It seems ironic that the devil-worshipping killer in Longlegs, one of the most subtle, complex and creepiest screen serial killers since Norman Bates hatched the genre, would have come from the mind of the son of the actor who played the Psycho villain. But if Longlegs writer-director Osgood Perkins had any qualms about playing in the horror sandbox and measuring up to his iconic father Anthony Perkins, he likely would not have made his own onscreen debut playing the 12-year-old iteration of Norman Bates in 1983’s Psycho II.
In a genre marketplace with no shortage of occult-inspired killers, Longlegs, with Nicolas Cage in one of his most daring turns, set a high bar this year. The July release scared up $100 million in worldwide ticket sales — a record for Neon — on an under-$10 million budget, and today the film makes its PVOD debut.
Perkins began in the acting lane with such films as Six Degrees of Separation and Legally Blonde and series including Alias. He found his calling directing genre with credits that include 2016’s I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House and 2020’s Gretel & Hansel. Here he explains how Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks rocked his world, and he answers the questions we all have about following in his dad’s estimable footsteps, the future and the awards prospects of Cage’s creepy devil worshipping character in a prequel or sequel, and much more.
