Horror Zach Creggers’ Weapons

[Luigi]

Aunt Gladys is coming for that Oscar.

 

[Drizzle]

Of the two WB breakout horror hits, I think Sinners stands a decent chance at a Best Picture nomination. Weapons less so even though there have been more unusual nominees in that category in the past but I do think Amy Madigan has a pretty good shot at a Supporting Actress nod.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yeah I think Sinners could clean up. Though to me it almost doesn’t even feel like a horror film; it feels more like a brilliant folklore/fantasy musical to me. I don’t generally find vampires scary, although Nosferatu was pretty creepy in certain moments even though it was mostly the classic Dracula story.

But this is speaking as someone who loves horror but rarely gets scared or freaked out by horror films. But Weapons did have some moments that genuinely creeped me out.

 

[Zantera]

Finally saw it tonight and thought it was terrific! Definitely one of the standout movies of the year for me. I feel like Resident Evil is in good hands.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[nachtschicht]

Eh. I need to watch this again without expecting a horror movie.

 

[Sawyer]

Her homophobic old ass really couldn’t even let them have their last meal…

 

[Zantera]

I thought it was perfectly creepy but I guess people have different thoughts on what is horror or not. For me some things that really get under my skin is people acting unnatural and Weapons does a lot of that. Characters moving calmly and creepily, groups of people moving synchronised (in a cultish way) or just characters running/chasing someone. Things like that really make me feel uneasy and the slow building of tension fills me with a sense of horror that most of the other "big" horror releases fail to do, because all they have up their sleeve is cheap jump scares that do nothing for me.

It takes 0 effort to startle someone with a jump scare, but it's not easy to create unsettling scenes that gets under the viewer's skin.

 

[elgaz]

Finally got round to seeing this last night and I loved it.

I don't know if I would class it as a horror film. It was unsettling at times, yes, but apart from one jump scare there was nothing that I really found scary or terrifying.

What made the film so good for me was the way the story was structured, the atmosphere, and the performances by all the leads. The slow reveal of what was going on pushed the mystery as far as it could and for the vast majority of the film, I was glued to the screen. Cregger is excellent at invoking a sense of unease/dread through the sound effects, pacing and camera work, and it was used to great effect here. Garner, Brolin, Wong & Ehrenreich were all great but special shout out to Amy Madigan who absolutely nailed her character. It was just a fun movie to watch and how they tied together all the different characters' solo stories really enhanced the film.

 

[Kane52630]

It's totally a horror film. Just because it didn't scare you or have jump scares doesn't mean it can't be classified as a horror film.

If we're going by that rule, most horror movies to me wouldn't count as horror.

 

[Drizzle]

The baby carrots were just for decoration.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I still define it as a dark comedy with horror elements. Like Addams Family Values.

It’s the first movie in a long time where I actually GUFFAWED out loud in the theater.

 

[Drizzle]

I still define it as a dark comedy with horror elements. Like Addams Family Values.

It’s the first movie in a long time where I actually GUFFAWED out loud in the theater.

Horror can have really hilarious moments. This year we got two great ones, both with Aunt Gladys's downfall in Weapons and also the piano moment in FD: Bloodlines.

 

[Sawyer]

Somehow over the last few years, we’ve swapped out “elevated horror” discourse for debates over whether a film qualifies as horror based on how much it personally scares each viewer or whether it strays from convention.

I don’t care for it.