'Longlegs' Is an 'X-Files' Movie

This year's horror hit 'Longlegs' has plenty of influences, but my favorite comes from the spooky world of the 'X-Files.'

Longlegs is great. It’s spooky, unsettling, and bizarre. Lucky for all of us, it has enjoyed a surprising and very solid box-office run, further cementing horror’s status as a theatrical stalwart.

Much has been made of the movie’s influences, with a major one being The Silence of the Lambs. That’s a big one, no doubt, but as I was watching Longlegs, I actually thought little of that particular connection, mostly because I was consumed with the notion that this was essentially a great X-Files movie.

There is, of course, our protagonist Lee Harker, a female FBI agent investigating grisly murders that have ties to the occult. Though she doesn’t have a true partner she’s working with, the circumstances of her investigation do have more of an X-Files flair to them.

It also can’t be ignored that the movie takes place during the 1990s, a prime time for Satanic panic. Bill Clinton’s portrait looms over scenes, and once again I feel transported back to Skinner’s office, watching him duke it out with Mulder or Scully in some philosophical or bureau procedural debate.

And hey, an FBI agent contending with the real-live devil? The X-Files gorged on that scenario - also taking advantage of the ongoing Satanic panic itself - for a couple episodes each season back in the day.

Longlegs is what we should have been getting all these years with the X-Files. We should have gotten a new big-screen Scully and Mulder adventure every couple of years, dropping in on them investigating something that defies explanation. Longlegs has a procedural bent to it as well (it’s far less of a true horror movie than the previews would have you believe), with the mystery and unsettling mood that permeates throughout being just as important as the final destination of the story. And Nicolas Cage as Longlegs himself feels like a stellar guest-starring role, dropping into an established world to give his wild take on a character. It worked for the X-Files for a decade, and it sure works here, too.

There are many influences on Longlegs, but my favorite is from one of my favorite franchises out there, one that deserved a better ending. This movie gave me a glimpse of what that could have looked like, filling the void admirably.