Serial killer thrills and occult horror chills make for an oft-kilter combination in Longlegs, an engrossing albeit convoluted example of mood and performance making up for poor writing.

Notorious evangelical preacher Billy Graham once decried horror movies as vessels of evil, and it is a concept that movies such as The Ring and Annabelle have played with. Director Osgood Perkins (the son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins) pushes the concept further in Longlegs, using the familiar trappings of the 1990s serial killer thriller to deliver a gonzo horror movie in which a satanist serial killer uses his own covert means to inflict several families with murderous violence.

It often feels like Perkins is trying to do too much with Longlegs, juggling numerous serial killer movie tropes with occult horror wackiness that complicates instead of compels. Longlegs falls short on delivering a new horror classic but bless its black-heart it sure does try.

Set during 1990s Oregon, Longlegs stars Maika Monroe as Lee Harker, an FBI agent with an awkward personality and strong hint of clairvoyant powers. When Lee is tasked with investigating a cold case involving the murders of several families in the Oregon region, her investigation leads her to the mysteriously named Longlegs (Nicolas Cage) a pale painted nomad who is seemingly in league with Satan.

Cage adds to his recent run of strong performances with a suitably strange and engrossing turn as a pale faced terror who is androgynous in look and has a flair for the dramatic. Monroe compliments with a quieter turn that relies on awkward body language that contains a restrained trauma that slowly unravels into something much more sinister.

As we tread further into the dark journey of this horror detective story, it becomes clear that the screenplay for Longlegs is filled with interesting ideas that are poorly executed by Perkins. The blend of crime mystery and supernatural horror is not an easy task with merely a handful pulling off such a feat, and Longlegs could have done the same if Perkins’ focus on story was as strong as his focus on establishing mood.

There is a dark majesty to Longlegs, to be sure, yet like a great campfire story that engages with its premise only to lose its way the further it trudges along, Longlegs proves to be a more frustrating than frightening exercise in occult horror thrills.