As is the norm in promoting any product these days, in the run-up to its theatrical release, Longlegs fell back on social media influencers to market it as the ‘scariest film of the year’. A far more interesting promotional campaign, which quickly went viral, included cryptic ads in newspapers, billboards across Los Angeles comprising nothing but a phone number which, when called, had actor Nicolas Cage, who plays the titular character, whisper ‘threats’ to listeners. A true-crime website was specially designed to detail the antecedents of Longlegs’ long list of victims. A modestly budgeted horror film was turned into an event, which made everyone ask: is Longlegs the most terrifying film in recent times?

The answer to that depends on what expectations you go in with. If you are looking for jump scares, a pacy narrative and a neat, satisfying resolution, then it isn’t. But, a rancid vibe pervades the length and breadth of Longlegs, one trademarked by a surreal atmosphere dripped in satanic madness.

Longlegs is named after the serial killer at the heart of this story, a spooky, unsettling presence whose roots may have been derived from classics in the genre like Se7en, Zodiac and The Silence of the Lambs, but it is pretty much its own beast.

The film is directed by Osgood Perkins, who has earned his horror-making chops with films like The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel. Audiences aware of his work know Perkins has the ability to craft an atmosphere of dread offset with stylish imagery. Oz, as he is popularly known, also has horror cred of a different kind. His father, Anthony Perkins, played the infamous Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s genre-defining cult classic, Psycho.

Oz’s distinctive style is evident right from the first frame where, aided by cinematographer Andres Arochi, he sets up the film’s unsettling atmospherics that don’t let go of the viewer till the end. Arochi has a great eye and slowly moves the camera through the eerie settings Perkins establishes. Doorways in the background emerge as a favourite framing device, almost as if Perkins and Arochi are nudging the audience to remain fixated on them in the hope (or fear) that someone — or something — will pop out of them any moment.

That someone happens to be Longlegs, an enigma of sorts whose hand in a series of deaths over two decades would have been easily attributed to a family murder-suicide, if he hadn’t left cryptic notes signed ‘Longlegs’ at every crime scene.

The case is assigned to largely rookie FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), whose semi-clairvoyant abilities are both a help and hindrance to her job. Teaming up with her superior (Blair Underwood is effective in a relatively brief part), Lee discovers that each family had a nine-year-old daughter born on the 14th of the month, with the murders all occurring within six days before or after the birthday itself. Further investigation leads to the realisation that the murders form an occult triangle symbol on a calendar, with one date missing. The bigger shocker comes with the discovery that a part of Lee’s childhood is connected to Longlegs. After all, her birth date happens to be the 14th.

Longlegs is set in the ’90s, though that doesn’t show up too much in the fabric of the film, apart from a few photographs of former US president Bill Clinton on office walls. Perkins takes time to build his story, with the first hour setting a feeling of disturbing dread that will make even bona fide viewers of the genre a tad claustrophobic. Lee, not Longlegs, is clearly the focus here and Monroe does a good job in showcasing her characters’ vulnerability even when she wears her uniform of power.

But it is when Longlegs, a Big Bad Wolf equivalent with an almost dulcet voice, makes an appearance that the film comes into its own. Nicolas Cage, buried under layers of pasty make-up and a bulbous prosthetic nose, is unarguably terrific in the part, losing himself completely in it.

Longlegs doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but his presence is felt throughout the film. That one big scene — we won’t spoil it for you — makes him eligible for every top acting award out there. His appearance shifts Longlegs from a murder investigation and police procedural to a hallucinatory semi-Gothic tale. That is when the fun starts.