Movies: Longlegs

Longlegs, a horror thriller directed by Osgood Perkins, pits a rookie female FBI agent against an enigmatic serial killer:

Yes, the movie is a supernatural Silence of the Lambs, and it's not at all shy about referencing Jonathan Demme's all-time classic.  Like Clarice, preternaturally intuitive agent Lee Harker (played by Maika Monroe of It Follows) pieces together clues, interrogates a mysterious serial killer, and clears dark rooms with a drawn gun in a panic, except that Harker uses a SIG instead of a S&W 13.

The movie is well-crafted and well-acted (Nicholas Cage is in full flamboyant villain mode as the titular character), but disappointingly incoherent.  Longlegs gets by more on mood than logic, and its final twists rely on convenient amnesia and eyebrow-raising coincidences. The lesson? If you're going to mix horror with a police procedural, the procedural part must be up to snuff.

Rating: 6/10