Every summer, I watch a ton of films. Old movies, new movies, bad movies, good movies, I watched them all this summer. Of all these movies, none have stuck with me so much as the horror movie “Weapons.” It follows multiple people in a town after the disappearance of 17 children in an elementary school and the multiple attempts to find these children, and it is the perfect example of how to do horror right in a film. With amazing filmmaking, immaculate performances, and a killer ending, this is a movie you definitely don’t want to miss.
One of the best parts of this film is its directing. Director Zach Cregger really brings his A game with these shots. But it’s not only how these shots are framed but how they set up the scariness. Cregger does an amazing job at showing and not showing different parts of the monsters throughout this film to properly evoke a lot of emotion in the audience, making the movie extremely thrilling. This movie and his previous movie, “Barbarian,” easily cement Cregger as one of the greats working in horror cinema right now, alongside Jordan Peele and Ryan Coogler.
Another great part of this film is its performances. This movie is told in parts, with each part focusing on a different character, so therefore the performances for these characters have to be at least passable, but gosh darn it, all the actors really went above and beyond with each of their sections. I think my personal favorite performances were Austin Abrams as the homeless drug addict James and Cary Christopher as the only student who wasn’t taken by Alex. These performances really make you care (and in some cases make you hate) these characters, so when the kill count starts mounting, you actually care about who lives and who dies.
One thing that shocked me about this film was how funny it is. The script does a very good job at following a lot of heavy scenes with a good dose of humor to try to calm the mood. I honestly think this is a great thing as many of my favorite horror movies are a mix of horror and comedy, like “Evil Dead II.” I think the greatest example of how humor is used in this film is probably the ending. However, I won’t spoil it, so if you want to find out what I mean, you will have to go see the movie. But I will say I don’t think I have seen a bigger reaction to the end of a movie in years.
I do have to say, though, as great as this movie is, I do think there is something really holding it back. “Weapons” ultimately tries and fails to tell a message about school shootings and how they affect a town, and it sort of sours some parts of the movie. I will say if only one scene was taken out, then this message would probably be erased from the film, and it would just be a normal horror movie, but in the attempt to tell that extra message, the film fails to pay it off and is overall worse for it.
Despite that minor gripe, however, I have to admit I love this film. This is probably the best pure horror film I have seen since “Nope,” and that is high praise because “Nope” is one of my favorite movies of all time. I will most definitely be seated for the next Cregger film, and I hope to see more movies like this in the coming years. I just hope that next time the movie actually scares me (I’m kidding, this movie truly scared; I just watch a lot of horror movies. Be warned: it’s not for the faint of heart).
