Weapons
Despite the director’s reputation, I feared Weapons was just going to be another horror movie with cheap jump scares. At first, it started out like that and was coupled with the “this is based on a true story” voiceover that prompted me to roll my eyes. Look, I get the implicit meaning of how we poorly react school shootings in reality and ignore the real weapons that cause these massacres of children, but I just thought it was too on the nose. Fortunately, I think Weapons intentionally evolved into something more substantial in the film’s second half when it sacrifices a considerable amount of its horror element for the addition of psychological and even thriller dimensions. As someone who maintains a love-hate relationship with horror movies, I imagine this shift is the reason why Weapons grew on me.
Tidbits Noted Throughout the Film
Here are my stream of consciousness observations I made and wrote on my Notes app as I watched the film. For those wondering, yes, I pause the movie immediately or after the scene is over to ensure I don’t miss anything.
I love the school board parents going straight to basically blaming satanist black magic voodoo bullshit and not a real problem.
Nice little Justin Long part. I haven’t seen him in a while. It felt like the right amount of JL as the audience gets reacquainted with him in the mid 2020s. Maybe, he just excels in these small roles. I adored his character in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Although, now I want to watch the mid-2000s Justin Long movies that I enjoyed in my preadolescence when they were aired in slightly edited versions on Comedy Central back in the day.
Of all the bad people in the town, the gas station clerk that just lets all that commotion happen and yells at someone being chased by a crazy person may be the worst person in the town! We at the Ev Dog Blog condemn victim shaming. Matthew, while just being a child, still sucked and is also in the running for the worst person in town award.
The principal’s death combined comedy and tragedy well. I found the reveal of his head to be pretty funny, but at the same time, it was tragic that he and his husband couldn’t enjoy some glizzies and nature docs, aka the American Dream, like god intended. Lesson learned: don’t let an old stranger bitch inside your house!
Love the intertwined web of the stories and the different film angles for the replayed scenes and how all the nightmares culminate. I think half the characters said what the fuck at one point. I know I did a few times.
I watched it in two parts, so I actually forgot about the creepy haircutting scene in her car until she was getting attacked.
As a fan of foreshadowing, I appreciated the WITCH car paint.
Hot take: I did not love the skin peeling. On the other hand, the pulling of Gladys’s limbs and jaw apart wasn’t as bad because of levity and triumph involved with that scene as there were so many Incredible hilarious moments near the end. There was Brolin throwing the junkie off of him over and over. Then, the kids jumping through windows as they chased Gladys, which reminded me of Ferris Buehler when she went through the house and neighborhoods. Probably my favorite reaction in any horror movie is when the family is just like “what the fuck just happened. Now there’s a guy in here too.”
I feel like I can’t look at elderly women with too much makeup the same way ever again!
I feel like there could have been more on the origin of Gladys her magic and if she actually knew the family. I guess not going into it is easier for ending the movie and not having it be 20 minutes longer. And Gladys is a fair bit derivative of Pennywise, but to be fair, if you were a young child in Alex’s position and had to meet an older relative with an unsettling appearance that wore too much of an expired perfume and gave you a wet smooch that left traces of lipstick on your cheek for the next day, then you know it’s a pretty fair representation of horror to a young child. Thus, it makes the ripoff feel justified.