Couple weeks back, NEON dropped an exceptionally creepy teaser trailer for one of its forthcoming horror titles, and at that time there was room for speculation as to what film was being advertised. Oh, there were several options (namely: Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo, Oz Perkins’ Longlegs, and Michael Mohan’s Immaculate), but between the imagery in that teaser, the cult-y symbols that appeared throughout, and the footage’s very particular tone, we were comfortable in our belief that the film in question was, in fact, Longlegs.
Then another week went by, and another cryptic teaser showed up. That teaser only made us more certain that we’d guessed correctly, but still – one couldn’t be absolutely certain.
Well, today brings us NEON’s third mystery teaser, and at this point it seems all but guaranteed that, yes, we’re in the early stages of a Longlegs promo campaign, one which is presumably building to the release of a full-blown trailer sometime next week (maybe, like these others, it’ll arrive on Friday; guess we’ll just have to wait and see). Check out the voice at the end of this clip and tell us that ain’t the voice of one Nicolas “Nic” Cage:
So, it’s (almost) definitely Longlegs. Let’s all agree on that and move on to this: NEON must have something very special on its hands to be rolling out the red carpet like this for Perkins’ latest. Oh, sure, an excessive number of pre-release BTS clips and promo featurettes often serves as a warning that a stinker’s on the way, but that’s not quite what’s going on here. NEON’s setting a very specific tone, one which feels very much of a piece with the rest of Perkins’ work, and these three teasers are selling that tone like gangbusters. Very well played, NEON.
Secondly, a refresher on what Longlegs is about:
“FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Nic Cage). As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.”
All of this sounds like typical cat-and-mouse, serial killer vs. cop stuff, but with Perkins at the helm (and working from his own script), we’re certain this’ll be anything but (worth noting: Cage has called Longlegs a “possessed Geppetto” movie, and while we didn’t take that literally at the time, we’re starting to wonder, uh, how literal he was actually being). Our money’s on this movie being wild as hell, and we cannot wait to get a look at it.
When will that happen? Still no telling, though we’re guessing that the film’s yet-to-be-released full trailer will spell that out for us. Stay tuned for more on Longlegs as further updates roll in, folks. We are very excited about this one, indeed.
