Malignant (2021)

[Malcolm R]

Title: Malignant (2021)

Tagline: A new vision of terror.

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Director: James Wan

Cast: Annabelle Wallis, George Young, Jake Abel, Maddie Hasson, Michole Briana White, Jacqueline McKenzie, Ingrid Bisu, Jon Lee Brody, Paula Marshall, Patrick Cox, Rachel Winfree, Marina Mazepa, Paul Mabon, Amir Aboulela, Ruben Pla, Mckenna Grace, Patricia Velásquez, Jean Louisa Kelly, Mike Mendez, Renee Harbek, Gino Montesinos, Kalina Vanska, Gregory Garcia, Christina Veronica

Release: 2021-09-10

Runtime: 111

Plot: Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.

The latest horror from James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring), reportedly inspired by the giallo films.

I saw an ad on TV last night, but it didn't really show very much.

 

[Malcolm R]

New trailer. Yikes!

 

[TravisR]

I saw this tonight in a completely empty theater (thanks, in part, to HBO Max) and it is a wild movie. I hadn't even seen a trailer for it so I went in completely blind and it's pretty crazy. Also, they loved showing those compound fractures of the arms.

 

[JasonRoer]

Here's my review from the horror movie appreciation thread:

Malignant (2021)

A pregnant woman (who has suffered 3 miscarriages) is in an abusive relationship. After she is smashed hard against the wall by her husband, she looses this baby to miscarriage as well. She also begins having visions of brutal murders, while the injury to the back of her head continuously bleeds for weeks after her husband attacked her. Through her visions she sees the killer and attempts to help the police.

FANTASTIC. Outrageous, audacious fun. Wan knocks this one out of the park with a seemingly endless budget to match his seemingly endless imagination. His technical work in this film is outstanding, with amazing shot selections and effects. This was a pure treat to watch and the blood oozes everywhere. It's original, exciting, and destined to be a cult classic. The film becomes crazier and crazier as the it spirals toward its amazing climax. My guess is this one will be a love it or hate it type of flick. Count me in the "love it" camp. My initial impression is a 3.5 out of 4, but we'll see how that holds up over the years. It could be that the film feels so fresh that my imagination is still grappling with how this could potentially change the direction of horror films, given the subgenre mashup.

 

[Malcolm R]

Some other suggestions from Slash Film for those that liked Malignant, as well as their review:

https://www.slashfilm.com/603251/5-horror-movies-to-stream-if-you-loved-malignant/

 

[Tommy R]

Saw it, loved it. Not really that scary considering some of the sensationalist blurbs, but quite an awesome and twisted ride. Funny how it eventually turned into

Spoiler

John Wick (sort of, lol)

How do people come up with some of this shit?

 

[TravisR]

How do people come up with some of this shit?

What's great about it is that there's

Spoiler

a fake twist to cover the real twist. I was sitting there thinking "Of course, she's somehow the killer" which made me completely unprepared for the actual twist. They were smart enough to put a reasonable twist in and they knew that a lot of people would figure that out and be lulled into thinking they had figured things out so when the real twist came, it would be a big surprise. Plus, it's just wonderfully crazy so who would think that's where the movie was going?

There were 2 or 3 stories in EC Comics (the horror comics from the 1950's) that have a very similar twist of the still-alive-conjoined-twin-being-the-killer. That being said, I think it's coincidence because I don't think those stories were adapted for the Tales From The Crypt TV series so someone would have to be a pretty big EC fan to have even known of their existence let alone steal the idea.

 

[JasonRoer]

Accidental post. Sorry!

 

[JasonRoer]

What's great about it is that there's

Spoiler

a fake twist to cover the real twist. I was sitting there thinking "Of course, she's somehow the killer" which made me completely unprepared for the actual twist. They were smart enough to put a reasonable twist in and they knew that a lot of people would figure that out and be lulled into thinking they had figured things out so when the real twist came, it would be a big surprise. Plus, it's just wonderfully crazy so who would think that's where the movie was going?

There were 2 or 3 stories in EC Comics (the horror comics from the 1950's) that have a very similar twist of the still-alive-conjoined-twin-being-the-killer. That being said, I think it's coincidence because I don't think those stories were adapted for the Tales From The Crypt TV series so someone would have to be a pretty big EC fan to have even known of their existence let alone steal the idea.

I agree with everything you said here. This film was VERY well constructed. It's my favorite new horror film in years.

 

[Malcolm R]

It took forever, but I finally caught up with this film. My head is still spinning, as this film is completely crazy. Loved it. Some parts don't make a lot of sense, but before you can think about it too much, something even more insane happens.

I figured I would, as I've loved everything James Wan has touched, from Saw to The Conjuring to Furious 7 to Aquaman.

It's a shame this didn't have a bigger audience at the box office. However, it was somewhat a victim of timing as it was released at the height of the Delta COVID wave around Labor Day, plus Warner's questionable strategy of day-and-date releases with HBOMax streaming. I almost think it would have been better off on its original date of August 2020, though I guess at that time many theaters were still closed.

 

[Kent K H]

This was my favorite film of last year. It's absolutely bonkers, and it feels like Wan got away with something by making it with a studio's money. I was grinning almost the entire run time when I saw it in the theater.

 

[Malcolm R]

This was my favorite film of last year. It's absolutely bonkers, and it feels like Wan got away with something by making it with a studio's money. I was grinning almost the entire run time when I saw it in the theater.

He's had so much success that I think Warner/New Line would let him make pretty much any film he wants to make. Hopefully we get a few more of these.

 

[SamT]

I liked it a lot. I did not guess anything in advance which made it even more enjoyable.

This was Voldemort having a bad day. I was noticing the guy doing stuff backwards and saying oh they want to make it look unnatural and creepy not knowing that there is an actual explanation for it!