The upcoming film Longlegs by director Osgood Perkins is already garnering a lot of buzz, thanks in part to the seemingly gruesome appearance of star Nicolas Cage, which has been kept under wraps thus far. To further increase the hype, Neon has released a new video which shows Cage’s co-star, Maika Monroe, reacting to his character for the first time in a chilling bit of promotional material.

Opening with the proclamation, “The first time Maika Monroe saw Nicolas Cage as Longlegs was in the following scene,” the video then cuts to a production slate hiding Cage’s appearance. It then touts that what the viewer is about to hear is Monroe’s actual heartbeat. In the pulse-pounding scene, we hear her heart rate speed up as her character of FBI agent Lee Harker gazes upon the Satanic serial killer for the first time, with Neon stating that while Monroe’s resting heart rate is usually 76 bpm, it got up to an astounding 170 bpm while staring at Cage. Check out the video below.

Maika Monroe Jokes That Longlegs Isn’t Scary

"We Had So Much Fun on This Set."

No stranger to the horror genre, Maika Monroe first rose to prominence thanks to her starring role in the 2014 horror flick It Follows, and from there she’d go on to star in a number of dramatic pieces including Hot Summer Nights (2017), After Everything (2018), and I’m Not Here (2017), while also keeping one foot in the genre with roles in Villains (2019), and the 2022 movies Watchers, and Significant Other.

With Longlegs being hyped up as one of the scariest films audiences have seen in years, including by MovieWeb’s own Will Sayre, the film by Osgood Perkins already has an aura about it before its release to the public. However, in a recent interview with MovieWeb, Maika Monroe joked that Longlegs isn’t scary at all, and that she had a lot of “fun” during the filming process.

"It’s really unfortunately not scary , or maybe fortunately, actually. I think it’s fortunately. We had so much fun on this set , and I think that that’s just how I work. I love my job, I love being on set, everyone – and especially on this movie – is there because they love this script and want to be making something great ."

For co-star Blair Underwood, who MovieWeb also got the chance to catch up with recently, he says it’s both Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe that anchor the movie, while at the same time heaping praise on Cage’s serial killer character, which he says is “unforgettable.”

"Really it’s Maika Monroe who acts as the anchor of the film , but those two together, and that character, you know. Somebody said once that every film is as good or as bad as its villain, and of course Longlegs is the villain, and if the villain doesn’t work, sometimes the film doesn’t work. In this one, what Nicolas Cage created in this villain is unforgettable ."

With a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes thus far thanks to early previews, Longlegs is shaping up to be the sleeper hit of the summer, with some already calling it “one of the most unsettling films in years.” For his part, Nicolas Cage has gone on record saying that once people get to feast their eyes on his character, "your life is not going to be the same."

Longlegs makes its theatrical debut on July 12, 2024, and you can check out the trailer below.