Nicolas Cage’s ‘Longlegs’ Was Inspired by a Legendary Director
Nicolas Cage is going to star in the upcoming independent horror film titled Longlegs. While the film looks very modern, it’s actually a throwback to one Old Hollywood icon. Interestingly the director of Longlegs has a major connection to the icon in question.
Nicolas Cage’s ‘Longlegs’ was inspired by 1 of the best directors ever
Longlegs will be directed by Oz Perkins. So far, Perkins is most famous for his films I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House and Gretel & Hansel. During a 2020 interview with Polygon, Perkins discussed Longlegs, saying it was inspired by the work of cinematic legend Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock is remembered for horror films and thrillers such as Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest. His movies often have good humor and a psychosexual subtext. Hitchcock might be the most acclaimed director of all time, with Stanley Kubrick being his only real rival.
“As nicely as horror movies have come out of the reputation-gutter and become more well-thought-of by the general public, I think the thriller should be next up,” Perkins said. “The Hitchcockian thriller had a moment in the ’90s, a brief resurgence, but it’s spent most of the past two decades in sh***** stature. Where’s our Vertigo? That’s what I’m working on next. I’ve started writing now, and Vertigo is the big one, with trace amounts of Frankenstein and The Social Network in there too.”
Perkins has a special connection to Hitchcock. His father was Anthony Perkins, the actor who played Norman Bates in Psycho and its sequels. Norman is undoubtedly the most famous figure in any of Hitchcock’s films. Norman paved the way for numerous other slasher movie villains, including Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Michael Myers.
What the director of ‘Longlegs’ thinks about movie villains
The younger Perkins discussed his attitude toward villains, “The most iconic and impactful villains are the ones who are upset, reacting to a life that hasn’t gone their way,” he said. “Wicked Witch of the East, Darth Vader — everyone’s heartbroken.” The director was likely referring to the Wicked Witch of the West, who becomes the antagonist of The Wizard of Oz because her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, is killed by a falling house.
Perkins explained why his father’s performance as Norman was so impactful. “What my dad did with that role was a modern, humanistic, naturalistic look at a deeply hurt person,” he said. “And we get put right in his head, as someone who’s been abused and abandoned, and then has to cope with that.”
What Nicolas Cage could bring to the film
Perhaps Perkins will bring that sort of humanism to Longlegs. A director probably wouldn’t cast a name actor like Nicolas Cage in a role unless they were going to give him something interesting to do! On top of that, sympathetic and quasi-sympathetic villains have been very common in American films so far this century, from independent films to Hollywood blockbusters.
The trailer for Longlegs doesn’t provide too much detail. That’s part of a broad trend of modern film marketing that emphasizes mystery over story. Hopefully, moviegoers are in good hands with Cage and Perkins at the wheel.
