Longlegs (#575)

I knew what I was in for before the feature started because all the previews for the next several months were of movies that promised to be scary or weird or both.  And it was strange that most of the previews were for movies that had one word titles and were directed by the likes of M. Night Shyamalan and , I think, Francis Ford Coppola. LONGLEGS was weird alright but not that scary.  Longlegs is a serial killer and body mutilator played by Nicholas Cage with a ridiculous makeup job, scraggly white hair and beard and white face, spouting nonsense in the very few scenes he was in.  He is pursued by an FBI special agent, Harker, who looks and acts like she just got hired last week but is entrusted to the virtually solo assignment by her boss, a hard-nosed black man who allows her more latitude than she deserves. She behaves like a professional profiler and know-it-all despite her youth and seeming inexperience.  She also has a doting mother in the film who plays a vital and unexpected role in her investigation. The actors and their dialogue felt stilted to me snd scenes changed without rhyme or reason and strangely.  I read afterward that it was directed by Oz Perkins, the son of the late actor Anthony Perkins, which may account for the weirdness of the film.  I always felt that about his father, even before Psycho. 86% of critics and 67% of audiences gave Longlegs a thumbs up.  I honestly don't know why!