Blair Underwood is breaking down that shocking Longlegs ending — and sharing why he thinks the film has already made such an impact on the horror genre at large.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Longlegs.
“I think the reason people say that this movie is unsettling is because the message — in my interpretation — is evil exists and evil persists. So does good,” Underwood, 59, exclusively told Us Weekly. “This is a classic battle of good and evil. Maika Monroe’s character being the good, of course, and the [Nicolas] Cage’s being the evil. But it’s very clear at the end, the final moment, that evil does persist.”
Set in the 1990s, Underwood portrays Agent Carter, who teams up with Monroe’s Lee Harker to uncover the means and motive of infamous serial killer Longlegs (Cage). Carter has been working on the case for years and hopes that Lee’s uncanny abilities will help get them closer to catching the murderer.
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Debuting in theaters on July 12, the film has already been dubbed by many as the best horror flick of the past decade, drawing comparisons to Silence of the Lambs and Se7en. Finding a way to reference iconic films of horror past, Underwood believes, is what makes Longlegs — and director Oz Perkins — so genius.
“What Oz did, I think brilliantly, was he kind of took shades and textures of different films. We know Silence of the Lambs and many other ones, but he really, in addition to that, created his own special thing,” he explained, noting that the movie’s twist on classic tropes keeps viewers on their toes until the very end. “People don’t really know where it’s going, and it’s a surprise.”
The movie’s final scene is one plot twist Underwood “especially” loved when reading the script, which sees Lee unable to successfully shoot a doll possessed by the devil as she attempts to save Carter’s daughter. Carter, meanwhile, has already been shot dead by Lee after killing his own wife.
“I loved it because it was yet another twist,” Underwood said, pointing out that the ambiguous — and certainly tragic — final moments are “very intentional by design.”
The ending is so uncertain, in fact, that Underwood believes even his own character’s fate is up for debate. “My friends who have all these ideas for a sequel say, ‘Oh, but you’re dead.’ I say, ‘But am I?’” Underwood’s own son pointed out Carter was only shot in the shoulder, a potentially non-fatal wound. “We just don’t know,” he added.
Alive or otherwise, Underwood would likely have no qualms about returning to the Longlegs universe. The actor has been a longtime fan of the horror genre, but his role as Agent Carter marked his first time stepping into the world himself — and he’s thirsty for more.
“I’ve done a couple of psychological thrillers, but never a horror film, and it’s been amazing,” he told Us, sharing that he agreed to the project before Perkins had even written the ending. “I signed on just listening to [Oz] and just what he had written so far. And I heard Nicolas Cage signed on and Maika Monroe has already signed on. I [was] like, ‘Yeah, count me in.’”
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He’d love to take on other major horror franchises, like Saw, next — if for no other reason than it earns him major cred with his kids. (The Sex and the City alum shares sons Blake and Paris and daughter Brielle with ex-wife Desiree DaCosta.)
“They loved Longlegs,” he gushed. “My daughter said it was her favorite project I’ve ever done. I said, ‘OK, more horror films.’ I got some cool points. I have two sons and daughter, and they all agreed.”
Underwood added that even his wife, Josie Hart, was a surprisingly big fan of the film.
“I’ll tell you [what] — she doesn’t really like horror films in general,” he confessed to Us. “But she said this was damn good.”
Longlegs is in theaters now.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
