“Longlegs” filmmaker Osgood Perkins actually comes off as a bit pretentious when he says he doesn’t watch contemporary horror movies, and that he actually goes out of his way to avoid them.
Speaking to THR, Perkins was asked about his take on recent horror releases, given his films are steeped in the genre and his father starred as Norman Bates in “Psycho.” Surprisingly, he avoids any film that is considered “horror.” He flat out refuses to watch them.
On the one hand, I want to identify or atone with the father by going down the same path and representing the good name in the genre in question, but then I also have a sort of a distaste for it,” Perkins explains. “I wouldn’t say I’m someone who likes or dislikes horror movies. I don’t see new ones. I have no interest. I’ll never see “MaXXXine”, I’ll never see “Pearl”. I saw “X” for reasons; it wasn’t on purpose. I don’t see contemporary things. They don’t interest me at all, and that’s not to say that they aren’t great. I’m sure they are great and make a lot of people happy, which is all that really matters. But I like the horror genre because it’s the genre that permits the most invention and it encourages the most poetry. It’s all guessing and grasping at what is essentially unknowable.
I love how he specifies that it wasn’t his decision to watch “X.”
Anyways, that’s a weird thing to state, at least in the way he said it. I know nothing about the guy so not sure what to make of it. It just seems odd that for a guy whose influences are clearly indebted in horror, that he would personally go out of his way to avoid it.
Regardless, Perkins’ stock is about to rise, considerably, after this weekend. “Longlegs” is about to take the box-office by storm, nearly doubling its budget in its first 3 days of release. Neon, distributor of “Longlegs,” clearly see something in Perkins as they’re set to back his next two film: “Keeper” and “The Monkey,”
Perkins is the son of the late, great Anthony Perkins, who was born in 1932 and died in ’92. His mother, Berry Berenson, was killed on 9/11 when her flight, American Airlines 11, slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Before “Longlegs,” Perkins was best known for his 2015 indie debut “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” and 2020’s “Gretel & Hansel.” They weren’t these universally loved films, in fact, most critics ignored them upon release. They came and went. His best claim to fame might have actually been his role as “Dorky David” in “Legally Blonde.”
