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Weapons (Cregger 2025)
Laura found Weapons to be entertaining but vapid; bizarrely agnostic in terms of messaging or subtext. Marshall found Weapons to be entertaining but also infuriating for invoking the horrors of mass school shootings only to say nothing about that topic whatsoever.
Another entry in the vibes horror subgenre that has gained prominence of late. These films are more a series of vaguely scary or upsetting moments rather than films with a broader effort to create meaning. We discuss this as an early indicator of the decontextualization of narrative (and indeed everything) that has been radically accelerated by vertical, short-form, media platforms e.g. TikTok.
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SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE
Barbarian (Cregger 2022)
Minor Spoilers
Blue Ruin (Saulnier 2014)
TOPIC INDEX – Weapons (Cregger 2025) (times are approximate)
0:30 – Introductions
3:15 – Film discussion begins without spoilers
4:00 – Our histories with Macon Blair, Jeremy Saulnier, and Troma Entertainment
7:30- SPOILERS BEGIN
9:15 – Marshall rants about how the movie ruined itself for him
16:30 – Laura’s rational discussion of lack of messaging
22:00 – directorial intent
28:00 – Sociology moment: Barthes, Hall, meaning making, and The Painted Word
31:00 – Cregger squandering potential
37:45 – why “vibes” horror movies suck and AI slop
41:30 – the decontextualization of everything
47:30 – Sociology moment: Creed’s monstrous feminine
49:30 – SPOILERS for Barbarian
57:00 – rewarding bad behavior
1:04:00 – why multiple perspectives
1:10:00 – scary and entertaining but
1:17:00 – Gladys
1:22:15 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility
1:26:00 – Behind the Scenes
Related Episodes
Scalene (Parker 2011) – we strongly recommend
Summer of ’84 (Simard, Whissell, & Whissell 2018)
Barbarian (Cregger 2022)
Midsommar (Aster 2019)
Credits
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“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”
Episode 150