9.23.2021

Malignant Film Review: When Horror Goes Bonkers


by robotGEEK

And I mean that in the best possible way. Going into Malignant, I was worried that it would ultimately be the same old thing we've seen countless times from James Wan (and that's not a dig), or rather, it looked like another Insidious movie to me simply based on it's trailer. Boy I could not have been more wrong, and I'm so fucking thankful for that. 

Malignant is batshit insane. I mean that, and that's easily one of it's greatest strengths. Malignant is a hot mess, and legitimately one of the most unpredictable horror films I've ever seen. It constantly shifts tones so often that you simply cannot predict where it's heading at any given moment. While a lot of people love to claim they "figured out the big twist", regardless, I can guarantee you that they could not predict where this was heading from one scene to the next. Completely absurd, it will literally generate audible laughs and a whole lot of WTF comments throughout, yet that's what I found so much fun. It's not a "safe" horror film. It's as if James Wan decided "I've already gotten to the top, so where else can I go? Let me blow their minds and drive them wild". Kudos to you Mr. Wan. Thank you. 

Let's not forget, James Wan has created 3 of the most successful modern horror franchises in history with Saw, The Conjuring and Insidious films. Not to mention directing one of the Fast and Furious films, along with DC's Aquaman. It was somewhat of a relief to see him go back to his horror roots, but not only go back to it, but go absolutely nuts with it, kind of in the same way Sam Raimi did with Drag Me to Hell (2009) after directing everything from superhero films to dramas and thrillers. 

With that being said, people are either going to love it or hate it. It's split so far down the middle it's been a blast hearing everyone's reaction to it. And whether you love or hate it, whatever he did is working because we can't stop talking about it. My only regret is that I didn't go to the theater to see it. And that wasn't by choice. I just couldn't get to it, so I watched it on HBO at home. But it's a gorgeous looking film and with so much homage to Argento going on, I really wish I had seen it on the big screen. Personally I fucking loved the shit out of it and had such a blast with it. I honestly can't remember the last time I was this surprised and downright dumbstruck by what I was watching. Trust me, you'll have a very clear idea of what you're getting into in the very first 10 minutes of the movie. And I have no doubt that every creative decision in here was intentional. So if you laugh, it's because he wants you to laugh at the absurdity of it all. If you scream "What the fuck?!", it's because he wants you to. 

I think I'll just leave it at that for now. Saying anything else about the film could potentially spoil it for someone. Curious to hear your thoughts on it though. Please consider leaving a comment and lets discuss. Or comment on my Instagram post. 

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