never looks anyone in the eye. She doesn't have that skill or ability or anything else like that.

Lee So she doesn't so it's actually so thematically right.

Lee She's just staring at his midriff.

Lee Yeah.

Lee Because she wouldn't notice she wouldn't do that.

Lee Or or what she him in that sort of sense.

Lee And and again, that's just some sort of like sublimely fucking done. Yeah.

Lee Perfection.

Lee And again, it creates that that like I remember when when we watched it the first time

Lee myself and Lady Jennifer.

Lee Yeah, and you get that.

Lee Shot and then literally just him bending down.

Lee Despite the fact it is just a man's face, we both go, it's not what you expect at all.

Lee You think, oh, we're not going to see the face.

Lee Because

Lee it's going to be a mystery about who it is, but when it drops in and you see it for the first time, you go, fucking hell.

Lee Yeah.

Lee Oh.

Lee But yeah, so

Lee excellent film.

Lee I can't recommend this enough.

Lee Like Adam said, I think this is definitely a solid I I was watching this thinking, oh, this would be this would go perfect as a double bill with Silence of the Lambs.

Lee But I've got to be honest, I think if I was ever in the mood for this type of film, I don't know if I'd ever pick up Silence of the Lambs again.

Lee I think this would be my go-to.

Adam Well, that's fair enough.

Adam Because because I think that's the thing is the disappointment at the end of Silence of the Lambs is that it is just a man.

Lee Yeah.

Adam You know,

Adam that is that is literally.

Adam It's a crime film, it's an it's an improbable crime film.

Adam Shall we say?

Adam I mean,

Adam it doesn't it doesn't quite reach the heights of Hannibal, which is still for me the perfect Lecter vehicle was the show Hannibal.

Adam But fuck me.

Adam Did you have to make a lot of allowances for what a man can get can do in 24 hours?

Adam Yeah.

Adam and still look fairly alert and well scrubbed the next morning.

Adam Yeah.

Adam I mean,

Adam come on, it's there's time management and then there's that.

Adam Yeah.

Adam But this, I think, you know, it's.

Chris Yeah, it's a very realistic look to yeah.

Chris His life style.

Adam Yeah.

Lee yeah, so this is a definite recommend.

Lee so to wrap up on Longlegs, we which we are doing now.

Lee but Adam has something else for us, don't you Adam?

Adam I have in my hands a piece of paper.

Lee Oh.

Adam And I have for you gentlemen, the great Nicholas Cage Quiz.

Chris Oh.

Lee Hang on, let me close IMDb, so that there is no

Adam Yeah, no cheating.

Lee No cheating.

Lee Not that I would do, but just to so that I don't glance over.

Lee I actually, I didn't look at Nicholas Cage, I thought, I know him well enough.

Lee It was everybody else's filmography I had to look up before.

Adam Well,

Adam well,

Adam so I've got there's two halves of this quiz.

Adam So we've got a true or false section.

Adam And we have got the multiple choice section.

Adam The multiple choice will be first.

Adam So I will ask you out of respect for your for your fellow contestants.

Adam If you know the answer, don't shout out until all the options have been given and then make your choice.

Adam They will be A, B and C, and yeah, we'll just see what happens, shall we?

Lee Yeah.

Chris Sounds good.

Adam Right, so,

Adam Question one.

Adam Where does the name Nicholas Cage come from?

Adam A, it's his real name.

Adam B, it's in homage to Marvel superhero Luke Cage.

Adam Or C, it's from that time he was found with no knickers on in a cage.

Chris Well,

Chris I would say not A or C.

Chris out of those, I think I would have to.

Lee So you're going B, are you, Chris?

Chris I

Lee Yeah, I I don't know the answer but I would go B as well, I think.

Adam Yep, you're both correct there, it is in homage to the Marvel superhero Luke Cage.

Adam Right, so, question two.

Adam Who is his famous uncle?

Adam Is it A, Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now director Francis Ford Coppola?

Adam B, British porn director, producer and actor Ben Dover?

Adam Or C, renowned horror and exploitation producer, writer, director Roger Corman?

Chris Oh.

Chris Now this will be funny to find out.

Chris it could be any of those.

Chris Possibly, I mean B obviously sounds sounds kind of funny.

Chris But

Chris somehow.

Chris I wouldn't be too shocked.

Chris I'll go for.

Chris I'll choose A.

Chris It sounds nice.

Lee Yeah.

Lee I was.

Lee I was edging towards A.

Adam Well, Chris, you've edged ahead, it's A.

Adam Nicely done.

Adam Yes.

Adam So his real name is Nicholas Coppola.

Lee Oh, good on him.

Adam And he chose Cage so he wasn't sort of being he wasn't nepotism.

Adam You know,

Adam if he.

Adam Question three.

Adam How did the dear departed David Lynch refer to Cage?

Adam Did he call him A,

Adam Nixter.

Adam B, Bongo Fury.

Adam Or C, a small Mexican Chihuahua.

Chris

Chris Can you say those again?

Adam So we've got A, Nixter.

Adam B, Bongo Fury, or C, a small Mexican Chihuahua.

Chris

Chris I mean it's hard to imagine any of them.

Chris Not I don't actually think I've seen David Lynch much.

Chris

Chris I mean I'll go for A.

Chris It sounds nice.

Chris Next, that sounds a bit silly.

Chris They all sound a bit silly.

Lee I'm going to go.

Lee I'm going to go with B.

Adam Well, Chris, you've edged ahead.

Adam It's Nixter.

Chris Yeah.

Adam And so.

Adam Right, question four.

Adam Which unmade Tim Burton project was he attached to throughout the '90s?

Adam Is it A, the nightmare after Christmas?

Adam B, Superman Lives?

Adam Or C, some crappy half-arsed goth shit with a load of stripey things in it?

Chris All right.

Chris It's me again. I'll go for.

Chris B.

Lee Yeah, I was going to go B as well.

Adam Well done, gentlemen.

Adam You're both both bang on there with B.

Adam So it's yeah.

Adam Superman Lives.

Chris Oh, I like the sound of C though.

Adam Yeah.

Adam If you like the sound of C, then just work your way through.

Adam anything post big fish, I think, really.

Adam Oh, so.

Adam I just take a.

Adam Quick water break there and we're back in the schedule.

Adam question five, what classic villain has he not portrayed on screen?

Adam Is it A, Dracula?

Adam B, Fu Manchu?

Adam Or C, Mr. Hyde?

Chris Oh.

Chris I can't, I mean, I cannot think of him as Dracula.

Chris And I'm sure I would have known that, but obviously this will turn it out to be the one that I absolutely do know or should have known.

Chris But I'll go for that.

Chris I'll go for that.

Longlegs

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Longlegs

About

Cast

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Ep 160 Inside No.9 pt3

Ep 172 Split

Ep 132 The Ninth Gate

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