Malignant

Malignant (2021) 

76% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 137 reviews)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: James Wan

Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jean Louisa Kelly

From: New Line Cinema

God Bless James Wan for making something so gonzo and having it released by a major studio.

It took longer than expected but finally, last night I was able to see this in a cinema. Now, once yesterday afternoon ended and the evening began, the rest of the day was rather crappy aside from having a grand old time with this piece of schlock. Now, I can't really argue with those that think the Conjuring Universe is starting to feel familiar, or that Wan's last few horror efforts can be described as formulaic or sharing many similar beats. I dig the first two Conjuring efforts and at least at the time, liked to a lesser extent the Insidious movies he did. This was NOT those movies. Successfully directing Furious 7 (despite the real life tragedy that impacted production) and Aquaman & having both make over a BILLION dollars worldwide must have meant that he had cart blanche to finally go as crazy as he wanted; believe me, it was even crazier than I expected.

For much of the month I've been able to avoid spoilers; all I knew was that the trailer was misleading (then again, how else could you market this), vague references to various genre directors, knowing that the final 20 minutes take a left turn, and such comparisons as giallo, 80's Italian horror, 90's horror, and the nuttiest efforts from 80's Hong Kong. All of that is true, I say. After experiencing this wild thrill ride, no wonder many people rejected it, including some movie buffs. The third act twist is SO unexpected and it becomes increasingly outlandish, you either roll with it and realize this entire exercise was like all the B-movies Wan must have rented from the videostore in the past was put in a blender... or it's too weird for your tastes, which is a valid opinion.

In hindsight, it had a campy tone on purpose so you weren't supposed to take it serious. Usually to me it sounds like a cop-out when done in a modern context but here had to be the case. Furthermore, it may also sound like a cop-out to say that the plot holes and baffling aspects that aren't explained were done on purpose—yet presumably that was the intention. After all, I've said often how baffled I've been by old Italian horror at times... thankfully this production wasn't the “winking at the camera” nonsense that I also don't care for. Personally, it was so wild and yet so well-made (aside from CG that did not always look great; thankfully, a lot of this was actually done practically) and so confident in the direction it goes, I had a lot of fun with this nonsense. Personally, give me this rather than some pretentious “heightened horror”, which typically lets me down; I haven't watched them all by any means but I've seen more than enough to form such an opinion.

As an aside, it has to be said that a key player in this project being brought to screen was Wan's wife, actress Ingrid Bisu; not only did she have a supporting role, but she was a co-writer and one of the executive producers. Bisu came up with the concept of Gabriel (it's based on a 19th century urban legend, believe it or not) and how it moved in that bonkers final act. Suddenly I understand why they are married... she does deserve credit for her role in this movie. Presumably that is also way this is female-centered and a key plot point is the result of domestic abuse.

Malignant has the graphic gore that some thirst for, a bitchin' score that at times sounds like what Goblin would have done in an alternate universe where they formed 40 years later, the expected stylish camera moves from Wan, several interesting setpieces and more. It's for a niche audience so of course many in the mainstream will find it too loony for their tastes; thankfully a scenario happened where a famous director was able to have something THIS gonzo released by a major studio and if nothing else was truly different from what mainstream horror has been for a long time now.