Longlegs director on what the horror movie’s viral marketing campaign is hiding

If you’ve seen anything Long legs, from the cryptic teasers to the creepy trailer, you probably know that it’s an upcoming horror film about a serial killer played by Nicolas Cage. You probably don’t know much else besides that.

The trailer contains elements that certainly feel recognizable, such as a young female FBI agent investigating a notorious serial killer, but there is an overwhelming sense of unease and mystery that makes the whole thing feel a bit strange, adding to the creepiness and unfamiliarity. And according to director Oz Perkins, it’s very much by design.

Perkins describes Long legs as a “pop-punk, nostalgic serial killer movie with a supernatural twist,” but he didn’t want to throw all that at the audience right away.

“(I) used things like Silence of the lambs, Se7enAnd Zodiac like primers,” says Perkins. “So the audience sees those clues, or those signals, and says: Okay, I understand how this will work.”

But these cinematic touchstones are more of a starting point than a destination for Perkins, a veteran horror filmmaker whose previous work, such as The daughter of the Blackcoat And Gretel & Hanshas proven popular in the world of arthouse horror, but never quite made it into the mainstream.

“The idea is to make it easier for the public to connect with it. So when it gets funky, and it gets funky, we kind of earned it,” Perkins explains. “It’s more playful then. I think I’ve become a bit opaque in previous films. (…) Now I want to make something that more people will enjoy, and that gives me more leeway to do what I want, so it starts with something more familiar.”

Perkins’ work on the film began with the character Longlegs, who figuratively lurked in the background and edges of some of his earlier stories and ideas. He said he knew certain things about the character, but compared it to seeing the back of someone who looks familiar as he leaves a convenience store: You’re so sure you know him, but you can never be completely sure of his – a terrifying description for a character who would later become a serial killer.

“I knew he was driving to people’s houses, on their birthdays or on their children’s birthdays,” Perkins says. ‘And he might have brought some kind of stuffed animals? He was a clown or a singer or a magician or an artist or something.

But turning that vague idea of ​​a character into something a movie would revolve around proved to be a bigger puzzle for Perkins. He says he worked it out like a crossword puzzle, understanding the shape and space he had allocated, and then putting in the details that would make the film work and accessible to audiences, such as changing Longlegs in a serial killer, or centering the film. on a young FBI agent to get a Silence of the lambs tribute – a film that he says made a huge impression on him as a child.

Another important piece of the puzzle for Perkins was adding Nicolas Cage to the project as the serial killer in question. Perkins says Cage read the script and loved it, and he brings an undeniably unique energy to all his characters. Perkins’ job was to find a way to channel that energy.

“There’s no version where I’m going to try to turn him into something he’s not, or try to spread what he’s going to bring,” Perkins explains. ‘You only get Nicolas Cage in the picture if you want what he will bring. You just wait and see what it is. And you have faith and trust that things will work out. And in this case that is really the case.”

As for where the story is from Long legs goes for the familiar setup, Perkins didn’t provide many details, preferring to save the surprises for when people can see the film for themselves. However, he did make the provocative comment that David Lynch is a particularly great source of inspiration for him.

“Firewalk with me was very important to me,” he says. “I feel like the pace, the environment, the cadence of things, the world, those things are very deeply ingrained in my psyche and I think they’re probably getting mixed up a little bit.”

Perkins makes one thing clear: it’s best for viewers to experience everything Long legstwists and surprises in a theater if possible.

“We’re hiding something under a veil,” Perkins teases. “We hide something under a curtain and it’s more fun to pull the sheet off when a lot of people are watching. It’s like, Come together so we can reveal the Elephant Man. And I think when I do that in a room of people, in an immersive theater experience, I’m proud to have made a film that works well in that way.

Long legs will hit theaters on July 12.