PROJECT RUNAWAY

WRITER/DIRECTOR ZACH CREGGER FOLLOWS SURPRISE HIT BARBARIAN WITH AN EVEN TWISTIER HORROR EVENT MOVIE. MEET THE MAN BEHIND WEAPONS, WHICH COULD BE THE SCARIEST FILM OF THE YEAR...

- MATT MAYTUM

WEAPONS MIGHT BE GAINING TRACTION AS a contender for the scariest movie of the year - thanks to some viral marketing and mystery-shrouded trailers - but writer/director Zach Cregger is levelheaded when it comes to that buzz. "Part of me is like, 'Oh God, I hope it doesn't disappoint people," he tells SFX, "because I'm a human and you never want anything to get too hyped. But also, it's fucking scary. Everyone I've shown it to, I always kind of qualify it: 'This is not even really a horror movie, it's more of a mystery thriller...' and then every time it ends, people are like, 'What the fuck are you talking about, this is not a horror movie?! This is a horror movie!' So, yeah, it is scary."

Managing expectations is tricky in these circumstances. When Cregger wrote, directed and released the twisty, twisted horror Barbarian in 2022, it slipped into cinemas to surprise genre fans. Beginning with a young woman arriving at a double-booked Airbnb, it spun out from there with some audacious rug pulls and tonal shifts. Made for a reported $4.5 million, it took 10 times its budget thanks to strong reviews and an element of must-see mystery.

Following that success, Cregger - previously best known for his work in comedy - became one of horror’s great new hopes, and when he had another script to take to market, it sparked an all-out bidding war between major Hollywood studios, with Warner Bros subsidiary New Line Cinema ultimately winning, and Cregger scoring a payday, budget and a guaranteed theatrical release. “The bidding war was very exciting,” says Cregger. “It was also very stressful, believe it or not. No one wants to hear me whine about a bidding war, and I won't. But it’s not all just a super-fun time. It was a high-pressure 24 hours and it got very intense.”

CHILDREN BEHAVE