Ep 219 Longlegs

It’s time to dig out your 70s glam hits and make weird proclamations in your best falsetto as we try on Osgood Perkin’s “Longlegs”. A film in which T.Rex are finally released from the tyranny of “Billy Elliot”; the devil is in the details (usually the corner) and nothing says happy Birthday like a shrieking man putting his balls into your head. Riffing on the 90s idea of the serial killer film - a police procedural dressed up as a horror film - Longlegs takes a horror film and dresses it up a a police procedural, to incredible effect. With a tantalising mythology of its own, which seems to be akin to that in Perkin’s earlier “The Blackcoat’s Daughter”, plus a cast all bringing their A game, this moody and chilling thriller rightly did excellent work at the box office. This success also came through an extremely well-designed promo campaign, and word of mouth that reached far beyond the horror community, meaning this deliberately weird and uncomfortable film is practically mainstream, without any apparent concession to get there. Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.