James Wan was a filmmaker who I have an appreciation for with movies such the Conjuring films that he directed, Furious 7, and Aquaman. Even for he make movies that I wasn't crazy about, I still find his talents as a director to be strong. So, going into this film, Malignant, all I knew was that it was a new horror film by Wan, and that was it; I never even watched any of the trailers for this film, so I went into it totally cold and not knowing what to expect. And, I came out of it pretty satisfied because this was a blast. So, here's why.
But, first things first, the basic jist of the plot in Malignant is that a young woman named Madison (played by Annabelle Wallis) gets visions of gruesome murders by a mysterious killer. And, that's as far as I'm gonna go into the plot because I genuinely want people to go into this film as cold as possible; there are twists and turns in this movie that shocked me and made me exclaim, "What the f***?!" The movie kinda starts out as a paranormal type of scenario with Madison running through her house trying to escape an evil presence, like something out of a Conjuring or Insidious film, but then the film turns into more of a slasher film with a mystery element going on and that's when the film really had me hooked to see where it went; and, boy howdy, where it went was bonkers yet awesome and the pieces come together in a way where it's certainly crazy but it kinda makes sense given the context of what's going on.
The film has quite the amount of disturbing/scary sequences with the killer committing his sinister deeds and there is plenty of grisly and gory moments involving some pretty brutal kills, especially in the third act where things get crazy. There was even a point where the gore made me squeamish to where I could barely take it, and that's complimented by some pretty great practical effects and sound design.
Now, I heard from people that the acting isn't too strong. I won't say it's Oscar-worthy, but I thought it was good overall, especially from Annabelle Wallis.
James Wan's direction is also very strong; he knows how to shoot a film and there are several sequences that consist of long shots that really make the experience all the more immersive. I watched this film at home on HBO Max and I still found myself entranced by the film on a visual level. There are certain sequences with a vibrant color palette that make the film seem like it was inspired by Italian horror films from the 1970s and one could tell that Wan has a sort of love and appreciation for that corner of horror cinema that really shines through here, and he does a great job at capturing that in this film.
So, when it's all said and done, Malignant was such a blast of a horror flick. It may have had some silly parts here and there, but nothing that was distracting to the point where the film lost me. It has some awesome, bloody moments, it was intense and scary, it has an engaging story that had me wondering where it was going only to be totally shocked in the best way by where it went, and I had so much fun as a result of all that. And, as a horror fan, I totally recommend it.
It's a film that's pretty out there, but that's pretty much what makes it so awesome.
But, first things first, the basic jist of the plot in Malignant is that a young woman named Madison (played by Annabelle Wallis) gets visions of gruesome murders by a mysterious killer. And, that's as far as I'm gonna go into the plot because I genuinely want people to go into this film as cold as possible; there are twists and turns in this movie that shocked me and made me exclaim, "What the f***?!" The movie kinda starts out as a paranormal type of scenario with Madison running through her house trying to escape an evil presence, like something out of a Conjuring or Insidious film, but then the film turns into more of a slasher film with a mystery element going on and that's when the film really had me hooked to see where it went; and, boy howdy, where it went was bonkers yet awesome and the pieces come together in a way where it's certainly crazy but it kinda makes sense given the context of what's going on.
The film has quite the amount of disturbing/scary sequences with the killer committing his sinister deeds and there is plenty of grisly and gory moments involving some pretty brutal kills, especially in the third act where things get crazy. There was even a point where the gore made me squeamish to where I could barely take it, and that's complimented by some pretty great practical effects and sound design.
Now, I heard from people that the acting isn't too strong. I won't say it's Oscar-worthy, but I thought it was good overall, especially from Annabelle Wallis.
James Wan's direction is also very strong; he knows how to shoot a film and there are several sequences that consist of long shots that really make the experience all the more immersive. I watched this film at home on HBO Max and I still found myself entranced by the film on a visual level. There are certain sequences with a vibrant color palette that make the film seem like it was inspired by Italian horror films from the 1970s and one could tell that Wan has a sort of love and appreciation for that corner of horror cinema that really shines through here, and he does a great job at capturing that in this film.
So, when it's all said and done, Malignant was such a blast of a horror flick. It may have had some silly parts here and there, but nothing that was distracting to the point where the film lost me. It has some awesome, bloody moments, it was intense and scary, it has an engaging story that had me wondering where it was going only to be totally shocked in the best way by where it went, and I had so much fun as a result of all that. And, as a horror fan, I totally recommend it.
It's a film that's pretty out there, but that's pretty much what makes it so awesome.
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