Stars: 4/5
The horror genre is far from dead and James Wan’s “Malignant” is an indicative testament to that.
Known for his versatile directorial work behind the movies “Saw,” “Insidious,” “The Conjuring,” ”The Conjuring 2” and most recently “Aquaman,” James Wan is no stranger to telling great, visually arresting stories with a majority of them falling into the horror genre. He’s one of the best horror directors working today, so I knew I was in for a trip when I sat down for his newest outing.
And man, was this a wild time at the theater.
Boasting probably the best horror twist in years, “Malignant” is a beautifully bloody and brilliantly bonkers horror romp that pays homage to some of the horror masters of the 20th century like Dario Argento, Sam Raimi, David Cronenberg, & Alfred Hitchcock, while still being its own self-claimed “new vision of terror.”
The film tells the story of Madison Lake-Mitchell (Annabelle Wallis), a pregnant woman living in rural Seattle that is haunted by premonitions of people getting murdered by a shadowy figure known as “Gabriel,” only to realize that the killings are happening in reality, not just in her visions. There is a ton more to the story, but I’ll leave it at that because man, oh man, does this film use outrageous campiness in all the right ways with its procedural investigation of the haunted house/serial killer narrative.
It’s a freaky and audaciously original horror film unlike anything else that made for goosebumps galore. I swear, the hairs on my neck were always sticking up during the movie.
The film opens with an extremely gothic-looking shot of a research hospital that hearkens back to old-school horror tropes, but Wan plays these tropes up in an absurd way that makes for a massively entertaining time in the theater (not on HBO Max). There’s also an element of Gialli, the Italian term for mystery thriller novels, to it all. This creates unpredictability throughout, even though the visual clues and dialogue aren’t entirely subtle. However, none of that matters when the kinetically charged third act kicks in and turns the entire film on its head with its unrestrained gore and splatter violence. It’s so sick, especially for horror fans.
Also, Annabelle Wallis? She might as well be a new horror scream queen because she delivers all the goods here. The “Annabelle” films did not do her justice, so it’s nice to see her back on the blood-soaked saddle. Likewise, “Gabriel” is perhaps one of the best horror villains in recent memory. I can’t wait to read the scholarly articles about his character in the future because there is a lot to unpack about him being the product of… well, you should watch the film to find out.
Overall, “Malignant” was bananas and simply rocked in all its frightening campiness. You’re either going to love it or hate it, but James Wan’s stylishly sublime directing cannot be denied, nor can Michael Burgess’ energetic, swinging camerawork that fires on all cylinders. In the meantime, though, I am eager to see this again, and I am almost positive that I’ll love it more the second time around.
Please go see this in a theater, for the love of all things holy.