Grim, dead of winter foreboding, and a hint of an aged photograph aesthetic set the tone for Osgood Perkins' latest period film, Longlegs.
Perkins is a kind of specialist in slow burn chillers. His previous films February or I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House are underrated in a modern-yet-bygone-era kind of way, and well worth seeking out. To that end, the new key art from design-house Grandson captures the distant, formidable isolation of rural areas in the mid to late 20th century. Longlegs is set in 1975.
A clean off-white and slightly underexposed design favours bold red title cards; the ones that generally signal Horror Film. It is the unnatural, uneven, kerning that seals the deal here, it adds just a bit more of an unsettling element to the design. The colour is echoed in the red winter coat on the lost figure standing in front of the house, dwarfed by the landscape and the typography.
Couple this with all the negative space above and below the house, the lack of a standard credit block, and big R Rating insignia, and there is no shortage of good communication as to what one might be in for, tonally.
There are three other more overtly disturbing designs put out by Neon for the film, but the one that gives me chills is the one below.
