Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! In our FINAL WEEK, I decided to start things off with a bang! Today, we will be going into one of my FAVORITE horror movies of recent times, especially since I had the absolutely amazing experience of being able to view this film in theatres. It also JUST dropped on HBO Max today, and I recommend it to ALL of you! Let’s begin the final countdown with a true gem of modern horror, shall we? Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…

Weapons

Our film begins with a voiceover from a little girl, talking about a disaster that has hit the little town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania. One recent night, seventeen children from ONE third grade class left their homes at 2:17 A.M., and disappeared into the night, not being found by anyone. We see shots of this happening (brilliantly made shots btw) as the children run with their arms out to the side, disappearing into the dark (literally the creepiest possible run). But, one student remains, and SEEMS completely unaffected. His name is Alex Lilly, and he will be VERY important. (I love this movie guys)

The film is split up into different sections, with title cards heralding each character that we will be with for that specific section of the film. We begin with a title card saying “JUSTINE”, as we follow Justine Gandy, the very kind but VERY troubled teacher of the class that went missing. At a press conference, Justin gets CHEWED OUT by all the parents of the missing children, and leaves the conference as fast as she gets there. Shortly after she leaves the town meeting, she heads and buys LOTS of alcohol for herself, and becomes increasingly paranoid. Her car is even graffitied with the word “WITCH” at night (this scene was so creepy there are SO many jumpscare fakeouts). The next day, Justine gets put on leave by her principal, Marcus. Justine is extremely caring, but sometimes “oversteps”, wanting to know how Alex is, even though she isn’t allowed to see him. Justine begs to work, saying how she and Alex are the only ones left, but she still isn’t allowed. Justine feels INCREDIBLY ostracized and shut out by the town, as we learn that her drinking from last night wasn’t a one off, it was her falling back into alcoholism. As Justine gets her car checked out, she meets with her ex-boyfriend Paul, who is on the police force (he reminds me a LOT of Joel from Smile). The pair meet at the bar, where Justine is drinking, and Paul is drinking coke, while apparently still trying to avoid falling back into his own alcohol addiction. Paul tries to tell Justine to get out of her own head, but she is INCREDIBLY paranoid, and for his own sake, Paul keeps trying to stop her from drinking. We learn that a “Donna” doesn’t know Paul is with Justine, and Paul says that they aren’t “happening” at the moment.

We cut to Paul’s apartment, as we find that Justine “slept over” with Paul. (Do I have to even say it at this point? #1 rule of Horror Fest.) Justine drives Paul into work the next day, as Paul keeps saying the police are on the case. Apparently Paul is VERY hungover (he fell back into his alcoholism), as he tells Justine to stay in her lane in the investigation, although he says it was great to see her. (You know what I said about Justine overstepping? Well, that begins now.) Concerned for Alex, Justine FOLLOWS HIM HOME (Justine really is a decent person, but does have some “Justine” qualities as Paul would say). Justine rings the doorbell, and eventually finds that ALL of the windows of Alex’s house are covered in newspapers. She lets herself into the backyard (because of course she does), and looks through a crack in the newspapers. In the pitch black house, she sees two motionless silhouettes staring at the window (VERY creepy). She bolts, and calls Marcus, who gets mad at her for even being there. At the liquor store, Justine is even confronted by Donna, who attacks her in the store for getting Paul drunk. (NOT going well for our girl).

That night, Justine has a dream, where she walks into her classroom (pitch black) and sees all the missing children with their heads down. Alex lifts his head from the back of the room, only to show a HORRIFIC sight of his face looking incredibly creepy and distorted. Justine looks above her in her bedroom, and sees an adult woman screaming from the roof, with the exact same face as Alex (clown makeup) (GOD this got me in theatres). Justine then drives to Alex once more, as she once again asks if he is okay. He, however, runs away, saying not to follow him. Justine FALLS ASLEEP in her car while watching the house, as Alex’s mother (or some woman) exits the house and marches STRAIGHT to the car, holding a pair of scissors). She enters the car, and as Justine still sleeps soundly, she cuts a lock of hair off of her head, taking it with her. 

TIME TO JUMP SECTION! We get a title card for “ARCHER”, as we see the father of one of the missing children, who is currently sleeping in his son’s bed. His son is Matthew, who just so happened to be Alex’s bully. Archer is a constructor (the stress is causing him to be really bad at his job, and goes frame by frame of footage of his ring doorbell picking up Matthew running away. (We see Archer put red paint in his car, very important). Archer goes to talk to the Chief of Police once again, and really gets nothing out of him. Archer has it OUT for Justine, and believes that she is the cause, although the Chief doesn’t believe so. We then cut BACK to the town conference, as we find that Archer was the one yelling for Justine to give answers. (I love the way this movie ties all of the characters and their stories together, having them intersect at varying points in the timeline). We find that Archer followed Justine, and HE was the one who painted “WITCH” on her car. Archer then begins to have a horrific nightmare, where he wakes up at 2:17 and sees Matthew running away. He sees a GIANT gun rise into the air (a weapon), with 2:17 on it. Archer enters back into his house (the nightmare scenes are so creepy), as he finds Matthew asleep in his bed, motionless, with his eyes starry. During the night, Archer is able to tell his son he loves him, as he doesn’t say it enough. Matthew then changes to the SAME woman with clown makeup that Justine saw, as Archer wakes up.

In the morning, Archer visits the mother of another missing child, asking to see footage her own doorbell captures of her child running away. She says no (pretty understandable), but Archer waits until her husband gets back. He shows him the footage, and tries to use it to triangulate where all of the children ran to. Archer goes driving down the street, and eventually finds Justine at a gas station. He begins to interrogate her, but is rudely interrupted by MARCUS, whose face is bloody and bloated, his eyes almost popping out of his head. He runs in the same way as the children, as Justine and Marcus try to fight him…

CLIFFHANGER! We enter into our third section, entitled “PAUL”. He’s on the phone with Donna, who is MUCH more into him than he is to her, and says that he can’t drink while she is gone for a few days. We find that her father is the CHIEF, and that they are planning an anniversary dinner. Paul sets out from the very awkward talk with the chief, and goes out on the street. He sees a teenager (who he thinks is attempting to break into a building), and Paul chases him down and arrests him. His name is James, and is a HUGE drug addict, although he doesn’t reveal this to Paul. Paul searches James, and pricks himself on a used syringe in James’s pocket. In anger and fear, Paul knocks James out with one good punch. He performs emergency medical (VERY tense scene), and prays for his finger to be okay. Paul then panics, as he finds out that his dashcam recorded the entire thing. Paul then releases James, and goes back into the office, where the Chief gives him a death stare. The Chief threatens Paul, but says as long as nothing else goes wrong, it will be forgotten.

In the midst of Paul’s horrific day, he gets the original text from Justine. We follow Paul as we see his perspective of the bar meeting, and find out he VERY MUCH did the deed with Justine. Paul returns home, and finds that Donna is back early. Donna immediately notices something is up with Paul, and our man is a very bad liar. She curses him out, and he returns to work the next day, where he gets an even MORE threatening death stare from the chief. He heads out of the Police Department, as he sees James once again. James bolts, as Paul chases him down, with rage and intensity in his face.

SWITCH TIME! We get our fourth perspective, with that of “JAMES”. James is in a tent in the forest trying to use drugs, but runs out of material, desperately calling people he knows for any more supply. While calling, he steals from random cars, eventually finding an ipad and trying to sell it (this man is in a ROUGH state). However, when James tries to sell it, he doesn’t get any money. We then continue with James, and find out the real reason he was at the apartment, and it WAS to try and sneak in and steal (hence why he ran from Paul). After Paul lets him go, James walks in the pouring rain once more, eventually getting to ALEX’S HOUSE. James is able to break in, and searches the house. He begins stealing literally anything of value and throwing it in a pillow case (also stolen), as he finds a locked door at the end of the upstairs hallway. This room however, unlike the rest of the house, has a light on. James runs into the two silhouettes from Justine’s earlier encounter, and they are COMPLETELY lights out (we find out later that these are indeed Alex’s parents). James continues to steal, finding empty cans of soup, as he hears a bump from upstairs. However, he goes downstairs instead, and heads into the basement. BOMBSHELL INCOMING.

James heads down, and FINDS THE KIDS. They are all standing and facing the wall, but when James turns, they all look at him. He BOLTS, AS ALEX’S PARENTS STAND UP. They walk towards James, as he runs off into the rain. The door mysteriously shuts behind him, as we cut back to the pawnshop, as James sees a poster for a $50,000 dollar reward for the return of the missing kids. Our man immediately buys drugs with his new money from selling stolen goods, and calls the police, saying that he knows where the kids are, and asks for the money first thing. James heads down to the police station, and, of course, runs into Paul. As Paul begins his chase, we see from James’s perspective, as he runs into the forest. However, in the forest, James hears laughter. He sees the clown makeup woman staring at him and waving, fully decked out in clown gear. James BOLTS to his tent and hides, as footsteps can be heard outside. The silhouette and footsteps, though, BELONG TO PAUL. James sticks him with three needles to defend himself, as Paul drags him out of the tent.

James says he knows where the kids are, and tells Paul that he will show him. James gets put in the back, as our new duo heads out to Alex’s house. Paul asks if James has any diseases he will get from the needles, and James says he doesn’t know (great). Paul gets to the house, and leaves James handcuffed in the back. He rings the doorbell, and although he gets no reply, the door mysteriously opens. James seems to be talking to someone, as he heads into the pitch black house. We cut to NIGHT, as James is still in the back of the car. Paul comes STORMING out of the house, looking and acting DERANGED, as he drags James into the house.

HERE. WE. GO! We cut to our fifth perspective with “MARCUS”. We see Marcus shopping, as we hear his perspective from the Justine call from earlier. We learn that Justine asked him to report a wellness check, and Marcus agrees, saying he will talk to his parents at the school. At school the following day, as THE CLOWN WOMAN enters into Marcus’s office. She introduces herself as Gladys, and says that she is Alex’s maternal aunt (I missed this scene in the theatre because I was in the bathroom. I’m so mad). Gladys says that she is taking care of the family because Alex’s parents have fallen ill, and she is staying at the house to take care of Alex. Gladys says that his parents have a touch of “consumption”, and is very aggressive as she says that they need to stay home. Marcus, however, keeps insisting on seeing Alex’s parents. The next morning, Gladys appears at Marcus’s house, where he and his husband Terry live. Gladys says she is on the verge of collapse, and Terry agrees to give her water. Gladys asks for a BOWL of water (very interesting, and yes I was STILL in the bathroom at this moment), and Gladys says Alex’s father will come in on Monday. She also says there is no need to contact the authorities. Gladys then takes a VERY pointy and sharp stick out of her purse, and one of Marcus’s ribbons is twirled around it. She cuts her hand with it, and smears it in her blood. She then takes a piece of hair from Terry (that she literally cut off of him), and twirls that around the stick as well. She then rings a bell, and splits the stick in two. After this, Marcus goes into attack mode, vomiting a black liquid onto Terry and headbutting him over and over again. She puts the broken stick in the bowl of water, which causes Marcus to stop attacking. She then wraps the stick in JUSTINE’S HAIR, as we see Marcus running down the street the same way the children did (AMAZING scene).

He runs across the entire town, and gets to Archer and Justine. Lets FINALLY get back to this battle, shall we? Archer goes CRAZY, brutally attacking Marcus. However, Marcus never stops pursuing Justine. She jumps into her car, as Marcus PUNCHES THE WINDOW OPEN. Justine then drives away, as Marcus continues his chase on foot. Archer then jumps into his truck, and drives after Marcus. However, as he drives, we see Marcus GET RUN OVER in the street. Marcus is DEAD DEAD, as Archer goes to the hospital to get treated. Walking into the waiting room, Justine is still there. As Justine says she has never seen anything like what Marcus did in her life, Archer says he has. Archer says that Matthew ran the EXACT SAME WAY as Marcus did. Archer shows his map that he was trying to use to triangulate where the kids were running, as Justine IMMEDIATELY notices that all the children were running to ALEX’S HOUSE.

IT’S TIME TO SWITCH! We get our next perspective, entitled “ALEX”. It’s a flashback, as Alex has a pretty rough day at school, and Alex’s dad drives Alex home (he’s really nice). Alex’s dad says that Gladys is coming to the house that day, because she is very sick. He, his dad, and even his mom don’t know Gladys that extremely well, even though Gladys and his mother are siblings. We see Gladys appear with her things in the dead of night, even with a whole plant of the thorny twig. Gladys hasn’t seen the family in fifteen years, as Alex’s father says they are unequipped to deal with Gladys. Alex sees into his aunt’s room, and finds the clown wig, the plant, and Gladys herself, who looks VERY ill, and who stares at Alex. Alex is back at school, as Matthew throws his pencil at Alex’s head. After school ends, though, Alex’s father isn’t there to pick him up. Alex WALKS HOME, and looks around, seeing his father and mother at the dinner table. They sit still, and speak VERY creepily, as Gladys appears. She says that Alex’s parents are just fine, but our boy is obviously scared. Alex tries to pour water on his father to get a reaction, but it doesn’t work. After this, Gladys sends him upstairs. The next morning, Alex’s parents are still at the table, but Gladys is there as well. Gladys says that before Alex goes to school, he has to promise not to tell anyone that Gladys is there, and that his parents are “resting”. Gladys then uses a twig to pierce herself, and bloodies up the twig. She then snaps it, and Alex’s parents begin to stab themselves in the face with forks (I HATED this). She puts the twig into a bowl of water, as Gladys tells Alex to sit back down. Gladys is a WITCH, and she is trying to siphon the life force of Alex’s parents. Gladys put them under her spell with the twig for that reason, and says that if Alex says anything to anyone, she can make his parents kill eachother, harm eachother, do literally anything she wants. Alex gets back from school, and sees Gladys performing a ritual. She forces Alex to feed his own parents (explaining the empty soup cans from earlier), and he continues trying to live a normal life. In the middle of the night, Alex wakes up, and finds Gladys. She looks HORRIBLY sick, and she talks to Alex. She says that she is sick, and that she wanted Alex’s parents to help her feel better, but it isn’t working (their life forces are insufficient). Gladys then tells Alex that he can help, and she tells him to go to school and bring an object from every single one of his classmates back to her. Gladys says that if she got better, she would go home. 

At school, while the kids are playing in the gym, Alex sneaks away (Justine notices this), and he goes to the classroom. While there, he steals his classmate’s nametags from their cubby boxes, as Justine walks in. She asks if everything is okay, and Alex says that everything is just fine. Justine, however, knows that something has been up with the boy. Justine says she is always here for him, and although Alex takes a deep breath, almost like he wants to talk, he excuses himself back to the gym. Alex gets home, and gives all the nametags to Gladys. He walks downstairs at 2:15 A.M., and sees Gladys putting the nametags into a bowl which has the same black liquid that Marcus vomited earlier. Candles are lit, and she looks to be performing a ritual. She takes a bell, and rings it at EXACTLY 2:17 A.M. We see the children running through the town, just like we did earlier, but we see the FULL picture now. They all are enchanted, and we see them running down the street in one of the creepiest scenes ever. Alex looks in horror as the children run into the house, with Gladys planning to extract their life force. And, just like that, Justine walks into an empty classroom the next day, with only Alex being there. Gladys tries to keep everything normal, and attempts to cover everything up. She sends the children out into the night as Glayds prepares with Alex for the arrival of detectives. Alex continues the motions, even having to feed all of the children. We continue to catch up with the timeline as Alex comes home one day, and sees Paul’s parked car outside. He enters the house, and sees both Paul and James under Gladys’ spell. Gladys tells Alex to pack his things and get ready to leave, as his parents now stand guard outside of Gladys’ room, which has a line of salt in front of it. Gladys tells him NOT to step over the salt. 

IT’S TIME FOR THE CLIMAX! Alex looks out his window, and sees a parked truck. IT’S ARCHER AND JUSTINE! Paul goes outside, and stares at the car from the house, his controlled body putting its arm up and beckoning Archer and Justine to come inside. Alex watches on in fear, and puts his shoes on. Downstairs, Justine steps on a line of salt, and the second she does, Paul and James spring into action, attacking our duo. Downstairs, the fight rages, with some AMAZING fight choreography. No matter what Archer and Justine throw at the enchanted, nothing will stop them. Upstairs, ALEX STEPS OVER THE SALT, and runs away as his parents come charging at him. Downstairs, James tackles Archer through the basement door, as Archer sees the children. Alex continues trying to avoid his murderous parents, as he runs through every door upstairs. DOWNSTAIRS, JUSTINE USES PAUL’S OWN GUN TO KILL HIM. (LETS GO JUSTINE!). She then walks over to Archer, AND KILLS JAMES. Archer runs into the basement to look for Matthew, as Alex explores Gladys’ room. The second his parents break in, Alex grabs a thorny twig from the room (as well as Gladys’ wig), and runs into the bathroom. In a HORRIFIC jumpscare, Gladys jumps out from her hiding place in the basement, grabbing a chain Archer is wearing. Upstairs, our boy Alex LOCKS IN, piercing himself with the twig, spreading his blood onto it, and grabbing a strand of Gladys’ hair from her wig, twirling it around the twig.

Downstairs, as Justine cries over Paul’s corpse, AN ENCHANTED ARTHUR APPEARS. He begins to choke Justine. Gladys watches Archer choke Justine, as upstairs, Alex SNAPS the twig. The sound of a bell plays, and Gladys says “oh no”. GET READY GUYS. We hear the sound of rushing footsteps, as ALL the children appear, chasing Gladys. Gladys runs through the entire town, as the children pursue her, jumping through windows and anything they need. (THIS IS MOSTLY A LONG SHOT BY THE WAY). This scene was SO cathartic for me man. No matter how far Gladys runs, the children continue their pursuit. Eventually, one girl catches up to Gladys, and pins her down in a yard. ALL of the children get to Gladys, as Alex’s parents get closer to killing him, and Justine gets closer to being killed by Archer. BUT, we cut back to Gladys, and see she is literally being torn limb from limb by the children. Blood is EVERYWHERE, as her skull is literally torn open. When she dies, the sound of a bell is heard once more, and Archer stops choking Justine. A beautiful, angelic sound is heard in the background, as Archer follows the path of destruction throughout the town, looking for Matthew.

Justine scrambles upstairs, and calls out for Alex. Archer FINALLY gets to the blood covered children, as Justine finds Alex hugging his parents upstairs. Archer calls out to Matthew, and he turns his head towards his father, as he hugs him. Justine smiles, tears coming out of her eyes. The voiceover from the little girl from the beginning of the movie returns, as we learn that Alex moved to another town and lives with a different, extremely nice aunt while his parents recover. (everyone who was enchanted remains catatonic besides Archer by the way). We see Archer taking Matthew home, as we see his face, completely devoid of emotion. We zoom in on his face, as the voiceover says that all the children were reunited with their parents, and that some of them even started talking again this year…

THERE WE HAVE IT! WOW, I was not expecting this one to be a seven pager. This may be the longest article I have up for the final chapter! Guys, I ADORE weapons, and recommend it to each and every one of you. It is SUCH an amazing movie that I was so lucky to see, and it is only the beginning of the final countdown. Be prepared for tomorrow, my friends, as the length of this article may be beaten. And, remember, dear readers, you never know what one person can do. They may even turn you into one of their own weapons…