Nicolas Cage has perfected the art of madness, whether he’s merely losing his characters are losing their temper or losing his effing mind. Where does his new role as a serial killer named Longlegs rank in terms of his most epic horror movie performances? We’ve ranked nine of his genre movies by the actor’s intensity.
Strap in and take a ride with us through Cage’s wild, wonderful horror movies.
9. Willy’s Wonderland (2021)
As “The Janitor,” Cage’s character doesn’t utter a word in this horror comedy where he takes on a whole Chuck E. Cheese’s worth of killer animatronic characters in one hellish night. And he’s surprisingly nonchalant about dispatching the possessed puppets. All in a (really weird) day’s work, eh?
8. Ghost Rider (2007)
This comic book adaptation finds Cage in a relatively low-key mode, except for when he turns into the flame-headed title character with cackling glee or anguished screams. Of course, CGI flames can’t hold a candle (ahem) to the actor’s expressive face.
7. Mom and Dad (2017)
Cage’s dissatisfied suburban dad is already on the edge even before the bizarre “kill your kids” plot device kicks in, smashing a new pool table with a sledgehammer because his wife (Selma Blair) thinks he shouldn’t have bought it. When he does start trying to kill his kids, he grabs anything handy, including a pickaxe and a Sawzall reciprocating saw, which, he announces to his frightened offspring “saws all.”
6. Color Out of Space (2019)
A meteorite wreaks havoc on Cage and his family in this H.P. Lovecraft-inspired sci-fi movie from Richard Stanley. His character goes from delight at the overnight success of his garden to existential dread as everything around him is warped and twisted by the alien energy. He also freaks out when the mutant fruit tastes terrible and when he can’t start the car. And we love his line reading when he peevishly tells his daughter, “I’ve had it with your drama, Lavinia!”
5. “The Wicker Man” (2006)
In this much-mocked remake of the ’70s folk horror classic, Cage’s cop tries to find a missing girl on an island with a secretive, tight-knit community. Things go very wrong for his character, leading to one of his most meme-able movie moments ever as he screams in agony, “Not the bees!” Before that indelible moment, we also get him yelling, “How’d it get burned?” over and over.
4. Longlegs (2024)
It turns out that Cage’s villains are infinitely more terrifying when they don’t shout. As the unhinged serial killer in Osgood Perkins’ homage to “Silence of the Lambs,” we don’t get a glimpse of his face for much of the movie, but we hear his high-pitched sing-songy voice and it’s deeply unnerving, just like the film itself.
3. “Renfield” (2023)
Cage is clearly having the time of his life as Dracula, and he plays the ancient bloodsucker to the hilt in this horror comedy. Cage’s vampire is, what else, an attention-seeking diva, who colorfully orders his minion Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) to bring him “a handful of nuns” and “a busload of cheerleaders” for him to eat.
2. Mandy (2018)
In this phantasmagoric freakout of a movie, Red is an angry man on a mission after a cult kidnaps his wife. It’s hard to pick the most extreme scene, but him sobbing and screaming in his underwear is a strong candidate, as is his gonzo chainsaw battle with one of the villains. Did we mention he’s covered in blood for a good chunk of the movie?
1. Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
Cage’s ’80s movies remain some of his best known and best loved, including his dopey convenience store bandit in “Raising Arizona” and impassioned, one-handed opera love in “Moonstruck.” But this indie film is where he famously went way, way, way over the top. His literary agent Peter Loew has an overly affected manner of speaking and a flair for the ridiculously dramatic, such as when he points at his secretary Alva (María Conchita Alonso) and asks, “Am I getting through to you, Alva?” or when he recites the alphabet like a deranged cheerleader. To top it all off, yes, he really ate a cockroach for the movie when the script only called for him to down a raw egg. That’s method, baby!
