So a little while back we brought you news of the new trailer and artwork for Malignant and today I finally bring you my thoughts on this new horror that is in cinemas. The new movie is the latest creation from “Conjuring” universe architect James Wan (“Aquaman,” “Furious 7”). The film marks director Wan’s return to his roots with this new original horror thriller.
In the film, we start with mayhem in what looks like a psychiatric hospital and that one of the patience, Gabrial, is killing staff, the bloody scenes in his room lead to us seeing him obscured behind a wall of plastic sheeting, we then move to present-day to meet Madison (Annabelle Wallis) who is in an abusive relationship with her husband.
Shortly after being slammed up against the wall by him, she starts to be paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
I have to say that before going to the cinema to see the film I had only seen the two trailers for the release and not read other reviews of the film, there seems to be a lot of mixed reviews about Malignant and this could be one of those “Marmite” films that get released from time to time.
Malignant gets an 18 rating
For me, I’ve always enjoyed James Wan’s work, with The Conjuring being one of the favourite movies that he has been involved with, so the idea that a horror movie was being released with an 18 certificate got me intrigued. But it did seem a little tame to a lot of 18 rated movies that I have seen in the past, although I think it’s probably down to the excessive violence and gore that may have given the BBFC the decision for the certification.
Despite the shocking opening scenes of Malignant it does seem to go off the boil for a while before things start to happen again with the gruesome murders and the plot bringing characters together as part of the mystery of what is happening, I knew that there would be a twist on the movie as you could see it going that way, but I was pleasantly surprised by the twist.
I really enjoyed Malignant and its craziness, it slowly grows as the film progresses and once you are halfway through you start getting to the point where you get some real bat-sh*t crazy stuff as the film goes all out with the action and plenty of ass-kickings!
This is a movie that is not going to be for everyone, but I really enjoyed the escapism, it’s not really that scary as I would have hoped and it tries to use those jump scares to put you on the edge of your nerves, there is some good use of the special effects such as the killer appearing with subtle camera movements or the likes of curtains blowing to revel them there one minute and not the next.
James Wan (“Aquaman,” “Furious 7”) is back on form with his direction of the movie from a screenplay by Akela Cooper (“M3GAN,” upcoming “The Nun 2”), story by Wan & Ingrid Bisu and Cooper. The film was produced by Wan and Michael Clear, with Eric McLeod, Judson Scott, Bisu, Peter Luo, Cheng Yang, Mandy Yu and Lei Han serving as executive producers.
Behind the scenes, Wan was joined by his frequent collaborators, director of photography Don Burgess and editor Kirk Morri (“Aquaman,” “The Conjuring 2”), production designer Desma Murphy (art director, “Aquaman,” “Furious 7”), as well as costume designer Lisa Norcia (“Insidious: The Last Key”). The music is by Joseph Bishara, who has composed the score for all seven films in “The Conjuring” Universe, among many others.
Malignant is available to own on Digital Download from TODAY (29th November) and available on Blu-ray™ and DVD on 27th December.
Creepy Stuff from James Wan
Movie title: Malignant
Movie description: 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.
Date published: September 17, 2021
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 51min
Director(s): James Wan
Actor(s): Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
