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Welcome back to the Creepy Catalog daily horror digest! Yesterday I made it out to see Weapons! I’m happy to say that Zach Cregger was able to successfully follow up Barbarian with another awesome film that people are sure to talk about. Let’s get right to it!
Movie of the Day: Weapons
Today’s movie of the day, as previously stated, is Weapons! I wanted to see it before I got anything spoiled, and thankfully I succeeded. I would have been seriously bummed if I’d known too much about it, especially since the structure of the film is made specifically to tease big reveals until just the right time. Weapons is great. I think I still like director Zach Cregger’s previous movie, Barbarian (2022), more, but Weapons is easily one of the best movies of 2025.
Weapons is about a town where, one night, all but one child from a single elementary school class went missing. Justine Gandy was their teacher, and she has no idea why nearly every child from her class woke up one night at 2:17 a.m., left their houses, and ran away. Ms. Gandy is accused of knowing more than she’s saying, and a father named Archer Graff is the most aggressive with his frustration and anger. But what really happened that night, what led up to it, and what happens next? That’s the story Weapons tells.
The movie is broken up into a series of chapters. Each chapter begins by showing the name of a character, and we follow that character’s perspective until the next chapter begins. Each successive chapter jumps back in time to show us some of the same events over and over, but filling in gaps left by other perspectives. New events are also added as the chapters progress, slowly pushing the overall story forward to the finale. The movie’s structure is effective in delivering surprise reveals while teasing the central mystery for as long as possible, but it also contributes to my only real gripe.
The story between Justine and Archer is the most engrossing part of Weapons. They’re two people who care deeply for the missing kids (well, Archer cares about his son, and Justine cares for them all), but they’re one complete opposite sides of the situation. Seeing how they inevitably cross paths is the best part of the movie. However, the structure of devoting entire chapters to multiple characters means that their stories are put on the back burner for a long time while we follow other people. There are two characters in the movie that I think could have been trimmed down a lot (I won’t say which ones for fear of spoilers). Their appearances in other chapters is enough. This is kind of a nitpick, I know, but I just wanted to spend more time with Justine and Archer.
Other than that though, Weapons is superb. The buildup throughout the movie is great, and the final scenes are fantastic. There is a lot of tension simmering throughout the movie, and the release at the end is something special. I don’t even want to talk too much about the stuff I love though, because you really should go into this movie knowing as little as you can.
Star Rating: 4 out of 5
If you’re looking for something as wild, fun, and brutal as Barbarian, Weapons comes very close. I recommend it for any horror fan.
Birthdays
Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino was born on August 10th, 1971. He is an award-winning director who broke through to worldwide fame with his “Desire” trilogy that culminated with Call Me By Your Name (2017). In horror, he directed Suspiria (2018) and Bones and All (2022).
Also born today, in 1992, is Ko Ah-sung. She’s not really known for horror, but she did play Park Hyun-seo in Bong Joon Ho’s The Host (2006). She was the young girl taken by the monster.
More birthdays on August 10th:
- Ted Geoghegan (1979) – director of We Are Still Here (2015), Brooklyn 45 (2023)
- Chi Lewis-Parry (1983) – Samson in 28 Years Later (2025)
- Brenton Thwaites (1989) – Tim in Oculus (2013)
Events on This Day
The Others was released in US theaters on August 10th, 2001. The haunted house movie starring Nicole Kidman did well in theaters, earning over $200 million worldwide. It also won a number of awards, including Best Actress (Nicole Kidman), Best Supporting Actress (Fionnula Flanagan), and Best Horror Film at the 2002 Saturn Awards.
Also released on August 10th, in 1990, was Flatliners. The movie is about a group of medical students who attempt to investigate what happens when we die by, well, dying. Their experiment involves flatlining for a minute before being brought back. The trouble is, they might have brought something with them from the other side. A sequel/remake was made in 2017, but the original is still the best.
Thank you as always for reading!
