Movie Review: Malignant Is Absolutely Insane

It’s been five years since horror heavy hitter James Wan has directed a horror film, well, he’s back with the new movie Malignant. Earlier this month he promised it would be “new and different”, by god he was right. You’ve never seen anything like Malignant before!
 
I will tell you this, I was not prepared for the level of bat shit insanity this movie reaches when I hit play. And it was awesome!
 
The film centers on Madison (Anabelle Wallis), trapped in an abusive marriage. After a head injury, she suddenly begins to have shocking visions of grisly murders. Madison’s torment worsens as she discovers that her waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities and her past is coming back to haunt her.
 
Anabelle Wallis does an amazing job of giving viewers a relatable character that they can have sympathy for.  When the big twist comes, she rises to the occasion. Speaking of the twist, all I can say is holy shit! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite as bizarre as the movie’s villain, Gabriel. But don’t get it twisted, bizarre isn’t necessarily a bad thing in this case. Gabriel is grotesque but is also badass, leaving a path of carnage and broken bodies behind him. I’ll give it a bonus for uniqueness, but in the end, the movie’s villain is almost comical.
 
While some of the special effects were a bit cheesy and come across as a little poorly done, overall, it was entertaining to watch. Is it an intelligent story that will leave you contemplating life? No, not really, but it does provide a lot of gory action. It’s also a little unintentionally funny, I mean it’s all just so weird. Part thriller and part horror, the movie will leave you scratching your head and asking yourself “What the fuck did I just watch?” But it is a movie you have to see to believe
 
Wan has well established that he can creep out audiences and deliver true horror as well as scares, but Malignant is void of that. It’s simply not scary. Sure, there are a couple of jump scares, but even they were left lacking. Where’s the tension and scares that we got from The Conjuring franchise or Saw?
 
Malignant is now streaming on HBO Max, from Warner Bros. Do yourself a favor and watch it and let us know what you think.