Osgood Perkins doesn’t shy away from the looming specter of his family’s horror heritage for his movies. His father, Anthony Perkins, is an icon of the genre for his turn as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. It would be understandable if Osgood distanced himself from the horror genre as a director, but he’s very much embraced it in his four films to date. With his serial killer horror movie Longlegs now in theaters, ComingSoon ranks all four Osgood Perkins movies to date.
4) I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)
Perkins’ sophomore effort is easily the most supernatural tale he’s told, and has more words in its title than the rest of his filmography combined.
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House is about a young nurse who takes care of an elderly author who lives in a haunted house. It’s a heavily atmospheric movie and is refreshingly old-school in telling its ghost story.
However, it is also a bit of a slog at times. The success of Perkins’ films seems to rest on how effectively he utilizes lingering atmospheric moments, and this is arguably the one that misses the mark the most.
3) Gretel & Hansel (2020)
This retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale is visually arresting—an often dreamlike procession of beautiful shots and all-around technical mastery. However, as a story, it’s not quite so refined.
Alice Krige is almost pitch-perfect as the Witch, while Sophia Lillis proves a steely foil as Gretel. But the air of menace and danger bleeds out of the film the further it goes, culminating in a largely unsatisfying climax that threatens to undo all that tremendous technical work.
Still, Gretel & Hansel is miles above the more recent wave of retelling fairy tales and children’s stories through horror.
2) The Blackoat’s Daughter (2015)
Until recently, Osgood Perkins’ debut feature film was inarguably his best. It is a slow-burn horror story that embraces the cold winter air of its near-empty prep school setting.
Kat (Kiernan Shipka) and Rose (Lucy Boynton) are two different girls, but they are forced together during winter break as they stay on-site while everyone else goes home. While they try to make a good time of it, Kat’s secret threatens to change everything.
The real tensions arise when another party is introduced. A troubled young woman (Emma Roberts) braves the icy landscape to arrive at the school. Her reason for doing so? Well, its director ensures you’ll have to wait and wait to find out.
The big reveal isn’t the reason to persevere with The Blackcoat’s Daughter. The unpleasant atmosphere and brooding score are King here, and Perkins’ commitment to a glacial pace is commendable as it pays off so effectively.
1) Longlegs (2024)
And so to Osgood Perkins’ latest movie—a satanic serial killer thriller packed with all the mood and dread that has permeated the director’s best work.
The hook is Nicholas Cage playing an eccentric creep of a serial killer, but it’s Maika Monroe once again striding into genre cinema and providing a performance that accentuates those around it. Meanwhile, Alicia Witt ends up being the film’s secret weapon. One that twists the film’s thematic knife in a different direction.
Fundamentally, Longlegs bears all the hallmarks of Osgood Perkins’ previous work, but there’s an extra level of cohesion and confidence that has arguably been lacking in more recent examples.
