"Weapons" proves original horror films are in good hands | Film Review

When I saw the trailer for "Weapons" and my first impression seeing the kids running with their arms out, at night, disappearing from home, and Benedict Wong looking like THAT, I was like ok, this looks pretty scary but what really intrigued me about "Weapons" is it has the same writer and director as "Barbarian." I’m not going to make this review about "Barbarian" but let me just say I genuinely loved that film when I saw it and then I saw the positive reviews for "Weapons" so I knew I was likely in for a good time with this film. So here I am, here to review the film "Weapons." Just to make you aware, there will be spoilers in this review so keep that in mind if you want to continue reading, but as always I’m so excited to talk about this film so let’s get started.

Official "Weapons" poster | Photo: Warner Bros.

"Weapons" is a horror, mystery film about 17 kids from the same classroom running away from home and disappearing. The film follows six characters perspectives, all living through the same timeframe during the disappearance of these kids. Plus how the antagonist’s effected all of them. But let’s start off with the visuals of the film.

When I think of horror film visuals, I think of a dark, low light setting, which there is in this film but I think one of the most disturbing parts in the film for me is when Marcus is running in broad daylight to attack Justine. I just feel like it’s so outside of the norm however I know there are other films with daylight horror. But seeing that look of possession on his face, his eyes wide open, blood covering his face, it was so disturbing to see in such a well lit environment which I mean, it would have been disturbing either way.

But lets also talk about the low light. We see it when the children run away, during the nightmares the adults have, when James breaks into Alex’s house, the basement scenes, there’s plenty instances. And in my opinion it all works because it heightens the fear. I think with these moments, you’re probably preparing yourself for what’s to come because when the environment is dark, you know something is probably coming.

I also gotta talk about the point of view shots. I find, I got more nervous for the jump scares on those point of view parts. For example, I think this is when Justine followed Alex home. She can’t get in, she can’t look through the windows because they are covered with newspaper so she goes to the backyard and there is one little opening that she can peak through. So she peaks in the window and discovers Alex’s parents in that weird trance. That was pretty crazy to discover with Justine.

Stills from "Barbarian" (top), "Weapons" (bottom)

I also want to mention there’s this shot in "Weapons" that is very reminiscent to "Barbarian" when James is going to the basement and sees the kids. He’s at the top of the stairs and the shot is like a low angle, I’ll have to look at it again to confirm. But it’s like with this film and "Barbarian" you think you’ve seen enough in the house but there’s always more revealed the deeper you go.

For my memorable moments, I have to talk about my favorite jump scares. Let’s start off with the glimpses of Gladys before she’s even introduced. When Justine dreams of her class and the student, it might’ve been Alex I’m not sure, slowly raises his head and he has this like strange appearance and Justine wakes up, she’s scared but as she lays back down there’s a person on the ceiling. That scared me pretty good. Also when Archer dreams of finding his son and he finds his son in bed so he tells his son, he loves him, then she pops up again, it’s like who is this lady?!

Another memorable moment was when Alex’s mom walked outside while Justine was sleep in her car. She has a sharp object in her hand, I thought it was a knife at first like uh oh what’s about to happen. Now I didn’t know what Alex’s mom was going to do but I had a feeling she wasn’t going to kill Justine. But you still can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen next. In the end, she just cuts a piece of her hair which you know somehow that has to be important to the story but you don’t know how until Marcus’s part of the film.

That brings me to another part of the film. I already touched on how unsettling it is to see Marcus running and chasing after Justine when he is possessed but when its his part of the story and we see how he is introduced to Gladys to how she comes over to their house and Marcus and Terry are about to eat and chill then Gladys has to come in. Marcus can clearly see this is weird. But things are really starting to be revealed now. Gladys gathers the hair of who she wants attacked, and unfortunately it had to be Terry and next would be Justine.

I also have to mention how Alex is a victim in all of this. We’ve all probably seen a horror film with a creepy kid film trope. But in this film, you have the kids that are possessed and you have Alex whose creepy aunt that he doesn’t even know, she can harm his parents, he can’t tell anyone what she is doing, he has to feed his parents and his classmates in this unsettling state, you later find out some of his classmates were bullying him. You just feel bad for this kid. You have no choice but to root for him and in the end, he ended up saving the kids and in turn saving his parents and Archer when he was attacking Justine.

Briefly touching on the music, it’s very unsettling and eerie when it needs to be. Perfectly blending the visuals and the sounds to make a very tense and emotional story. I feel you can never go wrong with a violin and this film proves that point once again. I  will need to watch the film again and listen to the soundtrack to give more thoughts on the music but it really worked for me with my first watch.

In conclusion, "Weapons" is a great successor to "Barbarian." I also saw something that possibly sets both films in the same universe. The film tackles some pretty heavy topics like addiction and abuse. So much more than I was expecting. I felt all the characters brought an interesting perspective to the film, some more than others, but it all worked to get them all either fighting for or against this evil. I think Zach Cregger did a great job with this film. I’m seeing their might be talks of a prequel to explore Gladys which I mean could be pretty interesting if you want to explore that more. But regardless of what happens, it’s a great film as it stands.

And that concludes my review. As always I’m happy I got to watch this on the big screen. It’s always great to see an original film do so well and be appreciated by so many people.

Check out the trailer below: