Longlegs star Maika Monroe has previously revealed that she only saw Nicolas Cage in full makeup as the titular killer for the first time when she entered the room to film their first (and only?) scene together, and Neon has cleverly incorporated this moment into the movie's marketing.
In this behind-the-scenes clip, Monroe walks through the door to interview Cage's Longlegs, and we hear her heart rate spike dramatically as she approaches the table he's sitting at.
Cage's full visage is blacked out, and Cage and director Osgood Perkins explained the decision to keep the actor's full "transformation" hidden during a recent interview.
"It's driving people towards a freak show at a circus tent," Perkins told Entertainment Weekly when asked why Cage's character has largely been kept under wraps. "We've got the thing behind the curtain, and when there's enough people gathered 'round, we're going to pull the curtain."
"It's the equivalent of putting a warning label on a jar of nitroglycerin," added Cage. "The monster is a highly, highly dangerous substance. The way it's moved, unveiled, deployed has to be treated very carefully. Forget about the movie theater blowing up; the whole city could blow up, nay the country, maybe even the world. He is going to change your reality. Your doors of perception are going to open, and your life is not going to be the same."
“FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.”
Nicolas Cage is also on board as a producer along with his production company Saturn Films (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig), Dan Kagan (Significant Other), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Dave Caplan (The End We Start From) and Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play).
Longlegs is rated R for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language," and also stars Alicia Witt (The Walking Dead) and Blair Underwood (American Crime Story).
The movie is set to hit theaters on July 12. Will you be seeing this one opening weekend?