Longlegs speaks the language of my subconscious nightmares. 

Have I ever before encountered a horror movie that so matches the uncanny feeling of being in one of my nightmares?

Have you ever had a nightmare where nothing appears self-evidently wrong, but the nightmare’s mise-en-scène screams, “SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG HERE!!!!!” And because you’re cognizant of being in a (remember this phrase:) altered reality, you know shit could get fucked up real quick, amplifying the bubbling dread.

Yeah, so that basically describes my viewing experience with Longlegs. 

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Nic Cage’s casting contributes to the aforementioned “altered reality.” Maybe it’s because cinema has colonized my brain, but do ubiquitous movie-stars ever make nonsensical cameos in your nightmares, signaling that the nightmare is unfolding in the porous surreality of your subconscious mind, where anything can happen?

Heck, Cage already starred in a premise built around his ubiquity in the realm of dreams…which is similar to his psyche-invading role in Jason Mott’s National Book Award-winning novel Hell of a Book.