Mike Flanagan Names This Oz Perkins' Horror Film With AHS Star One of His Favorites
Already in his directorial debut, the creator of Longlegs has delivered one of the most unconventional tales of demonic possession.
Director Oz Perkins was born to actor Anthony Perkins and entered the world of cinema on the set of the sequel to Psycho, playing the younger version of Norman Bates.
Now Oz has firmly established himself as one of the leading horror filmmakers of the 21st century – his recent The Monkey, based on a short story by Stephen King, became a box office hit, and last year's Longlegs was the most anticipated horror release of the year.
Mike Flanagan Has Nothing But Praise for Oz Perkins' Directorial Debut
Perkins' fans include not only ordinary viewers, but other directors as well. While compiling a list of indie horror films for Rotten Tomatoes, Mike Flanagan noted Oz's directorial debut – The Blackcoat's Daughter, released in 2015:
“Oz Perkins' chilling and meditative puzzler is one of my favorites. [...] I love this movie for a lot of reasons, but particularly because of how it touches on an unexplored facet of possession stories.”
And a recommendation from one of the leading horror directors of our time is a good reason to pay attention to one of Oz Perkins' early works.
What Is The Blackcoat's Daughter About?
It's winter break at a girls' boarding school, everyone is going home, but two students are left behind – their parents haven't come to pick them up.
In a nearby town, a traveling couple picks up a lonely girl at a bus stop who seems lost. She won't talk about herself and seems to have suffered some kind of trauma. The connection between these stories is not obvious, but it will appear in the end.
The Blackcoat's Daughter Masterfully Blends Horror and a Heartbreaking Drama About Loneliness
Although The Blackcoat's Daughter tells a fairly typical story about demonic possession, the movie is so unconventional that it should not be compared with classic movies of this subgenre.
Not only because of its unusual structure and melancholic mood, but also because, despite a number of bloody and scary scenes, this is not a horror, but a metaphorical story about the loneliness and despair that often drive people to terrible deeds.
The Blackcoat's Daughter is much closer to The Witch or Donnie Darko than to The Exorcist – this movie is slow, sad and meditative, full of reflections on the masks we put on to protect ourselves from the outside world, and the forms that evil sometimes takes.
Oz Perkins Movie Is One of Emma Roberts' Best Projects
After American Horror Story, Emma Roberts' forays into horror fortunately did not end, and The Blackcoat's Daughter became one of her best roles.
Roberts was given the role of the most mysterious character: her Joan is running from something, trying to get to school, and ends up in the company of a couple who pick her up at a gas station.
The twisty narrative helps the viewer learn several points of view at once, but it is Roberts' story, like the girl herself, that remains the main mystery of the movie.
