Prepare the crown, there’s a new king to be anointed. Zach Cregger, formerly of the sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U Know, burst onto the horror scene in 2022 with Barbarian. That film was a masterful, devilishly fun “something’s in the basement” thriller that tapped into audiences’ fear of negative space and relationship dynamics, all while embracing the over-the-top camp that made ’80s and ’90s horror so unserious and so much fun. Barbarian was a killer debut, promising a new horror voice less concerned with using the genre as a Trojan horse for social issues (Peele), plumbing mythic universalisms and medieval tonalities (Eggers), or turning grief into bone-chilling metaphor (Aster, and his knockoff army), and more into being a little scary, a little funny, and a whole lot of fun. His follow-up, Weapons, which WB declined to screen for most critics for some inconceivable reason, is both a worthy continuation of Cregger’s voice and a clear step up in craft. This guy may just be the horror prince the 2020s were promised. Read More