Curious to get your take on the mix of comedy and horror in "Weapons." At times, it worked; at times it undercut some effective scenes of genuine horror. Having the kids crash through fences and houses in almost sped-up motion--funny. But tearing the witch apart when they catch up with her--not so sure. As the guy next to me said, "I wasn't sure I should have been laughing at various points in the movie." I guess I felt if I wanted that blend, I would have rewatched "Shawn of the Dead." Come to think of it, "Barbarian" had a similar blend, but it wasn't overdone.
I enjoy comedy-horror as a genre --- but I don't love it. 'Barbarian' had a satirical/political edge that mostly worked. The uneasy laughs in Warriors did stand out, there were a few that worked, for me, that walked the line between laugh and scream. I wonder if there's an edit without those moments.
I think we're meant to be uncomfortable. I think the comedic destruction wrought by the children suddenly being turned into a gruesome pile-on is meant to be manifestation of what the grieving townsfolk wanted to do to Garner earlier in the film, and we should be shocked by that. It's the mob mentality made manifest, and in this current climate, it seems a very real possibility. The moment also echoes the shocking scene at the heart of Suddenly Last Summer, and I think that is a very deliberate choice, the violent dispatch of 'the other' by those victimised by them.
Your 'Suddenly Last Summer' reference is great --- I remember reading that play as a Williams-obsessed teen (I'm less enthusiastic about him in my dotage) and having trouble visualizing Sebastian's fate. And now I can and it makes the play a little better.
Yeesh. Sounds like real good time, if by "good time", you mean "plunging 12-inch surgical steel needles into my eyeballs".
lol
Curious to get your take on the mix of comedy and horror in "Weapons." At times, it worked; at times it undercut some effective scenes of genuine horror. Having the kids crash through fences and houses in almost sped-up motion--funny. But tearing the witch apart when they catch up with her--not so sure. As the guy next to me said, "I wasn't sure I should have been laughing at various points in the movie." I guess I felt if I wanted that blend, I would have rewatched "Shawn of the Dead." Come to think of it, "Barbarian" had a similar blend, but it wasn't overdone.
I enjoy comedy-horror as a genre --- but I don't love it. 'Barbarian' had a satirical/political edge that mostly worked. The uneasy laughs in Warriors did stand out, there were a few that worked, for me, that walked the line between laugh and scream. I wonder if there's an edit without those moments.
I think we're meant to be uncomfortable. I think the comedic destruction wrought by the children suddenly being turned into a gruesome pile-on is meant to be manifestation of what the grieving townsfolk wanted to do to Garner earlier in the film, and we should be shocked by that. It's the mob mentality made manifest, and in this current climate, it seems a very real possibility. The moment also echoes the shocking scene at the heart of Suddenly Last Summer, and I think that is a very deliberate choice, the violent dispatch of 'the other' by those victimised by them.
Your 'Suddenly Last Summer' reference is great --- I remember reading that play as a Williams-obsessed teen (I'm less enthusiastic about him in my dotage) and having trouble visualizing Sebastian's fate. And now I can and it makes the play a little better.
I agree that I winced through the children attacking Aunt Gladys at the end. That’s why I rewrote the ending entirely: https://open.substack.com/pub/taketwo1/p/if-weapons-told-the-story-it-promised?r=6m8937&utm_medium=ios