By now, horror fans have seen the hype. Longlegs has been advertised as one of the scariest movies of 2024. One of the teaser trailers even had the lead actor’s heart rate monitored as she saw Nicolas Cage in his makeup for the first time. There was so much chatter around this horror film that we had to monitor heart rates for ourselves. Enter Leah, a test subject with no previous knowledge of the hype surrounding the film. She is not a fan of horror which makes it all the more fun to record her reactions. Read her complete analysis below.

SYNOPSIS:

In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.

Where to Watch: Prime Video / Apple TV

Test Subject: Leah

Age: 42

Gender: Female

Fears: Foniasophobia or fear of being killed by a serial killer

Resting HR: 60-65bpm

Walking HR: 80-85bpm

ANALYSIS:

The film began with a suspenseful scene and we were hopeful our subject’s heart rate would be off to the races. But it was an unexpected surprise at 9:00 that gave us the first fluctuation. The next big heart beat leap wouldn’t be until 28:00 when a tense house investigation sent our subject to the edge of her couch. It was a similar reaction to watching The Strangers. Dark locations and creepy imagery allowed us to record heart rates in the seventies but nothing shocking could catapult our subject’s pulse into a terrifying territory. The plot stitched together at a snail’s pace and we waited for something scary to happen. Our subject waffled between emotions, unsure of whether she should be laughing or scared. This confusion, combined with a lack of tension held down her numbers. Thankfully, a gory moment at 1:19:00 jolted our subject awake and lifted her heart rate to a peak of 83bpm but that would be the highest we’d record throughout the remainder of the film.

CONCLUSION:

Longlegs (2024) is a slow crime thriller that wavers between creepy and goofy which left our subject fearless and confused. Share on X Nic Cage does what Nic Cage does to provide us with a freaky character but the unusual makeup and strange story fell flat with our subject. Only three scenes raised her heart rate well above her resting average of 63bpm but they were quickly diminished by the slow moving plot. If you’re looking for another heart-racing crime thriller, check out Silence of the Lambs to see how suspense can effectively build pulse pounding results.

Longlegs (2024): Burns an average of 180 Calories

Frog Legs: 73 Calories

How many Fear Calories did you burn watching Longlegs (2024) ?  Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook