10 Best Movies Like Longlegs (Ranked & Where to Watch)

A true sleeper hit, The Empty Man is perhaps the most spiritually aligned film on this list with Longlegs. It masterfully weaves a detective narrative around an escalating cosmic dread and a secretive cult, blurring the lines between urban legend, psychological torment, and ancient evil. Director David Prior crafts an atmosphere of pervasive unease, meticulously building its world with unsettling visuals and an oppressive sense of inevitable doom. Much like Longlegs, it delves into the origins of evil, suggesting a force far older and more profound than a simple human perpetrator, requiring a chilling patience from its audience to truly unravel its unsettling truths.

James Wan's Malignant is a bold, audacious swing that shares Longlegs' willingness to embrace the truly bizarre and unsettling. While its pacing is quicker and its scares more overt, the film's central antagonist is a marvel of unique, grotesque design and psychological pathology, echoing the disturbing creativity behind Longlegs' killer. Wan expertly blends classic Giallo aesthetics with modern horror sensibilities, delivering a visually striking and wildly inventive narrative that, much like Longlegs, dares to push boundaries and subvert expectations, leaving an indelible, twisted impression on the viewer's psyche.

Often overlooked, Russell Mulcahy's Resurrection is a gritty, unnerving serial killer thriller that feels like a more explicitly occult counterpart to Seven, a film often referenced alongside Longlegs. Set against a bleak, rain-soaked backdrop, it follows a jaded detective tracking a killer who meticulously reconstructs the body of Christ using victims' severed limbs, adhering to a chilling biblical prophecy. The film’s pervasive sense of dread, its gruesome yet thoughtfully depicted violence, and its focus on a killer driven by dark, ritualistic conviction resonate strongly with Longlegs' chilling exploration of symbolic evil and methodical horror.

Though yet to be released, the premise of Strange Harvest positions it as a direct inheritor of Longlegs' atmospheric and unsettling serial killer legacy. The notion of a 'sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grot' speaks directly to the ancestral, almost timeless evil that permeates Longlegs. This promises a deep dive into historical macabre, where past horrors resurface with ritualistic precision, challenging detectives to confront a malevolence that transcends contemporary understanding. It’s poised to deliver the type of grim, psychologically resonant horror that fans of Longlegs crave.

Mercy Black delves into the chilling consequences of childhood trauma and the power of belief, echoing Longlegs' exploration of insidious influences and ritualistic acts. The film centers on a woman released from a mental institution after committing a violent act inspired by an urban legend, forcing her to confront whether the entity was real or a figment of her fractured psyche. Its strength lies in its ability to blur the lines between psychological breakdown and supernatural manifestation, creating a pervasive sense of dread where the monstrous is both internal and external, much like the ambiguous nature of evil in Longlegs.

For those drawn to the raw, visceral disturbed nature of Longlegs' killer, Bob Clark's Deranged offers a profoundly unsettling experience. Loosely based on the infamous Ed Gein, this film is a disturbing, often stomach-churning character study of a man's descent into necrophilia and grotesque taxidermy after his domineering mother's death. It foregoes conventional scares for a bleak, unflinching look at psychotic isolation and depravity. The film’s gritty, low-budget realism amplifies its shock value, presenting a grounded yet utterly horrifying portrayal of madness that can feel as unsettling and deeply wrong as anything glimpsed in Longlegs.

I See You excels in building a pervasive sense of unease and mystery, a quality highly prized in Longlegs. What begins as a missing persons case tied to a detective's troubled home life quickly unravels into a complex, multi-layered psychological thriller with a brilliant, unsettling twist. The film’s ability to constantly shift perspectives and reveal hidden horrors within seemingly ordinary spaces creates a deep-seated dread. While lacking the occult elements, its meticulous construction of suspense, its focus on familial secrets, and its unexpected reveals provide a deeply satisfying, chilling experience akin to the psychological puzzle Longlegs presents.

Solace offers a compelling intellectual exercise in the serial killer genre, combining the procedural rigors of an FBI investigation with a supernatural twist. Anthony Hopkins stars as a retired psychic doctor brought in to catch a prolific killer whose motives are uniquely disturbing. This film’s appeal lies in its cerebral cat-and-mouse game, where intuition and foresight clash with methodical evil. Much like Longlegs invites viewers to ponder the killer's esoteric logic, Solace demands engagement with a villain whose twisted morality and methods challenge conventional understanding, providing a deeply psychological and often unsettling experience.

Clint Eastwood’s Tightrope is a dark, atmospheric dive into the mind of a homicide detective tracking a serial killer in New Orleans, whose victims are often found in the city’s red-light district. The film's brilliance lies in its uncomfortable exploration of the blurring lines between the detective's personal life and the killer's pathology. It delves into the dark, obsessive corners of human nature with a raw, almost voyeuristic intensity. This unflinching look at a detective grappling with the darkness he pursues, much like the existential threat in Longlegs, creates a palpable sense of unease and moral ambiguity that lingers long after viewing.

Gary Fleder's Kiss the Girls is a cornerstone of the serial killer thriller genre, famous for its intricate plot and compelling characters. Starring Morgan Freeman as forensic psychologist Alex Cross, it plunges into a high-stakes abduction case involving a highly intelligent and elusive predator known as 'Casanova'. The film's strength lies in its meticulous detective work, the psychological insights into both victim and perpetrator, and the relentless pursuit of an unseen enemy. While less overtly supernatural than Longlegs, its focus on a brilliant mind battling a uniquely disturbing form of evil, often with ritualistic undertones in the killer's methods, will resonate deeply.