September 2024 Movie Reviews: Longlegs, Oddity Rebel Ridge

If the three movies we’ll take a look at in this post have one major thing in common, it’s that they all had potential to be really good, but ultimately fell short of being films I’d strongly recommend. Though I enjoyed elements of each of these movies (and liked them to varying degrees), these are films that’ll fill some time, but that likely won’t be too memorable a couple of weeks after viewing them.

Longlegs (2024)

NEON, 101 minutes

Longlegs captures the feel and aesthetic of what makes an eerie, well put together horror movie, but fails to really succeed on any sort of deeper level. The film was written and directed by Osgood Perkins. Perkins clearly has a love for quality horror films. His movie is going for the feel of something from the 90s like The Silence of the Lambs or Seven, or more recently from movies like It Follows or Sinister. All of those films are far better though than Longlegs in terms of both scariness and story.

Longlegs has issues with both its plot and characters. It’s important for a horror film to really have its lore nailed down, and here it feels a bit all over the place. There’s also a big exposition dump delivered by a character in the final act that explains everything. It’s both out of place and the exact opposite of “show don’t tell” storytelling. It doesn’t work, while at the same time offering no real surprises with the story.

I enjoy Maika Monroe as an actress, but I think her performance as the lead isn’t great. Her character, a clairvoyant detective, is meant to be “off” a little and not your typical FBI agent. As she’s played, she feels more boring/aloof than complex/interesting.

Having Nicholas Cage play the bonkers serial killer character is just too distracting. Cage really hams it up in the role. It’s a little creepy, but at the same time it’s impossible not to keep thinking of it as Nicholas Cage doing a wacky performance.

With its strong sense of atmosphere, but a lacking story, Longlegs feels like something that might’ve worked better as a short than as a feature length movie. I don’t think it’s really a bad film, it’s just not a very good one.

Grade: 5.5/10

Oddity (2024)

IFC Films, 98 minutes 

Oddity is like a better version of the same type of horror movie as Longlegs. It’s not great, but I found it to be more engaging. While it’s also somewhat predictable with certain major things that we expect to happen, there were a couple surprises.

The first act of Oddity is really well done and different feeling. I won’t describe the scene in detail here, but the one in which a man comes to a woman’s door at night was very effective and offered a unique take on the stranger at the door at night horror trope. There’s definitely a strong setup for this movie.

The blind clairvoyant sister is an interesting character – I almost wish we’d gotten more of her. I often complain that movies are too long or boring. With Oddity, I feel like actually getting more time with certain characters might’ve been beneficial.

The oddity referenced in the movie’s title, a life-sized wooden mannequin, is creepy and utilized effectively. There are some frightening moments in Oddity, though it’s not really a terrifying movie. A more recent example of a film that’s scarier over the past few years would be something like 2022’s Smile. Still, if you’re in the mood for a horror movie that has a few unique ideas, Oddity is worth checking out.

Grade: 7/10

Rebel Ridge (2024)

Netflix, 131 minutes

I know many high-level Netflix executives frequent this website, and this statement might upset them, but I think it’s fair to say that most of the films released directly onto the streaming platform are flaming hot garbage. So, I was surprised to find that a Rebel Ridge, which came out on Netflix this past Friday, received solidly good reviews.

I was further encouraged to watch Rebel Ridge by the fact that it was written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. I was a huge fan of Saulnier’s 2015 horror-thriller Green Room, and also enjoyed Blue Ruin. Unfortunately, Rebel Ridge, a crime thriller centered on an ex-marine who comes to be at odds with a town of corrupt police officers, ended up being a letdown by the time the credits rolled.

A big part of the reason I was ultimately disappointed with Rebel Ridge is because the first half of this movie is really good. That first hour is tense and engaging. And, if this had been reviewing only that hour-long stretch, it would be a solid 8/10. However, that part of the movie basically resolves the entire initial conflict, and then the story has to decide what route it wants to take next.

The second part of the movie focuses on uncovering how the police are corrupt, something we got bits about in the first hour, but never really got into. It’s just not that interesting. The human-focused element of the first hour that worked so well is mostly absent, and the movie turns into a cliché evidence-gathering quest by our heroes. It’s pretty boring.

The performances in Rebel Ridge are still above average overall, and I particularly enjoyed Aaron Pierre as the protagonist. The movie is still probably worth watching for that good first hour. I don’t think the second half of the movie is truly awful or anything either, it’s still okay – just blah. It’s very disappointing after a far superior first half.

Grade: 6/10