When I heard that director Zach Cregger was planning a sequel to his 2025 hit Weapons, I was intrigued. When I heard he was planning to actually make a prequel about Aunt Gladys, I was less enthusiastic about the idea. Don’t get me wrong, I think Amy Madigan’s performance as the evil witch was 100% worthy of the Oscar she won for it; it’s not about that. It’s about keeping the mysterious backstory of the oddball character just that, a mystery. I don’t think I want to know her origin story.
Weapons Was One Of My Favorite Movies Last Year
Last year, I wrote about how, despite me not being the biggest fan of horror movies, two horror movies, Sinners and Weapons, were among my favorite movies of the year. Sure, that’s not exactly a hot take, as CinemaBlend (and everyone else) had both at or near the top of the 2025 movie rankings. I have a bunch of reasons for loving the movie. The spine-chilling moment when the kids all run out of the house, and the position of their arms, of course, are on the list. So is the brutal and scary scene with Marcus (Benedict Wong) chasing Justine (Julia Garner) down in the gas station, for another.
It was for me, as it was for many, Aunt Gladys who stole the show. She is such an amazing character brought to life wonderfully by Madigan. I now consider her one of the all-time great villains in horror history, up there with Hannibal Lecter, Annie Wilkes, Norman Bates, and Samara from The Ring. She should be on everyone’s list, in my opinion. Part of what makes her so great to me is that I don’t know much about her past, other than the little bit we get in the movie. I think I want it to stay that way.
The Mystery Of It All
One of the reasons I also love Annie Wilkes so much is because we don’t get a ton about her background. There are some breadcrumbs, sure, but for the most part, we don’t get a lot of details, just like Aunt Gladys. We don’t know what made them who they are. That makes them so much more interesting and so much scarier. We know just enough to know that there is true evil working in their past, just like with Norman Bates.
Speaking of Norman Bates, as far as I’m concerned, the Psycho franchise starts and ends with Hitchcock’s original masterpiece. I’ve seen some of the sequels, but I’ve never seen Psycho IV: The Beginning, and I don’t want to, for the same reason I’m not sure I want to know the details of Gladys’ past life. I love that she’s an enigma. I don’t really care how she became a sorceress. Well, it’s not that I don’t care, but I like not knowing. I love the mystery of it all.
Of course, all that said, I loved Weapons enough (and rewatched it a couple of times now with my Prime subscription), and Madigan’s performance enough, that I think it’s fair to both her and Cregger to trust them to get the story right, so I’ll be there on opening night. There will be some trepidation on my part, though.
