'Weapons' Courtesy of Warner Bros. Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment If Sam Raimi was an obvious influence on Zach Cregger's head-turning 2022 horror breakthrough, Barbarian, Stephen King's imprint seems to be all over the writer-director's more ambitious follow-up, Weapons. Framed as a true story, it measures the shockwaves in a community when almost an entire class of elementary school children vanishes at the same time one night. It's even more reminiscent of King once a creepy figure in what looks like messy clown makeup starts making appearances. But any kinship with the master storyteller dissolves when the movie makes an abrupt swerve midway into witchy hag horror but fails to bolster that turn with compelling mythology. Related Stories Movies The Warrens Face Their First Demon and Annabelle Doll Returns in 'Conjuring: Last Rites' Final Trailer Movies Topher Grace Joins Cristin Milioti In Unique Horror Movie 'Buddy' (Exclusive) In many ways, this is an expertly crafted chiller. It's shot by Larkin Seiple with atmospheric style to burn, full of snaking tracking sequences that exert a mesmerizing grip, and it makes commanding use of a gut-churning score by brothers Ryan and Hays Holladay and Cregger that covers a wide tonal range while building an unsettling soundscape. A strong cast and an intriguing chapter structure also work in its favor. But ultimately, it's not really about anything much. Weapons The Bottom Line A blunt instrument with a ton of style. Release date: Friday, Aug. 8Cast: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Toby Huss, Whitmer Thomas, Callie Schuttera, Clayton FarrisDirector-screenwriter: Zach Cregger Rated R, 2 hours 8 minutes Given the eerie phenomenon of children who leave their homes precisely at 2:17 a.m. - running through the darkened suburban streets with their arms outstretched like wings and then disappearing without a trace, strikingly accompanied by George Harrison's "Beware of Darkness" - it's conceivable that many will see it as an allegory for the shattering upheaval of tragedy that rips through towns across America with alarming frequency. The hypocrisy of a society continually looking for scapegoats to assign blame while refusing to examine its own dark heart provides a semblance of subtext. Nothing evokes gun violence and the worst parental fears like the sight of an empty classroom. But aside from a simmering Josh Brolin as grieving father Archer seeing a vision of a giant semi-automatic in the night sky flashing the time of the unexplained event, there's too little substance to support those associations. That might not matter to the core audience since the twisty, twisted film delivers more of the unpredictable narrative energy that made Barbarian so bracing. (One of the stars of that film turns up in a brief cameo.) But Weapons is far more consistently weird than scary, which might leave some genre freaks feeling unsatisfied. Whatever its flaws, Weapons unquestionably fortifies the impression that Cregger is a gifted genre director working with complete control as he shifts between enveloping dread and macabre humor. Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) is as surprised as anyone when she shows up at Maybrook Elementary one morning to find only one of her 18 students in attendance, Alex (Cary Christopher). Both teacher and student are questioned by police, as is headmaster Marcus (Benedict Wong). Security camera footage from the homes of missing kids reveals disturbing images of them running toward, rather than away from something, but concrete leads are elusive. Among the most hostile voices at a town hall meeting at which shocked parents want answers is Archer, who insists that the teacher must somehow be responsible. Once the school reopens after an investigation period, Justine wants to resume teaching, but Marcus persuades her to lie low until the anger dies down. That doesn't protect her from threatening phone calls, harrassment, the word "witch" graffitied across the side of her car in red paint and even an enraged mother physically attacking her at the liquor store. Justine becomes a frequent customer there, hitting the vodka hard and coaxing her occasional hookup, young cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich, terrific), to slide off the wagon. Garner slyly plays up the character's duality, her slender frame hiding considerable strength and her tenderness toward the children she teaches contrasted with a tough, brittle side provoked by the suspicions cast upon her. Cregger effectively replays events from the days following the mass disappearance from different perspectives in chapters named for the characters whose point of view they adopt. In the "Justine" section, she refuses to be intimidated by Marcus' warnings, and after being