By Bob Grimm

Another week, another fantastic horror film—continuing a banner year for the genre.

Weapons—director Zach Cregger’s stunning follow-up to Barbarian, his totally crazy 2022 horror pic—has everything you want to see in a classic horror pic: A great mystery, effective scares, good yucky gore, and surprising moments of hilarity make this a film for the ages. With Weapons, Cregger shows he’s part of the pantheon of awesome modern horror directors, alongside Robert Eggers, Ari Aster, Jordan Peele and Osgood Perkins.

The story—told in non-linear fashion, Tarantino-style—involves a group of children in the same class who mysteriously disappear one night, except for one kid (Cary Christopher).

Julia Garner plays Justine, the teacher of the class, who is targeted by townspeople in the aftermath of the disappearances as a witch, or at least as somebody who had something to do with the disappearances. Garner, whose efforts were wasted in a rather terrible horror film earlier this year (Wolf Man), counters with what turns out to be the performance of her career.

The film unfolds in multiple chapters, each focusing on specific characters and their parts in the proceedings. Josh Brolin is excellent as the most vocal parent, who finds himself unraveling with the disappearance of his child, yet he keeps it together enough to conduct his own investigation. Benedict Wong is a standout as the school principal, who really likes hot dogs, and Austin Abrams plays one of cinema’s all-time most-memorable junkies.

Alden Ehrenreich, who was a so-so Han Solo in Solo, gets the sort of role he’s always deserved after his fine work in the Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar! As Paul, a cop entangled with both Justine and the investigation into the disappearances, Ehrenreich, like Garner, gets the role of his career.

Amy Madigan, who annoyed the shit out of me as the wife so many years ago in Field of Dreams, re-invents herself as a spectacular horror movie actress as Aunt Gladys. Wow. No further details on Gladys will be shared here. Go see what Madigan has done to earn the raves she is getting.

Not only does the mystery play out in a satisfying way; the climax is the sort of shocker you simply won’t be able to predict. Cregger has made a movie that will keep you guessing and doesn’t disappoint with the payoff. It’s a great-looking movie as well, although I will be anxious to watch this on home video when it becomes available. The theater I saw it in seemed to be a little dim on the projection side, making some of the night scenes a bit difficult to see.

While all of the horror elements are so well done, this movie also works as an exemplary piece of drama; the performances are top-notch throughout. As is often the case in the best horror films, there are a lot of great, uncomfortable laughs to be had, especially in the film’s final act.

Weapons is a reminder that not all films in the summertime need explosions or dinosaurs rampaging or comic book characters flying around to provide stellar entertainment. Interestingly, the film’s cast is a virtual who’s-who of Marvel movie and Star Wars performers; Brolin (Cable and Thanos), Ehrenreich (Han Solo), Garner (Silver Surfer) and Wong (whose Marvel character name is actually Wong!) all played significant parts in those blockbuster franchises.

It’s slightly disheartening to see that Cregger’s next directorial effort will be a reboot of Resident Evil. Actually, upon second thought, maybe it’s a good thing. If anybody can put a much-needed darker spin on that franchise, it’s Cregger.