The marketing behind Osgood Perkins’ upcoming Longlegs has been just wonderful, keeping us intrigued every step of the way while preserving the mystery. Beyond a few bits and pieces, we’ve also seen very little of Longlegs, the titular serial killer played by Nicolas Cage, and that’s by design.

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Perkins explained that we won’t be seeing a big reveal of Longlegs before the movie hits theaters. “It’s driving people towards a freak show at a circus tent,” Perkins said. “We’ve got the thing behind the curtain, and when there’s enough people gathered ’round, we’re going to pull the curtain.“

Even in the film itself, Perkins played with keeping Longlegs obscured as long as possible so you’re always straining for a look, even when he’s not there. “Editing a picture is a nearly psychedelic experience,” he said. “It really is because it’s so infinite. The permutations and combinations you can get from putting this there and that there, you’re in a Rubik’s Cube of possibilities. I think we found the sweet spot. This guy lives just outside the consciousness of our protagonist. He’s there, but he’s totally not there, but he’s totally there.“

Cage had his own perspective on keeping Longlegs under wraps. “It’s the equivalent of putting a warning label on a jar of nitroglycerin,” Cage said. “The monster is a highly, highly dangerous substance. The way it’s moved, unveiled, deployed has to be treated very carefully. Forget about the movie theater blowing up; the whole city could blow up, nay the country, maybe even the world. He is going to change your reality. Your doors of perception are going to open, and your life is not going to be the same.“

Directed and written by Osgood Perkins (I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House), Longlegs stars Maika Monroe as FBI Agent Lee Harker, “a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (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.” In addition to Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage, Longlegs also stars Alicia Witt (Urban Legend), Blair Underwood (LA Law), and Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men). The film is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers” and will be released on July 12th.

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