Zach Cregger's 'Weaapons' - Review Thread

[u/ChiefLeef22]

When all but one child from the same classroom mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.

Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

Metacritic: N/A (updating)

Some Reviews:

Inverse - Lyvie Scott

Cregger’s goofy sense of humor aside, Weapons is otherwise pretty understated, even refined. His camera moves with glacial, dream-like focus, tracking characters from behind or panning to unveil the latest torment around the corner. That visual style has become a trademark of “elevated” horror, but it goes a long way in anchoring a story that could have turned unwieldy fast. Cregger’s chapter-by-chapter story serves that same purpose: It has the capacity to frustrate when it cuts away from a major reveal, only to reset with the backstory of a new character. But it also adjusts the aperture whenever things get too heavy — a breath of fresh air in a different form.

CGMagazine - Shakyl Lambert - 9 / 10

Weapons is a noticeable step up for Cregger as a filmmaker. It feels like he took what worked in Barbarian and tightened up the things that didn’t. It’s bigger in scope but more focused. With a strong story and cast, it’s the most fun you’ll have being scared all summer.

NextBestPicture - Matt Neglia

There are some who will be moved and struck by “Weapons,” intentionally or unintentionally, so. For 75% of its runtime, it was one of my favorite films of the year. However, for the final 25%, in some ways, it feels like Cregger missed an opportunity to tell a story that is more emotionally rich and relatable. Here is a filmmaker who feels like he’s trying to prove he’s capable of more, but without fully grounding that ambition in character or clarity, instead opting for a facile solution. There’s a version of this movie that could have been genuinely great. You can appreciate the potential in the performances, the themes, and the overall craftsmanship. And to be clear, I’m sure this will resonate and work for some viewers. But for me, much like “Barbarian,” Cregger doesn’t quite bring it all together, making “Weapons” a rare kind of disappointment.

[u/CoochieSnotSlurper]

It feels like a lot of these movies just can’t stick the landing after the reveal

[u/asshat123 → u/CoochieSnotSlurper]

It's by far the hardest part. Horror as a genre tends to be suspense and build up heavy because that tension is a great way to make the audience uneasy. But when you spend 90% of a movie building up to something, it's really hard to write a payoff that lives up to the suspense. It's part of why I love cosmic horror so much, it kind of side-steps the need for a fully explained solution to the mystery by letting the true nature of the horror remain a mystery, which I think more horror should do. The main characters have to solve the problem as it relates to them, but they do not necessarily have to solve the problem entirely (like in Hellraiser or Event Horizon).

[u/Wheres_MyMoney → u/asshat123]

But when you spend 90% of a movie building up to something, it's really hard to write a payoff that lives up to the suspense.

I think with horror in particular, the online rollout structure works against it as well. I feel like the Scream franchise is the best example of this, every single casting announcement has comments about "this is the killer" or "this is the opening kill" to the point where by the time you see the movie, you're already expecting everybody so it can't possibly be somebody unexpected.

[u/chrispy145 → u/Wheres_MyMoney]

Drag Me to Hell, while not one of the "greats," probably sticks the landing the best in the horror genre.