Oz Perkins’ eerie, occultist serial-killer horror thriller “Longlegs” opens with a psyche-rattling sequence in which he crafts a chilling sense of shock, awe and confounding humor simply through shot composition, editing and performance. It unsettles the viewer on a bone-deep level, the tension then bursting like a bubble on a bravura music cue.

“Longlegs” is scary, only because of how it is presented formally, not necessarily thanks to any of the basic actions or imagery on screen, and it is thrilling, because Perkins announces from the outset his audacious approach to tone as well as his mastery of cinematic technique to create suspense. The tension never lets up throughout the film, though it is peppered with a dry, black humor that somehow makes everything more disturbing.

One should know as little as possible about “Longlegs” for the best viewing experience; feel free to stop reading now if experiencing an entirely unpredictable plot and the sensation of dread mixed with bleak humor for 100 minutes sounds like an appealing cinematic experience (it is).

Though it’s a facile comparison, “Longlegs” feels like Perkins’ “The Silence of the Lambs,” in that it follows a young female FBI agent as she plays cat and mouse with a serial killer. Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) has the preternatural skill and drive of Clarice Starling, and both characters fail to mask their vulnerability with toughness, though in different ways.

Harker’s not a people person, but she is highly intuitive, perhaps even psychic. She’s recruited by agent Carter (Blair Underwood) for precisely that quality, to start reinvestigating the cold case of a series of possibly related family annihilations wherein a person named “Longlegs” has claimed a kind of responsibility through coded notes. As she dives deeper into research, it’s revealed that Harker is strangely connected to these cases.

Nicolas Cage plays an odd suspect in one of his more outre and unrecognizable performances. He is clearly having a blast committing wholeheartedly to his wacky and terrifying choices. Alicia Witt also appears as Harker’s mother, with whom the agent has a close but complicated relationship. Monroe, with a sort of placid sullenness, is the eye of the storm of these colorful characters, including her bombastic boss Carter.

The performances work in tandem with the astonishingly meticulous filmmaking. Perkins (who is the son of “Psycho” star Anthony Perkins) has a marvelously methodical eye in crafting cinematic image and sound. With cinematographer Andres Arochi, who works magic with the structure of light, Perkins centers Harker in carefully composed shots where she is dwarfed by the environment, emphasizing her smallness and sense of overwhelm.

The director fills the cast with memorable supporting roles that make the world of “Longlegs” bigger, richer and weirder. But the movie does not offer up easy answers about itself on a macro level. Watching it feels like a riddle, the film itself a code to crack, and by the time it’s done, the whole puzzle has not yet been revealed.

MPA rating: R (for bloody violence, disturbing images and some language)

Running time: 1:41

How to watch: In theaters