Zach Cregger Says His New Horror Film WEAPONS Is “Funnier, Scarier, and Weirder Than BARBARIAN”

If Barbarian left you speechless and slightly afraid of basements forever, buckle up, because Zach Cregger’s next horror movie, Weapons, is coming for your brain in a whole new way. According to Cregger, it’s not only bigger than Barbarian, it’s “a lot weirder.”

In a recent chat with Empire, the filmmaker talked about what he can expect from the film:

“It’s a fun movie. It’s funny, it’s scary, it’s inviting. It’s not a grim, morose slog. And yet the story it tells is really f*cked up.”

The words “fun” and “really f*cked up” rarely go hand in hand, but if anyone can thread that needle, it’s the guy who made Barbarian, the 2022 sleeper hit that went from Airbnb awkwardness to full-blown subterranean nightmare.

That movie took some wild and unnexpected twists and turns and Weapons looks like it’s set to push even further into the unexpected.

This time, Cregger is diving deep into more personal territory. While Barbarian wrestled with broader social themes, Weapons is pulling from something a bit closer to home. He said:

“Barbarian was an exploration of social themes; [it] was me looking at the world around me. This is more an exploration of my own personal shit, for lack of a better word. Weapons is me looking within, and working on myself.”

The film centers on a disturbing premise, and is set in a small quiet town and one morning, every child in the same class disappears at the exact same time… 2:17am, except for one. That’s a creepy setup and in watchng the trailer I don’t see much humor, but that’;s expect what Cregger is teasing.

The cast includes Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan, and it’s clear this thing’s got serious scary bite.

The movie opens in theaters on August 8th.