The comparisons with “Silence of the Lambs” litter the reviewing landscape of the wintry Oregon-set thriller “Longlegs.” It’s a horror movie with higher ambitions, or at least pretensions, thanks to its casting of Nicolas Cage as an aged, high-voiced, Satan-worshipping glam rock fan of “on the spectrum” gender and Marc Bolan T.Rex attire.

But the more obvious reference is revealed in make-up that accentuates Cage’s plastic surgery fillers over the years. Apply enough pancake and he looks like the marionette Jigsaw “spoke” through in the “Saw” franchise. A little lipstick, a bit of rouge, and the impersonation is complete.

This somber hunt for a decades-at-work serial killer who seems to kill by proxy in the Pacific Northwest of the 1970s through the ’90s parks Maika Monroe in what some are calling the Clarice Starling role. As horror queen Monroe has cleared 30 and still not developed a credibly  adult woman’s voice or the technique to show interior turmoil underneath her blank-faced deadpan, this seems a stretch.

The “It Follows” star is a new FBI agent assigned to 1990s door-knock her way to leads in an open case where families with a particular composition are slaughtered in a ritualistic, systemic fashion every few years under grey, overcast skies.

A “hunch” leads her straight to a suspect on another case, and her boss (Blair Underwood) is inclined take that as a sign. Sort of. He’d like to label her a “psychic,” but “highly intuitive” is what he settles for. She’ll be of help in his long hunt for the mysterious, doll-delivering ogre “Longlegs.”

Longlegs (Cage) is a “Hail Satan!” head case who targets families, and gains access to them just long enough to ensure they’re slaughtered, but not by his hand.

He works through others, guiding their mania. And he writes messages in unrecognizable lettering in indecipherable code. Agent Harker (Monroe), an obsessive loner, cracks it. Longlegs celebrates by sending her a birthday card — in code  — which she cracks.

There’s our connection, serial killer to serial killer hunter. But there’s little cat and mouse to this thriller, little urgency to the quest and little volume to Monroe’s mousy voice as she tries to contend with a killer who may have her number, and an aged mother (Alicia Witt, remember her?) who can’t seem to remember she’s her only daughter.

Our killer quotes from Tommy James of Tommy James and the Shondells (“Crimson…and CLOVER!”) and T. Rex. The film is a period piece largely to accommodate this glam rock/gender-bending fixation in the mind of actor turned writer-director Oz Perkins (“The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” “Gretel & Hansel”).

It’s jarring to see Bill Clinton’s face in every office shot of the F.B.I. agent who believes in psychics (Underwood) office. But at least that’s something. The film is a somber, somnambulant drift for long stretches, interrupted by cheap jolts and the occasional grim “legitimate” one.

As the picture has its share of Easter Eggs — Cage’s “Jigsaw” look, the presence of an “Up With People” song, featuring annual Oscar also-ran Glenn Close (per the closing credits) on the soundtrack, the “It Follows” star rather dully doing the “following” here — I was inclined to wonder if the film’s “Bang a Gong” obsession wasn’t just gender-culture commentary, but a shot at a notorious Hollywood blogger and T. Rex cultist.

Probably not.

But I also didn’t find much else to recommend “Longlegs.” Cage’s shrill, singing Satanic fop (think a slightly less feminine James Corden) amuses in tiny doses. Monroe’s monochromatic turn isn’t a step up from her other horror work, and while Underwood, Michelle Choi-Lee (as a fellow FBI agent) and Witt are interesting, their characters’ and actions don’t really pass the logic-within-this-movie-world test.

Self-seriousness is an interesting angle to pursue in horror, and some boutique studios have made that their brand. But while Perkins may have convinced some of his sleep-inducing thriller’s sophistication and gravitas, I didn’t buy in, any more than I forgot the distributor is hit-or-miss Neon, the “Dollar General A24” in film studio shorthand.

Love Cage, Monroe has impressed in the past, even if one wonders if that Jennifer Tilly voice will serve her well in the long run. And I’m not buying the Quantum Leap in Oz Perkins’ filmmaking some are calling this. In the case of “Longlegs,” the hype is the picture.

Rating: R for bloody violence, disturbing images, smoking and profanity.

Cast: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee and Blair Underwood.

Credits: Scripted and directed by Oz Perkins. A Neon release.

Running time: 1:41