9 Must-See Movies For Fans Of The Horror Hit Weapons

Writer-director Zach Cregger’s Weapons has become one of the most original and popular horror films of 2025, but there are many other great movies with comparable stories and ideas. Despite its wild and distinctive execution, Weapons features a familiar premise: a town descends into chaos as multiple children vanish without a trace or explanation for their disappearance, setting up a dark, layered mystery.

With $206.3 million worldwide and counting, and a near-perfect 94% Rotten Tomatoes score, Weapons has turned into the breakout hit of the summer. It has prompted a great deal of discussion online, and since its release, Cregger has made the rounds sharing insight into the film.

Cregger has listed multiple classic films, particularly in the horror genre, that were significant inspirations for Weapons. There were also some unexpected films that had a huge impact on the director as he was making his latest scary story. At the same time, there are other terrific movies with similar plots, themes, and storytelling approaches that fans of Weapons may be interested in seeing.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning opus continues to make its mark on audiences, including Cregger. This iconic film reportedly inspired the director with its interconnected stories of two gangsters, their boss, his wife, a down-on-his-luck boxer, and a loving pair of robbers in Los Angeles (via Ringer Movies).

Both Pulp Fiction and Weapons are part of two very different genres, but they each explore a variety of characters with similar nonlinear narratives that play with viewers’ minds. These two films also feature more than enough dark humor and gore that should satisfy diehard horror fans.

The Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

Cregger told Letterboxd that this Australian mystery film was one of multiple influences on the making of Weapons. Directed by Peter Weir, who made The Truman Show and Dead Poets Society, Picnic at Hanging Rock depicts a group of schoolgirls who disappear while picnicking on Valentine’s Day in 1900.

Weapons features several elements that seem directly taken from Picnic at Hanging Rock, including schoolchildren vanishing while in a trance, people having mysterious dreams, and a member of the school’s staff being accused of causing this mass disappearance. Overall, both stories show how a community unravels in the face of an inexplicable mystery, essentially making Weapons a modern-day version of Picnic at Hanging Rock.

The Shining (1980)

Given the amount of prestige that Stanley Kubrick’s film has garnered over the years, it’s no wonder that Cregger admitted he drew from it when making Weapons (via Letterboxd). As also shown in Cregger’s movie, The Shining depicts a family of three that becomes overwhelmed and manipulated by a supernatural force while staying at the Overlook Hotel.

Despite the presence of the paranormal, both films demonstrate how seemingly normal people can become fractured from one another as they succumb to fear and isolation, exploring issues of alcoholism and domestic abuse. Also, Mr. and Mrs. Lilly’s attack on poor Alex in Weapons looks like it was taken straight from The Shining‘s iconic bathroom scene.

The Black Phone (2022)

Based on the story by Joe Hill, The Black Phone follows teenager Finney, who is kidnapped by a serial killer, the Grabber, and locked away in a room with a phone that allows him to speak to the victims that came before him. Though The Black Phone is mostly confined to the Grabber’s basement, the film features a vast narrative as Finney’s sister and the police race to find him.

Though Weapons doesn’t follow any of its characters as they are kidnapped, the relationship Alex shares with Gladys as her prisoner is very similar to the dynamic between Finney and the Grabber. All in all, Weapons and The Black Phone present dark, unsettling stories that will get under viewers’ skin, thanks particularly to their haunting, memorable villains.

It (2017)

Much like Weapons, director Andy Muschietti’s It centers around the residents of a small town as they investigate the disappearances of local children caused by a predatory, supernatural figure. While Weapons focuses on a few adults and one child in its story, the Stephen King adaptation focuses on a group of children called the Losers Club, with their experiences presenting a dark parable about the terrors of growing up.

It’s villain, Pennywise the Clown, operates similarly to the evil Aunt Gladys, both tormenting the protagonists with bizarre and terrifying imagery that leaves them even more fearful and isolated. Despite their supernatural antagonists, It and Weapons explore the real-world monsters inside the residents of small-town America that are unleashed behind closed doors, such as grief and parental abuse.

Barbarian (2022)

In Cregger’s horror film debut, two people are surprised to find that they have rented out the same Airbnb, which they are horrified to learn contains a dark secret. Barbarian introduced audiences to Cregger’s style of delivering surprising twists, changing narratives, and complex gender dynamics, all of which are witnessed in Weapons.

Barbarian and Weapons also explore the evil that is lurking in the shadows of a seemingly ordinary neighborhood. Though the Brighton neighborhood in the former film appeared dangerous to begin with, Barbarian takes it to the extreme when revealing the truly shocking horrors hidden beneath a small rental house.

Hereditary (2018)

Writer-director Ari Aster’s feature-length debut, Hereditary, centers around the members of a family who find themselves manipulated by a devil-worshipping cult after a death in their family. While Weapons is much broader in scale than Hereditary with its sprawling narrative and ensemble cast, both of these stories explore unresolved grief in the wake of personal loss.

Like some of the characters in Weapons, the members of the Graham family fail to cope with their depression and fall back on some dangerous tactics that ultimately destroy them. Weapons at least delivers a happy-ish ending, but Hereditary pulls no punches in depicting the tragedy of the Graham family with unforgettable, terrifying imagery and performances.

Magnolia (1999)

Cregger claimed that this epic drama by writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson was a primary inspiration for Weapons (via EW). Starring A-listers such as Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Magnolia follows a day in the interconnected lives of people in the San Fernando Valley as they struggle to find happiness and fulfillment.

Magnolia‘s influence on Weapons is evident in how the latter also follows several different characters in the same town. Each of the film’s six core characters deals with their personal issues until their stories ultimately converge in an epic, fantastical conclusion.

While Magnolia isn’t a horror movie, it explores some intense subject matter like Weapons, as the characters are forced to confront their deep-seated flaws and familial troubles. Both films also culminate in one of the most bizarre and unforgettable climaxes in cinema history.

Prisoners (2013)

Zach Cregger has cited director Denis Villeneuve’s crime thriller as one of the main inspirations for Weapons. Cregger specifically drew from the “somber” and “washed-out” look of Prisoners, with Weapons replicating the images created by cinematographer Roger Deakins.

The similarities between the dark stories of Prisoners and Weapons are as clear as day. Both depict a group of people who try to find their children after they seem to be kidnapped by someone living in their town. They also show how seemingly normal adults succumb to their inner demons, becoming filled with anger, fear, and desperation as they try to find their children by any means necessary.

Weapons

7/10

Release Date

August 8, 2025

Runtime

128 minutes

Director

Zach Cregger

Writers

Zach Cregger

Producers

Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz