Weapons director reveals how Aunt Gladys cast her evil spell

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Weapons has been a standout horror film this year, and now that it’s available to rent or buy digitally, the writer-director, Zach Cregger, is sharing behind-the-scenes details. He’s explaining the origins of Aunt Gladys and revealing how she carries out her zombie-like ritual.

I’m still blown away by how well Weapons did this year! It made over $265 million around the world, which is incredible considering it only cost about $38 million to make. Seriously, a huge success!

The darkly funny horror film also received a 94% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. In our 5-star review for Weapons, we noted that it “achieves everything a great horror movie should, building suspense and delivering genuine frights through a story that stays with you, ultimately rewarding two hours of careful build-up with a remarkably unexpected ending.”

The film’s wild ending features heartbroken parents, lost children, and the villainous Aunt Gladys. In a recent interview, Zach Cregger discussed how the character of Aunt Gladys came to be, and the source of her abilities. Be warned: SPOILERS follow…

Recipe for zombie ritual in Weapons explained

Aunt Gladys employs voodoo to put spells on people, and Cregger explained to Entertainment Weekly that he drew inspiration from Wade Davis’s non-fiction book ‘The Serpent and the Rainbow,’ as well as the ceremony detailed in the Mekons song ‘Dancing in the Head.’

But he needed to come up with his own “crazy, evil recipe,” and EW describes it as follows:

Gladys prepares a bowl of water and carefully wraps an item belonging to the person she’s targeting around a prickly branch taken from her unusual tree. She then covers the branch with her own blood. If necessary, she uses a bell – marked with the number six and an inverted triangle – to immobilize the person. She starts the spell by breaking the branch, and finishes it by dropping the broken pieces into the water.

Aunt Gladys originated in an earlier script

Cregger shares that the character of Aunt Gladys actually started in a previously unproduced screenplay.

He explains that he’d previously written a script with a similar premise, describing it as the “Gladys story.” It was narrated through the eyes of a child, focusing on a peculiar woman who picks him up from school, essentially taking over his family life. The story revolved around the child’s struggle to escape her control. He set that project aside, noting it was a long time ago.

When I began writing Weapons, I didn’t know what happened to the children in the story. I was completely in the dark. I simply followed the unfolding mystery. It wasn’t until I was around 50 pages into the writing process that I realized I’d always been drawn to that initial idea. I thought to myself, ‘This small part of the story fits perfectly into what I’m creating now.’

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2025-10-02 17:49