I’m going to tell you something, and you’re probably not going to like it. I’ll take the risk for this story.
I didn’t like Jordan Peele’s Get Out.
I’ll give you a moment to curse me out in your thoughts, say how I don’t know anything.
Ok, your moment is up. Now hear me out. The reason I didn’t care for Get Out upon its release was that I expected a film that was going to scare the shit out of me. Get Out was extremely well-done, you’ll get no argument from me on its craft, but when it ended, I was disappointed because all the really scary stuff for me had been shown in the trailer.
That’s the problem with trailers, and this is coming from someone who loves them. Hell, we have a feature called Trailer Time at Biff Bam Pop!. Sometimes they can give too much away. Sometimes it might just be better to go into a film blind.
That’s pretty much how I watched Zach Cregger’s Weapons. Virtually blind. And that worked wonders, as I had no idea what I was getting into. I avoided spoilers at all costs, scrolled past anything in my social feeds that even referenced the film, and overall went into the theatre with barely any knowledge of the plot. Really, the only thing I was sure of was that Weapons stars Julia Garner and Josh Brolin and that the movie is writer/director Cregger’s follow-up to his surprise hit horror film, Barberian.
I’d suggest to you that going in blind, if you’ve yet to see anything about Weapons, is the way to go as well, which is why I’m not sharing details here, only an opinion. What I will say is that Weapons is an absolutely fantastic film, with excellent performances from all of its stars, including the aforementioned Garner and Brolin, alongside Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan. I was particularly impressed with Garner’s work, especially after she toplined this year’s Wolf Man, where I felt she was terribly miscast. There are some excellent jump scares, but Weapons isn’t strictly a horror film. Instead, it’s a combination of mystery and frights, along with some extremely funny moments.
The final thought I’ll share is that about halfway through, I thought to myself that Weapons is the Pulp Fiction of horror films. There are some specific reasons why that occurred to me that involve its method of storytelling, but I won’t spell it out. Just know that Pulp Fiction is one of my favourite films, so comparing any film to it is a compliment.
I’ll say no more. Not that I said much. I hope. Just go see Weapons, ok?
