Horror masterStephen Kinghas returned to an old habit that his fans have probably missed. He has taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to offer glowing reviews of recent films. This time, it was the turn ofZach Cregger’s 2025horror hitWeapons, which King calls “very scary.” Imagine that for a second — getting the author ofPet Sematary,It, andMiseryto call your film “scary.”
TheSalem’s Lotauthor mostly spends his time posting witty messages on X, but sometimes, he offers recommendations for books and films. Recently, he used the platform to post about his most recent watch, and wrote: “WEAPONS: Confidently told, and very scary. I loved it.” Not bad for the official return of the director of the wildly original horror movieBarbarian, whichKing also praisedby writing, “Yeah, that movie blew me away. It was crazy! Crazy GOOD!” (this post has since been deleted from the author’s history on X).
Weaponshas grossed over $155 million at the box office, becoming one of 2025’s most successful and talked-about horror movies. This success has been heavily reflected in the Rotten Tomatoes scores. Today, it boasts a 94% critics' score and an 86% audience score on the site, holding Certified Fresh and Verified Fresh labels. It is one of the best-reviewed horror films of the year.
2025 Has Been a Great Year for Original Horror Movies
When it comes to book adaptations, sequels, and remakes, these exist in their own subset where audiences are already familiar with what they will see. In the case oforiginal horror movies, filmmakers face a challenge— more often than not, audiences aren’t completely open to a new story. Typically, only the genre’s fervent fans are willing to leave their comfort zone and try something fresh in the form of a movie that aims to tell an original narrative. Some films have higher production value and feature familiar faces, helping them gain some buzz, but others don’t have this luxury.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, original horror took a major hit. Theater schedules drastically changed, and streamers became power players in the game of releases. In short, finding original horror in theaters became rare. Those backed by big studios had a chance, but in terms of box office numbers, non-original horror always had the upper hand. And more often than not, they won.
That said, 2025 has been agreatyear for original horror films.Sinners,Bring Her Back,Companion,Drop, and now,Weapons, just to name a few, have hit theaters to widespread critical acclaim and box office success. Stephen King’s review ofWeaponsis probably enough for Zach Cregger to consider his latest film a success, butthe latest theatrical numbersalso support that sentiment.
