Forget the aggressive publicity campaign and whatever hype has been built around Longlegs, and accept Osgood Perkins’ film for what it is: an extremely well-made and unsettling work of horror.

Answering the long-gestating question “What if Clarice Starling had ESP?”, the writer/director’s fourth feature mines the gut-churning allure of The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en to great effect and gifts viewers not just new memorable detectives, but a flesh-and-blood monster for the ages.

Perkins’ filmmaking mastery is evident from the start as he builds palpable tension and dread by keeping the face of Nicolas Cage’s titular serial killer out of frame, then offers a lightning fast, blink-and-miss-it tease of a glimpse, complete with a musical sting, and cuts to the opening credits.

Even in this usually perfunctory moviemaking juncture, Perkins’ playfulness endures, slowly expanding from the opening’s Academy ratio to widescreen as the cast’s and crew’s names unfurl.

That initial classic square presentation eventually takes on another meaning as new information is revealed over the course of FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe, It Follows) investigating the mysterious Longlegs murders, and is the primary source of the film’s two or three jump scares.

Perkins repurposes that pivotal scene in unforgettable ways, including one that might be the year’s most terrifying jolt to date, but otherwise focuses on building and sustaining deep-seated anxiety through crisp, assured filmmaking, much like his genre heroes Jonathan Demme and David Fincher before him.

Continuing that Lambs and Se7en lineage, another compelling duo is on the case here in the form of Harker and Blair Underwood’s Carter, and the dynamic between this savant rookie and veteran with a heart of gold is rich in small heartfelt connections and a host of tantalizing unknowns, largely courtesy of Harker. In addition to her aversion to social encounters and the oddly strained relationship with her reclusive mother (Alicia Witt), there’s the matter of the killer knowing her name and staying a few steps ahead of the FBI, all of which raises a wealth of questions.

Though it’s clear that some unusual connection is at play between Harker and Longlegs, the specifics remain at a heart-pounding distance and are both obscured and illuminated by just the right amount of supernatural elements. Meanwhile, Cage’s prolonged and much-ballyhooed face reveal proves well worth the wait, and the build-up suggests that there apparently is such a thing as listening to too much T. Rex.

Despite all these wins, Longlegs threatens to unravel in its big reveal, but quickly tightens up and regains its composure heading into a spellbinding finale.

It’s been too long since a horror film made viewers afraid of the dark upon getting home from an evening screening, but Perkins’ latest delivers and warrants a place among the year’s best thus far.

Grade: A-minus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, Grail Moviehouse, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Neon)