Written by Sam Clark
Certificate: 18
Running time: 128 minutes
Director: Zac Creggar
Back in 2017, Jordan Peele transitioned from comedy to horror with ''Get Out''. I realize that what I am about to say could be considered as the great hot take of all time, but I believe ''Get Out'' is the best debut feature film of all time. When you consider how revolutionary it was to the horror genre (for which Peele had no previous experience in which made it all the more staggering) and just how successful it was (financially and critically), I would say my stance and opinion on this is justified. ''Get Out'' also demonstrated another key factor: that comedians seem to make excellent horror filmmakers. Since then, he has delivered ''Us'' and ''Nope'', not as strong but both once again reinforcing what vision he has within the genre. Peele has since earned his place in the hall of fame. So much so in fact, that his name now features in more and more horror flicks as producer which just shows his influence. Anytime you see his name pop up, this is a reminder of how much of an impact he has made and what kind of scary adventure your about to embark on.
The same can also be said for how well Sam Raimi and Edgar Wright can genre cross these two together, but both will always remain undefeated and the highest possible water mark for any of this. It is here we now arrive at Zach Creggar who is beginning the same journey. Despite the fact that Raimi, Wright and Peele has already made a name for themselves blending scares with laughs, I find myself blown away by what Zach Creggar has come along and done and just how well as he managed to pull it off. In my books, he has now become the best example of someone coming from a comedy centered background and now arriving firmly within horror - and boy can he balance them together perfectly. ''Weapons'' now joins ''Bring Her Back'' and ''Martrys'' for my favourite horror films of all time.
Image credit: IMDb / New Line Cinema
After exploding onto the scene with ''Barabarian'' in 2022, he is now back with ''Weapons'' for which he writes and directs. The story here takes places in a small American town called Maybrook. The time is 2:17am. Seventeen third grade children mysteriously wake up, run out of their and vanish into the night. One child remains: Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher). This strange event throws the local community into uproar, confusion and fear, and events unfold in a broken up, anthology style structure (similar to ''Magnolia''). At the start of each chapter we get a character's name pop up on screen, as to indicate whose perspective and angle we are now on: we have the teacher ''Justine'' (Julia Garner) who was in charge of the class who have disappeared and has become the prime suspect: a grief stricken father ''Archer'' (Josh Brolin): a conflicted and loose canon cop ''Paul'' (Alden Ehrenreich): the principal of the school ''Marcus'' (Benedict Wong): a local drug addict who constantly gets into altercations with the local police called ''James'' (Austin Abrahams) and finally ''Alex'' - the child who did not run off (Cary Christopher). They will soon discover something far more sinister going on.
To say we have been treated to some extraordinary horror this year would be an understatement. ''Together'', ''Bring Her Back'', ''Sinners'' (although it is more action/horror) and now ''Weapons'' has proved to me that 2025 has been the best year of shocks, scares and violence I have ever experienced - ''Bring Her Back'' being the best I have ever seen and my favourite of all time. But now I must go even further than that. There were times during ''Weapons'' in which I was contemplating whether or not this was just as good as ''Bring Her Back'' (I briefly entertained the idea that it could be better, but didn't last long). For me, ''Weapons'' is the joint best piece of horror I have ever encountered, and I can confidently say the best mainstream horror I have ever seen. This is why I love horror, and I believe ''Weapons'' is a masterpiece that puts most of the genre today to shame - Zach Creggar is the real deal and we have to pay attention to him.
Image credit: IMDb / New Line Cinema
The greatest accolade I can give Zach Creggar is that when you watch this and ''Barbarian'', it looks as thought it had been conceived by someone who has worked in horror their whole life and career. But as I demonstrated at the start, that is not at all the case. The way he directs and understands how horror works left me speechless. Many will say Raimi is the king of comedy/horror, but there were moments in ''Weapons'' that not only scared me, disturbed me, creeped me out and frightened me more so than any other film, but also reduced me to laugh out loud laughter. The fact that this has moments that are this scary as they are and moments that are as funny as they are is astounding. There are so few that attempt to do this, let alone get away with it as much as this does and why I believe Creggar has cracked the formula more than others. My showing was sold out (the best possible way to watch and experience a scary film, there's nothing like it) and when the comedy hits, the laughter was genuinely louder than when I saw ''The Naked Gun''. To give the benefit of the doubt, ''The Naked Gun'' was a little emptier - but not by that much...
This does seem to be a staple of his. ''Barbarian'' was also a film of many moods and transitions, it went from moments of heart-palpating terror, to bright and sunny happiness, and then back again. Never before I have been this effectively disturbed watching a film in a cinema in my life, which is why ''Weapons'' for me is the scariest film I have ever seen. Not because of the jumps (which are definitely in there and caused many members of the crowd to leap out of their skin), but because of how well it managed to get under my skin. One of these is a dream sequence but the true kicker came later in which I have never held my breath more during a film. A character is sat alone in a car at night whilst something slowly approaches them and never have chills ran down my spine more so than here, I absolutely loved it and I again come back to how well Creggar understands horror and how to execute it.
Image credit: IMDb / New Line Cinema
The set pieces in ''Weapons'' are incredible. Some are of course horror related, but the film has it's fair share of action as well and they are some of the best I have seen recently, which I did not expect. So not only can he orchestrate horror, but his understanding of how action works is very impressive and refreshing, he can do it all. From a storytelling perspective, it is brave, different and refreshingly unique, especially from a horror perspective (this is one of the strongest and best told stories I've ever seen the genre do). ''Weapons'' is equipped with an 18 certificate, and I went in expecting bucket loads as a result of ''Barbarian''. When the gore kicks in, boy does it relish in the absurdity and sickness and then some. I was left wincing by most of the film and others gasped in similar fashion. This is exactly what I want from horror and why I love watching them, pay attention Hollywood.
In cinemas now
