Every year there are a few buzzed-about horror movies released, but I haven’t seen this much hype for one in a good long while. The movie is Longlegs, hitting theaters this upcoming weekend, and it’s a strange name for what appears to be an incredibly terrifying, incredibly good film.

As it stands, with 25 reviews in, Longlegs has a perfect 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, not a very common achievement for a mainstream horror film. Here’s a synopsis of the movie:

“In the 1990s, new FBI agent Lee Harker was assigned to an unsolved case involving the Satanic serial killer known as Longlegs. As the investigation becomes more complicated with occult evidence uncovered, Harker realizes a personal link to the killer and must act quickly to prevent another family murder.”

The cast is pretty great too. It stars Maika Monroe (It Follows), Alicia Witt (OG Dune), Blair Underwood (Rules of Engagement), Kiernan Shipka (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and Nicholas Cage (everything). Monroe in particular is cementing her status as a true icon of horror after starring in both this as It Follows, which I’d consider to be an all-time great horror film, and one of my favorites. Cage as the killer (this is not a secret) is being praised as unsettling well beyond what we thought may have been possible from him.

What’s so good about it? I was impressed with this high praise from Cinematic Reel’s David Gonzalez:

“Not since the likes of Zodiac and The Silence of the Lambs has a serial killer entry disturbed me the way Oz Perkins’ Longlegs did. It’s a psychologically relentless descent into the macabre that’s sure to crawl its way under your skin and never leave.”

I think my favorite piece of trivia about director Oz Perkins is that he played a character named “Dorky David” in Legally Blonde in 2001. But since then he’s directed a couple horror movies, but none that blew up the way we’re seeing here.

There were some early reactions to the movie in surprise screenings, and this one’s probably my favorite:

"No lie. Longlegs was so insane that a woman behind us started crying halfway thru lmao 10/10 movie."

For reference, here are some of the highest rated horror movies of last year, 2023, where none hit a full 100%:

• When Evil Lurks – 97%
• Huesera: The Bone Woman – 97%
• Attachment – 95%
• Talk to Me – 95%
• M3GAN – 93%
• Influencer – 92%

So, if you liked any of those, and this is scoring better, well, get ready. And these comparisons to Blair Witch, Silence of the Lambs and Zodiac are something else, as it’s not just a few people saying that, but many. I cannot wait. The movie is out July 12 in select theaters.