Aarcflick

 Perkins’ disappointing adaptation of a Stephen King story is about twin brothers who hate each other, but mostly it’s about senseless mayhem. In a film landscape where horror never stops, “Longlegs,” released last summer, managed to have more impact than the usual boo-and-forget-in-a-week. It was a serial killer mystery with a gently creepy atmosphere and a brilliant performance by Nicolas Cage, who settled under long hair and pounds of makeup as a sick, androgynous ringmaster who reminded me of no one so much as the Witchiepoo character from “H.R. Pufnstuf.” “Longlegs” established its writer-director, Osgood Perkins (the 50-year-old son of Anthony Perkins), as a force in the horror genre. I wasn’t as thrilled with the movie as a lot of people, though. It was most effective when the fear built up around Cage’s performance. But as the mystery unfolded, it turned out we were watching an over-the-top supernatural movie about an evil, occult-doll. It was clear that Osgood Perkins had ...