Nicolas Cage And Maika Monroe Star In The Creepy Trailer For The Occult Horror Film Longlegs

Ever since the dawn of the internet, the art of the tease in marketing upcoming films has essentially gone extinct. We're all used to living in a 24/7 entertainment news cycle, where it's easy for the average layman (let alone Hollywood insider) to know which actor has signed a deal to appear in what movie before the thing ever gets made, let alone premiere on cinema screens. Nostalgic cinephiles like myself long for the days when teaser trailers were a regular phenomenon, made almost expressly to announce to general audiences that these movies are coming soon without giving much (or hardly anything) away.

Although the general trend for movie trailers these days is to essentially throw the baby out with the bathwater in terms of cast, plot, big highlight moments, and the like, teaser trailers do still occasionally get made, and it's always a special occasion when these trailers actually, well, tease like they're meant to. NEON's marketing campaign for writer/director Oz Perkins' upcoming occult serial killer horror film, "Longlegs," has absolutely mastered the art of the tease so far, releasing three brief vignettes that fully establish the film's tone while hardly giving away anything about the characters or the plot.

Now, hot on the heels of some teaser posters that similarly evoke a strong sense of mood and mystery, the first proper full-length trailer for "Longlegs" has finally dropped, giving us a look at stars Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe, as well as what the movie will actually be about. I'd say we should've been prepared given all the teasing, but how could any of us have fully prepared for this peek into what promises to be the most insidiously twisted horror film of 2024? Even knowing a bit more about the film now, "Longlegs" retains its unsettling sense of mystery.

One of the reasons NEON is going about promoting "Longlegs" in such a coy fashion may be because, despite the presence of Cage and Monroe (along with co-stars Blair Underwood and Alicia Witt), there isn't a "star name" behind the camera to help promote it; Perkins has yet to become buzzed about in a similar fashion as, say, Ari Aster or Robert Eggers. Hopefully, "Longlegs" will change all that because Perkins deserves to become a household name several times over.

For one thing, he's literally Hollywood royalty, being the son of actor Anthony Perkins (yes, Norman Bates himself). For another, he's an actor himself, appearing in the likes of "Legally Blonde," "Secretary," and even Jordan Peele's "Nope." Most of all, his films thus far have been remarkably consistent from an auteurist point of view: "The Blackcoat's Daughter," "I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives in the House," and "Gretel & Hansel" all sport the same eerie occult trappings and devilishly somnambulant pacing that "Longlegs" seems to employ.

Perhaps the appearance of Cage will boost Perkins' visibility to the place it deserves to be. Once considered the type of actor who would do literally anything for money, Cage has enjoyed a renaissance of his own since 2018's "Mandy," re-establishing himself as a performer interested in exploring the limits of genre while taking on challenging roles in films like "Pig" and "Dream Scenario." On Monroe's part, she's already well-known to horror fans, lending her talents to cult-favorite flicks like "It Follows," "The Guest" and "Watcher."

It's probably a little early and a little hyperbolic to call "Longlegs" the horror event of the year, but all these pieces do seem to add up. Speaking of pieces, NEON has doubled down on extending the film's mystery with the use of title cards written in code (puzzles that the internet has already salivated over while translating). One of those translated, occult-looking messages reads simply "JULY." Be ready.

"Longlegs" opens in theaters July 12, 2024.