In a recent interview, Longlegs director Osgood Perkins revealed the inspiration behind his breakout horror hit.
Here at Gamereactor, we loved Longlegs, but fans of horror in general are sure to find the insight into the mind of a creator within the genre interesting, especially given it comes from a real-life murder case.
Perkins isn’t the only horror director whose inspiration comes from the real and tragic, as Norman Bates, the villain of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, was similarly inspired by the real-life case of Ed Gein. As if that wasn’t enough, it was actually Oz’s father, Anthony Perkins, who brought the twisted character to life.
Oz stated that the case which inspired him was the horrific murder of JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old girl found dead in her home in 1996.
He said: “In the book [detailing her murder] they said the parents had made for her, for Christmas, a life-size doll of herself that was dressed as her and lying in a cardboard box in the basement.”
The case’s links to dolls and the idea of ‘downstairs’, as you’ll know if you’ve seen the film, is the backbone for some spine-chilling horror.
In fact, it was along with the doll that Ramsey was found – in the basement. Without giving too much away for those who haven’t already seen Longlegs (what are you doing?) take it from a friend of a friend that this is some creepy stuff (thanks, Collider).