12 Best Movies Like Longlegs

From the disturbing revelations discovered as each new family of victims presents itself, to the terrifying ending inspired by real-life events, “Longlegs” left viewers’ skin crawling when it was released in 2024. The film joined the ranks of the great horror thrillers that revolve around twisted murderers who leave occult artifacts at their crime scenes — and the law enforcement agents who get more than they bargained for when they investigate said murderers. “Longlegs” was written and directed by up-and-coming horror filmmaker Osgood Perkins — sometimes credited as Oz Perkins — with Nicolas Cage both starring and producing.

When offering recommendations to fans of a particular movie, the most obvious throughline leads to other films that check as many of the same boxes as possible. But some people don’t necessarily want another movie that’s exactly the same in that way, and want more vibe-based recommendations instead. Both will be found here, including other movies about federal agents and/or police officers investigating killers who taunt them with culty clues, as well as films that don’t strictly follow that formula but will otherwise suit “Longlegs” fans because they offer similar atmospheres and approaches to horror. 

Even with multiple classics in his oeuvre, 2007’s “Zodiac” still sits at the top of our David Fincher movie ranking. It is also the filmmaker’s best movie to recommend to fans of “Longlegs” because it too is about a killer who leaves clues at the scenes of the crimes, with the investigation into finding him becoming all-consuming for those involved. Plus, as mentioned, “Longlegs” took inspiration from tragic real-life events, and “Zodiac” is, of course, based on the case of the very real Zodiac killer and the investigation and media firestorm that followed.

Some would argue that Fincher’s “Seven” deserves the recommendation here, and certainly people should check out that incredible 1995 thriller as well. But “Zodiac” is the one we decided to highlight, not only for the reasons mentioned above but because “Seven” goes a little hard in the direction of being flashy and stylized. While that works great for that movie, it’s not really the vibe of “Longlegs” for the most part. 

And though it’s somewhat dated now, “Seven” was very much a modern movie upon release, while both “Zodiac” and “Longlegs” are period pieces about a time three decades prior to the respective release of each film. That also gives the two movies a strong connective tissue, not to mention that in both cases, the real-life crimes that inspired the films have yet to be solved — making them all that much more unsettling.

While Nicolas Cage steals every scene in which he appears in “Longlegs,” he’s not actually the star of the movie. That distinction belongs to Maika Monroe, who plays the FBI agent, Lee Harker, who is investigating the murder spree. While Monroe has worked in many different genres, she’s carved out quite the niche for herself as a rising scream queen, appearing in multiple acclaimed horror movies and destined to enter that pantheon if she keeps on her current path.

While Monroe has a handful of terrifying films that are worth checking out, the one closest to “Longlegs” is 2014’s “It Follows.” First and foremost, it’s the only other one besides “Longlegs” that is objectively a horror movie and not just a thriller with scary elements. But beyond that, “It Follows” is also full of slow-build tension and a very gradual unraveling of the dark truths at the center of the story, which centers around a college student who finds herself stalked by a creature that can possess any person and will kill her if it gets to her. If this is one you’ve already watched, fear not – “It Follows” rewards a rewatch even when you know how it ends. 

A 1990s setting? Check. A killer who leaves occult clues behind? Check. An ambitious young female officer investigating the crimes under the tutelage of an older, more experienced male officer? Check and check. 1999’s “The Bone Collector” is definitely one of the first movies people should check out if they want a movie that is thematically similar in very obvious ways to “Longlegs.” Plus, it stars Angelina Jolie, Denzel Washington, and Queen Latifah, a trio of acting powerhouses that is tough to beat.  

Unlike “Longlegs,” there are no mystical or supernatural elements in “The Bone Collector,” nor is the killer quite so theatrical. But as a more grounded, but no less thrilling, take on a similar premise, it works as a great double feature. In 2023, there were rumblings of a possible sequel — based on “The Skin Collector,” another book in the series from which “The Bone Collector” was adapted — with Washington and Jolie even reportedly lined up to return. But as of September 2025, nothing else has been said about the project — if it was ever anything more than just a rumor to begin with. 

Nearly 10 years before “Longlegs,” Osgood Perkins released his first movie as both a writer and director with “The Blackcoat’s Daughter.” And it most certainly announced that he was primed to make a name for himself in the horror genre, living up to the lofty expectations of his family lineage (more on that in a bit). Its similarities to “Longlegs” beyond being a psychological thriller are relatively few, primarily that it is heavy on atmosphere and takes its time. But it’s always worth exploring a filmmaker’s other work once you’ve enjoyed one of their movies.

The plot of “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” is a little tough to explain, especially without spoiling too much. But it initially involves two different characters and timelines that jump back and forth before a third is introduced that ends up leading into the climax of the film. In every timeline, each one named after the character at the center of it, a young woman finds her life upended by some sort of evil magic and/or being. The way it all comes together, and how the three timelines ultimately connect, is definitely a twist you won’t see coming.

Beyond both being horror movies, “Longlegs” has a key connection to the Alfred Hitchcock classic, “Psycho.” Remember the previous tease about Oz Perkins coming from a famous family? Well, his father was none other than Anthony Perkins, best known as Norman Bates in multiple installments of the “Psycho” film series. Is the original “Psycho” the best movie in the franchise? Of course. But while it was initially scoffed at upon release, 1983’s “Psycho II” has since been reappraised as an underrated horror gem — one that some even argue is as good as, if not better, than the legendary original.

Obviously you need to watch “Psycho,” as both a horror devotee and just a film fan in general. It’s a masterpiece, and remains beloved and surprisingly watchable over 60 years after its release for good reason. You also can’t really appreciate “Psycho II” without the context provided by the original, so this is something of a twofer recommendation, to be sure. 

But the reason “Psycho II” gets the spotlight is threefold. First, it deserves to be seen by more people. Second, it involves multiple murders by a mysterious killer, unlike the original just being about that one iconic shower stabbing. And third, “Psycho II” happens to also star Oz Perkins — playing the young version of Norman Bates alongside his father, who reprises the role he’d last played 23 years prior.

Seeing as how Nicolas Cage plays the killer in “Longlegs,” it seems like a no-brainer to recommend other horror movies where he plays that or other outlandish roles. But we want to take a different route here, and recommend another genre outing that Cage stars in which instead feels more tonally similar to “Longlegs.” Which bring us to “Arcadian,” the unfairly overlooked 2024 horror film in which Cage stars as a father trying to ensure that he and his boys survive a dangerous post-apocalyptic world. 

Because it’s a fairly low-budget movie, “Arcadian” is forced to focus on tension and atmosphere rather than being a non-stop action fest against the movie’s soul-devouring monsters. That makes it more “Longlegs” than “World War Z.” It’s also another excellent example of how well Cage has been able to course-correct his career after a glut of forgettable direct-to-video slop in the 2010s, giving himself a renaissance in the 2020s that deserves to be both lauded and studied. He’s also made sure horror has been well-represented in that comeback, not just with “Longlegs” and “Arcadian” but other must-see efforts from the decade like “Mandy” and “Color Out of Space.” 

No, we aren’t taking about the awful 2006 remake of “The Wicker Man,” which inspired a ton of memes for all the wrong reasons. That one might have also starred Nicolas Cage at his most Nicolas Cage-iest, but that isn’t reason enough to recommend it over the vastly superior 1973 original of the same name. This list is about legitimately good horror films, not “so bad they’re good” horror films.

Sometimes referred to as the “Citizen Kane” of horror movies, “The Wicker Man” is an undeniable classic in the genre. It follows a police officer (Edward Woodward) whose investigation of a missing girl brings him to an island full of religious zealots that clearly have more going on than just innocent, peaceful celebrations of their beliefs. As the horrifying truth of the island, its people, and the rituals they perform slowly unfurls, “The Wicker Man” is a masterclass in having an initial sense of strange unease eventually giving way to outright terror — and having that escalation come at an absolutely perfect pace that few films of its type have come close to equaling. 

Only a fortunate few got to experience 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project” at its most effective, in the brief window of time when it was still shrouded in mystery and the world wasn’t entirely sure if it was real or fake. But while it wasn’t quite as unsettling once everyone knew it was entirely fictional, and its shine has been further dulled a bit by the subsequently oversaturated found footage horror genre, “The Blair Witch Project” is still a classic worth revisiting.

Beyond the quality of the footage — the cheapest smartphones of today would take much better, much clearer video than those ’90s camcorders did — “The Blair Witch Project” actually holds up remarkably well and could almost be released today. Three people getting lost on a camping trip, in woods that seem to be shifting around them to keep them going in circles — and mostly only hearing but never actually seeing the titular entity — is a recipe for a timelessly unsettling horror experience. Plus the fact that the “witch” is prone to decorating the woods with occult artifacts, and that the hunt for her tends to lead anyone who embarks upon it down a dark path, makes the connection to “Longlegs” more significant than it might initially seem. 

The other Oz Perkins-directed movie we want to recommend to “Longlegs” fans is 2020’s “Gretel & Hansel.” “The Monkey” is arguably his second best movie after “Longlegs,” but that one leans pretty heavily on dark humor. And “Longlegs” is not a dark comedy in any way, shape, or form. So for that reason, we move to his next-best movie after those two and “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” — though, make no mistake, we’re still well within the better half of his film output thus far with “Gretel & Hansel.”

As the title makes obvious, “Gretel & Hansel” is the latest attempt to further twist the already-twisted Brothers Grimm fairytale, “Hansel and Gretel.” But despite it being well-worn territory, “Gretel & Hansel” more than justifies its existence in a crowded field by putting most of the focus on Gretel, with Hansel taking more of a supporting role. 

It’s also an extremely stunning film from a visual standpoint, rising above the typical fairytale horror adaptations which tend to be of the schlocky, cheaply-made B-movie variety. It also, true to Perkins’s style and sure to appeal to “Longlegs” fans, really takes its time and is allowed to breath as it establishes the story and characters, not rushing straight to the chills but also more than delivering on them once they finally arrive. 

After having its plans for a grand theatrical release thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing shutdowns, 2020’s “The Dark and the Wicked” barely got any attention before it was quickly shuffled off to streaming with little fanfare. Since then, it has slowly found an audience thanks entirely to word of mouth and strong praise from various enthusiastic press outlets, but the film — by “The Strangers” director Bryan Bertino — deserved to be a big hit out of the gate and shouldn’t be the kind of movie that still falls under “overlooked gem” status.

Luckily, lists like this provide an opportunity to recommend this stellar horror thriller to more people. Like “Longlegs,” it’s extremely dark, but even more so — and that’s saying something. Definitely look into some of the themes “The Dark and the Wicked” addresses before you watch, because there are certainly a few potential triggers there for a lot of people. But for those that can handle it, it’s an extremely well-made — and incredibly terrifying — story about a family that has already been riddled with non-supernatural tragedy before a demon decides to come to their farm and make a bad situation that much worse for them. 

“Longlegs” excels in taking a premise that seems very by-the-numbers and overdone on paper, and turning it into something unique by not only bringing interesting new wrinkles to the formula but executing very well on the existing traditions. 2017’s “It Comes at Night” does exactly that as well, only instead of a police procedural thriller about the search for an occult killer, it nails the old and also brings the new to the genres of disease-ridden apocalypse films and horror movies about hiding in the woods.

A couple and their teenage son have just had to deal with the tragic decision of mercy-killing an older relative and burning his body. Thus is the dark reality of the world of “It Comes at Night,” where the outlook is bleak for the remaining humans — with things not helped along by the creatures that come out when the sun goes down. Or are they creatures? Like “Longlegs,” you’ll spend a stretch of “It Comes at Night” certain you know what’s going on and where the story is going, only for something to blindside you and take things in a completely unexpected direction. 

When you think of psychological horror thrillers about an up-and-coming female FBI agent investigating a dangerous killer, and having that investigation become her entire life until she solves it — and even after she does — you likely go straight to 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs.” While the most famous movie within a specific subgenre isn’t always necessarily the best one, in the case of “The Silence of the Lambs,” it most definitely is. 

Anthony Hopkins gives one of the all-time great performances, in any genre, of literal man-eating serial killer Hannibal Lecter. The fact that he’s not only the most dangerous and unhinged person in any room, but also the most charming and most intelligent, makes him a more unsettling presence than even the actual villain of the film — and Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) puts most other horror movie antagonists to shame. These two characters together make “The Silence of the Lambs” one of the most uncomfortable experiences you’ll ever have, yet you’ll want to have that experience over and over again.