'cause let's face it, baby, these days… YOU GOTTA HAVE A SEQUEL! - Stu Macher
The hour is late and my thoughts have turned to "Weapons"
It's inevitable. The second a film is successful ,the talk begins of a sequel,prequel,franchise. And while I have readily viewed these continuations and even enjoyed a sequel or two to many a favorite first movie,sometimes the results are questionable.Did we really need this?
And once seen,it can't help but alter ones thoughts of the original.
So much can go wrong when attempting a sequel. The worst of it being it's just boring. Lazy writing that repeats beats from the original tune. I understand the financial interest in doing a sequel,but never understood why one doesn't try to do something new within that 'verse.Someone has already picked out the colors for you to use, paint something new on that blank canvas.
Too often it seems the creator of the original is cut out of the development of the sequel. Or,more than likely, doesn't think there is enough story for a sequel. And as often the case with a new, untested idea, the creator has to sign away rights to the characters/story just to get the movie financed.So come sequel time, they have no monetary incentive (outside of a screenwriter's fee) to write a second.
But here we are. Weapons has done fantastic business.Rightfully so. I loved it.
Been well received by the viewing public. And there have already been murmurs of a possible prequel. Personally, I have no interest in learning more about the "Aunt". We know how that story ends. Where would be the mystery? Other than a wholesale reveal of what and where it came from?
In a prequel, we will already be privy to her presence.That mystery would be solved before the opening.And honestly, I like not knowing all the specifics.There is plenty in the movie to chew on. To give us a frame for her picture.
A prequel could most likely reveal others who share her craft.That story would probably end up in a power struggle between Gladys Lily and the others. Each hungry for the essence to feed upon.Sending their individual weapons to assault the other. Till she is the last standing.
And as we know she lives,her fate in a prequel is established.So what would we gain from such a film? Find out she is an actual parasite?A plant(Gladys-short for Gladiolus? Lily)
Earth..."hair".....fire....water
Body..snip,snip...rage...bowl
Who taught her the magic? Maybe the prequel could be about someone other than Gladys, yet still educate us more on her power and past.
If she is that powerful while in a weakened state,she must have been astoundingly strong before becoming ill.What weapon could have reduced her to this?
And that's where my mind went when thinking about a prequel option....
What if we saw inside the mind of one of her victims? What occurs while they are under her control.Their awareness of the situation. A victims point of view of the damage done by the weaponmaker.
In the original movie,which I've only seen once at this point,so apologies if I am misremembering an event,we see the "Aunt" haunting the dream of the teacher,Justine.Or was Justine awake in that moment and Gladys was really on the ceiling? That image gave me an idea
What if we saw how this malevolent entity feeds.What if it had to
be inside their victim's subconscious to consume? It already controls the conscious acts of the victims.Maybe it needs to go in deeper to suck out their essence.
I picture a story where we follow one of her victims.We are well aware of her presence,so that shock is out. But what if we see the collecting of the individual children in what we think is just a in the moment showing of their abduction, when it's actually a memory.The children are reliving when they lost control and came to her.And aware of their actions.Violence and all.
Understanding they have no control in this situation as they remain locked under her spell.Perpetually tormented.
And in this dream state, we see her "kill" the first child...fade to black
Only for the fade-in to reveal a number....Day 2 and a new child's name ...That first child is still alive.Waking up still in the dream state,checking themselves for wounds where the witch had hurt them....nothings there.
The day reoccurs, though slightly different as we now witness events of the first child assisting with the claiming of a second,the name on the title card...Gladys makes the first watch as she kills the second child...then turns and kills the first,again...fade to black...day 12,another name...a nosy adult? ...
We will come to understand that she is torturing and "killing" the essence of the child over and over inside the dream.Haunting their imaginations.That their bodies are not physically dead ...yet. But she has to make them think that they are dying to release that which she feeds upon.And the greater the fear at the moment of death the more of a release as they let go.
Our main kid becomes aware of the rules of this dream...tries to fight back...change the outcome...Save a child...especially when that child is shown to be a sibling
Something about this first child is different. It has survived longer than anyone before.And what it releases is ever so tasty and strong.So that leads Gladys to think claiming the sibling (a twin?) could be just as rewarding.
Maybe the child manages to "wake" themselves before the next kill. And in doing so, discovers that they have a bit more self control. Each "reawakening" a climb up from their subconscious
Since the bond between the two children is strong, they fight back together.Take back every bit of energy they gave the monster.
...and both wake up
But when we are expecting them to be somewhere in the modern world as depicted in the previous scenes...they are in fact actually in a point in the past. A time long before . Perhaps the 1860s.
The children run to their elders.Finding them in a church,the congregation's arms raised wide to the heavens,chanting. We learn that Gladys was part of a tribe .But she got greedy, or needed more "food" to maintain standard health (perhaps she is diseased,Cursed with a virus) so she started feeding off the children of her fellow "witches"
The gathering come to Gladys.Burning torches and all.
They perform a ritual and banish her for using the magicks in a unseemly and forbidden way.A banishment that cuts her off from obtaining healthy energy from the traditional and more constant source of Mother Earth.
But she was prepared for this possible outcome and based on subtle actions given inside the children's dreams, of important items of the adults being collected, we discover she has what she needs to turn the entire tribe into weapons against each other
Gladys smiles and looks at the two siblings...
"Watch children"
From the shadows comes running all the tribes children,they attack their parents..Some kill.Many are terribly wounded.The children's attacks are violent and unending..leaving the Parents only choice but to kill their own children
When she moves to finish the two siblings herself, they present a familiar twig she has been seen using. Stolen from her pocket? One of the children's own magick artifacts?
They perform a quick ritual.Their blood together.And with each of the siblings holding onto opposite ends of the twig...*SNAP*
But nothing happens.
Gladys smiles.And takes a step forward towards the children..and then punches herself in the face
dazed...she she tried to go after the kids again...and again she punches herself ..the children laugh
...then the siblings step towards her....
and Gladys gets more violent with herself,scratching her own flesh,deep
The children,laughing,start to run towards her as she realizes what is happening,she claws at her face as she backs way and turns to run. The closer she is to them ,the more violent her own actions to her self become.
The children chase her off the property,she runs,screaming in pain ,clawing at her eyes. Her face a bloody mess as she disappears into the dark woods.Her screams echoing into the night
An issue I have with this idea is that it doesn't bring much new to the whole weapons conceit. We would see inside the victims minds .And this would be thoughts we could consider when re-watching the first movie.But wouldn't it just be more of the same?
Now what if we were to see something on a more global scale. What if someone turned the President into a weapon.
A foreign power?A Member of his own cabinet? His wife?
A podcaster?
What if a ritual could be performed & implemented on low hanging fruit individuals simply by them watching.Only when they have their rapt attention.
Subliminal message ritual.
Send drivers into protests marches.Officers of the law to murder suspects
Shooters into schools.
Combined with constant praising of the President
The Leader is good, the Leader is great. We surrender our will as of this date
Na na na na na na na na, Leader.
All done in a choreographed way to get the presidents attention.To get them to watch the program.
Maybe even have a controlled subject put the program on in front of the president.Make them watch.
All to take over.Instruct them in ways to cause the most suffering.Here and abroad.
To start World War III
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