James Wan went back to horror and went absolutely crazy.
What is this movie?
A woman with a lot of repressed childhood memories has visions of grizzly murders and discovers that those murders are actually taking place. I won’t go into it any further because this is a super God damn weird movie and I shouldn’t spoil anything.
How scary is it?
It’s not as scary as some of James Wan’s other movies, the first two Insidious and Conjuring movies in particular. It does start off somewhat like those movies, and there are some really scary sequences in the beginning. It evolves into something a bit more slasher-y and joyously bonkers partway through that still has creepy imagery and fun but isn’t super scary. Probably 6/10 for scares.
Jump scares?
A bit yeah.
Is there blood and gore?
Better believe it
On a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being Alien: Covenant), how dumb were the characters?
Maybe a 6/10. You should see how one of these idiots parks a car on a cliff just for the shot.
Does that story make logical sense if you think about it too long?
I mean, it ties pretty well together but there are aspects that make you go, “oh huh, that’s stupid but fun.”
This is a big and bold horror movie that I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t know too much going in and thought it would be a bit like the Conjuring and Insidious and was I ever wrong. James Wan dives into his entire bag of tricks and pulls out things I have never seen before. I actually said, “What the fuck?” aloud during one of the twists. This movie will keep you on your toes. It’s almost fucking funny at times. This is a very campy movie and you can tell everyone had a blast making it.
Not all of it comes together super well. This is probably a matter of preference but I do like the classical strings that play during some of the scary parts, and I really didn’t like the electric guitar that played during others. I realize this must be an homage to an era of horror movies, but still, it was jarring for me.
Anyways, there is a strong chance you’ll either love this movie or just hate it. If you’re here, you’ll probably end up closer to the former camp. I’ll give this a7/10
Spoiler-y thoughts below
Kekoa managed to chase down and hold his own in a fight against a monster who would later 1 v 20 the entire precinct. What a man.
Annabelle Wallis’s face on the back of Gabriel’s head was too good.
I hope you all know that when I say Malignant was my favorite movie of 2021 I am not making a joke I would not kid about something like that it’s very serious it’s in my top 10 favorite movies of all time
Watched James Wan’s new film Malignant tonight and how can I put this nicely…it’s as if he threw 80′s Cronenberg body horror and 70′s Argento giallo into a blender, sprinkled some 90′s horror comedy in there, and hit blend without putting the lid on so it splattered everywhere and made a mess.
