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A lot of people were disappointed with Hereditary at first because they didn't think it was scary enough. Not saying this is as good as Hereditary but I think a lot of the negative reactions will be due to unrealistic expectations.

Early reviews really set the expectations of this ridiculously high, to the films detriment. But it’s good on it own without any comparisons.

Nicholas Cage said in an interview that this role let him channel his childhood experiences with his schizophrenic mother. He really made this role personal for him...and he delivered a very original and unique performance.

The sense of dread and hopelessness involving the motivations of Cages character and the Mother unsettled me. Their intentions and devotion to who they were ultimately serving made me feel so uneasy. Great flick

If a movie can get into your head, that means it left an impact. Also, Maika Monroe is such an underrated actress… Nick has been killing it for years now, although he does have corny movies as well.

THANK YOU for calling out some of the reviewers who just want their names on posters or to stay in the studios’ good graces. 😁👍 Good lord, it’s so annoying, especially with horror! 🤦‍♀️ If you are a lifelong horror fan, I feel like you should know not to base your expectations on those pull quotes but more from people you trust, like you mentioned. Seeing this tonight and hoping I’ll enjoy it! I definitely don’t expect to watch the “scariest movie of the last decade”, though. 🤪 lol.

Longlegs as a movie could've been absolutely perfect and it still would've fallen short of the hyper gargantuan expectations early viewers put out there. It's a good movie. Arguably a great one. But it was never, ever going to be "the best ever."

Just saw LongLegs and the first thing I did on the way home was find this review and listen to it. Your review/commentary hit the nail on the head with each pint you made. This is why yours is my fav of all the horror movie channels I watch. At the end of the movie, My friend and I looked at each other and were like “I’m not sure what I think yet!”

I genuinely believe this has one of the best opening scenes ever in film in terms of horror

The 90s crime thrillers were fantastic...I miss films like that

Once they showed the scene with longlegs in the store, all suspense was gone for me and it didn’t come back.

I'm not really a horror fan and get scared pretty easily. That said, I went into this movie having heard nothing and seen nothing about it, and I do not regret that one bit. It wasn't any jump scares or disturbing imagery that left me speechless; it was the feeling. Like WTF did I just watch and why do I feel infinitely unsettled. The story, the characters, and the vibe was *chef's kiss*. I mean Nic Cage outdid himself in this film.

Um sorry, but you can’t “blink and miss” the Bill Clinton pictures. They almost need to credit him he shows up so much.

This movie just wasn’t that great for me. I hated the payoff.

I saw Long Legs in the theater a few days ago. The wide shots. Yes. I was dissecting those wide shots with my eyes, searching for clues to brace for a jump scare or some sort of disturbing "something" and it was the most enjoyable form of tension building I've seen in a film, in quite some time.

And now I keep seeing people on social media bashing the movie for not being scary when they were told by those bs critics that it's "one of the scariest movies of all time".

I really liked the scene when the fate of a certain FBI agent sitting in the car was filmed. That background right before what happens…woah!

People just love detective horror, i know thats my favorite

Double Toasted even knew not to believe the hype. They gave a fair and favorable rating.

I just saw this movie... It ended. The guy behind me said, " this STUPID ass shit" , with exasperated breath. I agreed in laughter...

I went into it blind to avoid bias. I thought it was pretty good. I think I'm in the minority when I add that Nic Cage's part in it was a little distracting and took away from the film as a whole. I'll take my gf to give it another go and see if I feel the same

I can't wait to revisit LongLegs! Hype be damned, I was totally invested the whole hour and 41 minutes. The acting from every cast member was stellar. The cinematography is hauntingly beautiful. Films don't scare me, but this one was definitely the most unsettling and creepy that I've seen this year thus far.

The thumbnail of this video basically is Cody showing how crazy of a person he can be when there’s too much overhype for the film.

I really appreciate you calling out the hyperbole. It completely ruins my expectations when everyone gushes over a horror movie and it’s mid at best.

LongLegs was on screen too much. I started to notice Cage- whose performance was over the top. He's also less effective the more we see him. Also...nobody thought to question this guy- who was known around town as evidenced by the hardware store scene- when the area has experienced several grizzly, bizarre murders over the years?! Also...never seen a kid's birthday party which has just the kid, mother and father...and the father's coworker [who was invited last minute]. Too obvious the mother was involved from the first phone call. She was too creepy for that to be a surprise, especially when she mentioned "saying your prayers." If your FBI partner is murdered by the perp you're looking for.......call it in. Don't just enter the house alone and hope he surrenders. If ANOTHER perp stalks and invades your home and threatens you and your mother...tell your superiors and put your mother into protective custody [which would have ended up hastening your investigation, anyways]. When your satanically possessed FBI partner goes into the kitchen with his wife and, in addition to you KNOWING he's gonna kill her, he SAYS he's going to do it...take steps to prevent that. You're an armed LEO, FFS... In short, a good concept that needed better execution and a script doctor!

Spoilers: Once Satan phone calls the main character, I realized just how horrible of a turn the 3rd act was. It literally ruined what made the first two acts did so well.

1 of the biggest reasons why I watch Cody’s channel/reviews is because I know he’s not on bullshit. I can trust that I’ll get authenticity from him. He’s willing to call out critics who are full of shit even though it might come back to bite him one day and that takes balls. We need more honest reviews like him. 👌🏻

To be fair, the hype train on movies does need to stop. I feel like I had a similar experience last year with across the spider verse and John wick 4 which ended up being my 2 biggest movie disappointments where I walked in knowing about everyone talking about how amazing they were and then I walk out saying it was ok or massively disappointing. It seriously needs to stop

I literally just left the theater. Idk what the FUCK I just saw. I love it and I hate it and idk what reality is

Parts one and two were great. It lost me in part three… I thought the FBI was looking for a serial killer like Zodiac but they actually were looking for a wizard. The end just fell short for me. I just imagined Voldemort putting a part of himself into horcruxes.. That ending… She knew what was happening and she let it happen. Why? There are just so many unanswered questions for me.

Director’s notes given to the two lead actors of ‘Longlegs,’ during the film’s pre-production: 1) To Maika Monroe: “Your character is ‘Data,’ from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation.’ That’s it. I want NOTHING else but sheer Data. If you do ANYTHING differently than Data would do it, then I will fire you.” 2) To Nicolas Cage: “Remember when we watched that KZfaq compilation of all the ZANIEST freak-outs you performed, during your past movies…? I want that. That’s it. I want NOTHING else but sheer KZfaq Freak-Outs Nicolas. If you do ANYTHING differently than KZfaq Freak-Outs Nicolas would do it, then I will fire you.” Another little-known factoid: The working title of ‘Longlegs’ was actually ‘Silence of The Lambs Fan-Fic As Performed By Poorly-Rendered Charicatures of Characters From Other Films.’ Eventually, they went in a different direction, with the title. True story…

Cody Leach is so brutally honest! With that appreciation, he fkn rules!

Critics said that the original Paranormal Activity was like one of the scariest movies ever made and I was bored out of my mind watching it. I appreciate you always keeping it real Cody 👍🏻

I looked up no trailers, no reviews, no synopsis. All i saw was that the director is the weird dude from Legally Blonde. Longlegs was absolutely fantastic. Artful as hell in its cinematics and sound design. The story felt cheesey in a way I didnt know I missed while taking itself so seriously. It was just awesome. I'm blown away a little bit.

Appreciate your rant, I used to fall victim to that kind of hype, and it absolutely makes me not trust early reviews. I’m glad someone with an audience is calling them out.

This why I watch reviews by yourself and Red Letter Media, because yall are genuine. Unlike the people that your talking about.

Saw it today. Scary? No. Good? Yes!

Excellent observation with the open space, I was constantly looking around through the whole movie waiting for things to pop out and wasn't able to put it into words as well as you just did.

Cody, I've trusted you for years and always respected your options, even if we have disagreements that's cool, because I want to hear other options. You're my favorite film reviewer, hands down, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this film. I never expect anything to be better than sliced bread, but I love the look of the film and actors in this, so I think I'll have a good time regardless. Your points given throughout the review make me feel confident about this film. Thanks for the review and maybe I can even share more of my thoughts when I see this.

Your rant about film criticism legitimacy/early screeners etc is an example of why you became one of my favorite YT channels and that same topic was actually a huge component of what motivated me to eventually put a voice out and start discussions. Theres so much hyperbole and extreme views online now. Great video as always, love the channel

For me, It lived up to the hype and exceeded my already high expectations! Easily the scariest movie I’ve seen in years, but respect your opinion!

From the first scene I was on edge. The subtle atmosphere of discomfort and terror was spot on. I think if anything, the tone will be seen as one of the greatest things about this movie. I didn't like the shift to supernatural satanic stuff, I wish it wasn't so forced near the last few scenes. I wish it was more subtle especially with Harkin's boss and family.

I agree with you all the way. Hype is totally overhyped. I didn't go into the movie blind but I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a very disturbing/unsettling movie that made me need to catch my breath a few times...but I remember when the credits rolled internally I did say "...wait, that's it? That's how it ends??" It wasn't as satisfying as I wanted it to be. I wish people would stop saying "BEST movie ever" and "NEVER have we seen something like this!" or "MOST-" GAH!!! Stop it! Even my favorite films I would not expect people to make their favorite. I have my own personal scale of 1-10 and this movie was a solid 8. Did a lot of things right...but the ending made it fall short for me.

Glad that you are always calling out early reactions and such because I can't tell you how many times every year when I see early buzz and some say it's the worst thing ever or it's this or that and I get something completely different or walk away disappointed or a different opinion. It's always fun when you talk about things like this that kinda hurts people's experiences and expectations for movies besides talking about the theatrical experience or explaining that self blaming others over a movie's failure or something like that. Will definitely keep this in mind from now on and I'm gonna continue to judge movies for myself as I have been doing before I started KZfaq and have been doing for almost ten years coming next year.

-This did analog horror better than Late Night with the Devil. -I want a season of True Detective just like this movie. POSSIBLE SPOILERS: -Kiernan Shipka and Alicia Witt stole the show for me. -There was an clever and indirect reference to Jodie Foster; when Lee was talking about how she initially wanted to be an actress when she was a child, Carter's daughter Ruby says, 'but that'll mess you up.'

Thanks for the heads up on your early reaction so I can tempered my expectations. And I am happy to say that I really enjoyed this one, feel pretty bad for a lot of people who feel disappointed and did not like this one.

To me this movie is a good example of art made with someone who is a master of the medium, but somewhat lacking in imagination. It was extremely well made and achieves the sense of dread it was going for, but the concepts revealed in the exposition segment at the end felt too bizarre for its own good. I’ve seen similar concepts executed much better (The Wailing comes to mind) which left me somewhat disappointed

It was absolutely over hyped but I still loved the movie

One detail that I hated was the smoke effect that dissipated when a doll was destroyed. It’s minor I know, but it does remove a bit of mystique from the film for me. I welcome supernatural implications but I’d like to see it done in a pulled back manner (which is what this film is going for anyway). If Lee just collapsed when the doll was destroyed, I would’ve understood it just the same.

I personally think longlegs is Nikolas cage best performance since face off

A movie can be overhyped and still be great, which I think is the case here imo. If you went in expecting an all timer thats always going to be a near impossible bar to hit.

The overhype thing happened to me with Barbarian. I honestly couldn’t describe how deflated I was leaving the theater because I had read nothing but over the top glowing praise about how it was “the most original horror in years”. Nowadays I avoid trailers outright and attempt to go in as blind as possible.

I personally loved this movie. Better than Hereditary for me. Dark, suspenseful and very creative with the scares.

The introduction of Nic Cage in this movie gave me a jump out of my seat and I rarely jump for movies. He played that role! 😮‍💨

It has a lot of disturbing scenes But it had this Silence of the Lambs temu vibe Silence of the Lambs Is a classic This wasn't

Ok but I saw it because people said it was like 90s serial killers movies … and that’s a lie. It’s offensive to compare it to Silence of the Lambs or Seven. It’s elevated horror, and if I’d known that then I wouldn’t have seen it. Really hated it overall.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The marketing for this movie was Silence of the Lambs 2.0. What I just saw was Mrs. Doubtfire on Meth! 😂 I’m speechless. 😲

I went into this movie absolutely COMPLETELY blind, like I didn’t even know Nicholas Cage was in it till halfway through the movie😂. Watched like one trailer monthsss ago of it, and the trailer was so minimal I didn’t even know what was going on. I avoided it on social media at all costs, and man, I’m so glad I did that. This movie blew me away! I felt so anxious and unnerved the minute the movie started all the way through the credits. The way you described the feeling this movie gives you, is so spot on! The cinematography was amazing and totally added to the uneasiness, and the acting as well, just phenomenal. Just overall, a very well done film. For me, it’s one of the scariest movies I’ve seen in a very long time and maybe ever, because of the way it made me feel.

Nicolas Cage channeling Lisa Rinna is glorious.

Cody. Been following you for a long time and have always enjoyed your channel. I don’t comment much - just here and there - but i have to say. This review really resonated with me. You described what you liked so well, and in a way that felt personal to me, that I decided to go see this movie. I was turned off by some of the early critics, but you helped me understand that there are some cynical people hyping films and that is hurting theaters, not helping. I’m going to go see this in the theatre because I like 90s serial killer films and wild Nick Cage performances. If that’s what I’m getting I’m heading to the big screen instead of waiting for streaming. Thank you.

It wasn't ''A Scariest film of the Decade'', But it was definitely an interesting watch, I would definitely recommend it to people who are more into crime/thriller genre, because this is definitely not a horror film. It has horror elements but it wasn't a full blown horror movie from start to finish. There was some unsettling and creepy parts but I never felt truly scared. Nic Cage and Maika Monroe were both great, the actress who plays Lee's mother in the film was fantastic, she was absolutely creepy. But it definitely a type of movie that you need to see twice, it demands that. So I am definitely going to be seeing again but this time alone at home. I just came out of the screening couple of minutes ago, so the movie is very fresh in my mind but I just... I don't know, I need to sit with this movie for a bit and think how I feel about it, because there were stuff I really, really liked and then there were some other stuff that I would put under a question mark. That's why I think it necessary to see it twice. I can say that I think this film should have been either longer or a mini-series, a 1 hour 40 minute runtime is not enough to tell such a story I feel like, there is quite a lot that is left to viewer's imagination, a very ambiguous ending. I don't hate the ending but I do wish we got a conclusion, it felt like we will be getting Longlegs 2 or something... but either way, I can't decide fully on how I feel about this film, I will say I did like it more than I did not like it, but I don't want to go in the details because I am not 100% sure if even the things I did not like I truly don't like you know? But it definitely was an experience that I overall enjoyed but at the same let down by few things, I did feel like it needed to be longer at the very least and the jumpscares were weak... absolutely weak to me. But I will still recommend for anybody to go check it out for yourself, especially like I said before if you are fan of these type of movies (Silence of the Lambs, Seven or Zodiac) then this could be a good time for you. I will say this, this film is definitely also not on par with Silence of the Lambs or Seven in terms of filmmaking, storytelling and etc etc... It definitely pays homage to those films but at the same time brings an interesting unique twist to the movie which I did really like. So yeah, go check it out. I feel like this movie is going to be very divisive, some people will love it some people will like it and some will straight out hate it, it definitely a more of A24 type movie. Also, Nic Cage's performance was definitely something... I did not know how to approach his character... but eventually he did get under my skin but I can see some people straight out laugh at this character because of how ridiculous he is in this. Even I smiled couple of times because Nic Cage was having a lot of fun in this one, oh my oh my... He was chewing every scene, the interrogation scene definitely is going to be a memorable scene from the movie. Gosh, I went on a huge rant.. I need to chill, but at the moment it very hard for me to rate this, I need to wait a bit until I can truly comprehend what I just saw.

As someone who avoids any reviews until after i see a movie, i would just like to say the first review i consult after seeing a film is yours cody. You're the fucking best

The trailer was 1000x better than the actual movie by a long shot. My girlfriend fell asleep around the hour mark during the film. So many unanswered questions and things that were way more interesting like long legs up bringing and how he is even evil never was addressed. Left disappointed but it wasn't the worst film I've seen

You tell it like it is man, and that’s why you’re my go to reviewer. I continue to go straight to your channel to see what you thought about a movie after I’ve seen it. Keep it up!

Loved the movie, might have been favorite of the year with more Nicolas Cage and without that crappy "twist"

Thank you for calling out the BS 15, maybe 10 years ago this worked but the trick gets old and exposed the more it's being used. It's really hurting more than helping

Wow. I really like your review style. I watched this because I came out of the theater thinking, " I surely missed something important " because my reaction to Longlegs was not on par with the reviews. I was not scared, just... unsettled. You just earned a new subscriber. Thank you

Easily the best horror movie of the year and there's been a lot of good ones

You never go full cage

This film is awesome! The performances we get from Nicolas Cage, Alicia Witt & Maika Monroe are Top Notch! This reminds me ALOT of Manhunter & The Silence of the Lambs! Osgood Perkins deserves his moment in the sun as his mother died as a result of the 9/11 attacks. She was on a flight #111 & the number was shown as an entry in the psychiatric visitor log. I noticed it immediately based on that information & that it's also my birthday. He is one hell of a great writer & director! He deserves his moment in the sun! Great Review as usual Cody, we share the same love of 90s crime thriller flicks!

The burden of expectation is SO pervasive and totally agree man, borderline nauseating.

Just saw it, I was kind of let down by it honestly, fuck hype.

Could not press play fast enough

Spot-on review. I went to see this movie due to the hype. A friend sent me a screenshot of someone saying it’s “he scariest movie of the decade” and other hype quotes. Therefore I went in with a nervous excitement thinking I would be seeing something similar to Hereditary. And just like you said in your review, I was let down and disappointed. .

I love that the gifts Longlegs leaves for the girls was obviously inspired by a real-life incident in which several families found similar gifts on their doorstep. That combined with the choice of music and the 1990s setting sounds like a Satanic Panic type plot is laid out ahead of us. I am excited to watch it even if the payoff is now confirmed to be underwhelming.

My wife and I LOVED Longlegs. 10/10 for me. Highly recommend.

I freaking loved it. I would even love to see a prequel about how cage became longlegs

went in not knowing about the hype and blind... absolutely loved it and i will be going to see it again

I went into the movie fairly blind. I thought the cinematography was amazing, however it seems like most directors for any genre have seemed to be mainly focusing on cinematography. I think it’s due to in recent years shows like euphoria really centering their works on the cinematography over the scripts. I wouldn’t say this movie was scary, but extremely unnerving. The whole time I had a feeling of suspense and had an eerie feeling that something would pop up. One of my favorite things was how in the background of many of the shots revolving around the main character you could see the devil in the background peering through the window when she was having a flashback/psychic moment. Def will rewatch it again just to catch more of those Easter eggs in the back. I do think there were some plot holes/things that need to be explained further such as if the main character was more so clairvoyant or psychic. I also wanted more explanation on the dolls/ the ball in her head. Also why was her partner shot in the beginning of the film and who was the man she saw? There are probably more I can’t think of rn and there may have been answers to my questions I just didn’t catch. I def will rewatch though as I thought it was a fun movie. The marketing definitely overhyped it and I think that’s why people are unimpressed as I heard after seeing the movie that people are saying it’s “the scariest movie ever.” This movie is definitely for people who enjoy slow burns over constant action/gore. I overall 8/10 sorry for yapping

Felt like I watched Sinister remade by an art school student

"scariest movie of the decade!!" Which decade? The 1920's?

Unpopular opinion and might be expectations set in a place they shouldn't have been (I went in thinking this was a straight horror movie with Nic Cage) but I busted out laughing every time Nic Cage was on screen and there were a lot of other people in my theater doing the same. I loved the atmosphere this film set up I will watch it again once it's streaming and see if I enjoui t better knowing what it is.

Great cast and cinematography, but not a horror film I'm sorry guys :/ If you watch it to think you'll be scared to sleep tonight, you'll fall asleep watching it LMAO.

Nicolas Cage never scares me

Definitely good horror movie but I would agree with title over hyped a bit not a classic but very good film tho I give it a 7.5/8 out 10

I totally agree with what you’re saying about hyped up reviews. I feel like it’s applicable to negative reviews as well, especially on KZfaq. Feel like fewer things will get the attention of people more than some poorly photoshopped thumbnail with “TRASH” written over it.

Earned a subscriber on that reviewer rant! Thanks for having me ! Loved this movie.

Overhyped? I thought it was amazing. Overhyped are the Ti West movies imo

Do we all unanimously agree that it was a bad idea for the writer/director to have the mother just explain everything at the end? It turned a really fantastic film into a Scooby Doo episode all of a sudden. Someone must have noticed in editing!

I admittedly bought into the hype of this movie. It started of so strong, but the sort of twist ending just fell really flat for me. I didn't hate the movie, but it really just fell apart at the end for me.

All marketing, zero substance. Long Legs failed to illicit any serious terror in any of the people I was with who are all scaredy cat people. That should tell you enough right there how average the movie is.

Great point about how cellphones ruin suspense and horror movies. It's a huge bummer. So many contemporary movies have to arrange situations where the phones are taken out of the equation to even be able to tell a suspenseful story. It's almost as if they might be ruining our lives without our knowing it, lol.

that’s why I like your reviews. No bull💩 just honesty. always appreciated, great video & thank you

Late Night With the Devil was my "SCARIEST MOVIE OF THE DECADE" experience. I was so pissed afterwards that I now take those kind of reviews with a grain of salt. When you were talking about anticipating something, gripping your chairand waiting I automatically thought about the last ten minutes or so of In A Violent Nature.

Loved ur rant, Cody. You hit the nail on the head with the early review nonsense. It cheapens the experience. Can’t stand the industry plants. Appreciated your honesty. 😊

This movie is my Hereditary. While I enjoyed that movie, I never fell for the overhype of it being the scariest horror movie of the 2000s (or whatever bs people were spewing). But with Longlegs, I absolutely felt it. While it is not scary in the traditional sense (which might be the reason for people leaving disappointed), I have never been so unnerved or felt so uneasy watching a movie maybe ever? It is an absolute must see in the cinema though. The way the sound and picture accompanies everything going on in the film just adds to that uneasy feeling in the most amazing way. I can count on less than one hand the movies that have actually scared me in my life, of which there are THOUSANDS of horror movies I've seen. Longlegs is definitely one of them.

What a great review man, again. I really enjoy watching your channel and I've come to respect you when your opinions a lot. I can't tell you how many times I watched a review of a movie I've never seen or heard of, and went to Amazon prime and rent it or watched it. I really took to your final take about how people can over hype a movie experience based on their own. With that being said, I am in no capacity critic on any level like yourself, professionally or otherwise. We back in 2003 I went to the bijou Cinema in Worcester Massachusetts to see the "sneak world premiere" of a movie called malevolence, directed by Steven Mena. Gunner Hanson the OG Leatherface, was in attendance and spoke about how the film spooked him. I was also a guy there that look like a Rob zombie cosplayer. After the screening we met the director and he signed a poster for me because I pointed out an Easter egg in his film. I was also interviewed and it was posted online, keep in mind this was way before Facebook even existed or Instagram and things of that nature. I thought the movie was phenomenal, do in large part to my experience. The film is very fun and good, it is an homage to Friday the 13th and classic 80 slashers. Still very neat and done on a shoestring budget, it is a very apparent riff and at times you've been rip off of Friday the 13th and other slashers of the error. Now please don't get me wrong, I love Steven Mena as a director and he's one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my life. However, upon purchase and further viewings you realize that this is actually kind of boring and by that I mean think of The boredom one will experience watching the OG Friday the 13th, or the flood of influencers from that time period that also would bore one out of their mind for certain durations of the film. Anyway keep up the good work and I really dig your channel. Take it easy.

Thanks for the rant. I always stay away from any thumbnail that says “ MASTERPIECE “ for 10 movies out of the year

I felt like I watched an entirely different movie than everyone else, super disappointing. Not even a good movie, mediocre at best. People overhype every single horror movie nowadays.