Malignant

Argento. Hee hee hee. Cronenberg. Lol. A tribute to giallo. Ho ho ho. Dude, this is a total Vidocq in the sense of the work of a visual eccentric who is totally competent in the technical elements, but basically has no control over what's actually going on underneath the camera zooms, the staged action sequences, the simulated anamorphic lenses, and the CGI gothic madness. In the third act, it goes so far off the leash that it's resorts to pure camp. I didn't expect Wan could so comically screw this up. (09/12/2021)

Definitely don't expect another Insidious or The Conjuring – Malignant is really a long way from some haunted house horror (except for the first 10 minutes). In its visual stylization and overall concept, it does indeed resemble a giallo, but that doesn't mean that James Wan isn't innovative and hasn't crossed genre boundaries. Apart from the great action/fight sequences, the overall audiovisual treatment is once again up to par, which is already such a "Wan" standard. I find Malignant to be such a nice contribution to Wan's filmography, which he made sort of for himself and mainly for his own pleasure. Anyway, I enjoyed it a lot. [75%] (15/09/2021)

A bland episode of Tales from the Crypt that only becomes entertaining during the overblown Troma-like finale. The problem is that before it tears off the chain, it's preceded by a full-length runtime of sheer boredom, zero tension building, unimaginative gore, slavish Giallo allusions, generic characters and non-existent atmosphere. There's a real risk that you won't even be awake for the finale. (07/05/2022)

Batshit bonkers! Even Wan has realised that you can't live without gore. Emotionally, maybe at four stars, but genre-wise I have to give it a full score, because James Wan has once again delivered a horror film that is essential, that will not be forgotten and that has brought something out of the ordinary. Argento, Bava, Carpenter and Cronenberg, you can see them there to be felt and it's an homage to giallo, body horror, crime and most importantly Italy in the 1970s and 80s. Gloves, a stylish murder weapon, a black cloak and dark red. The beautiful Annabelle Wallis suffers from visions where she sees gruesome and raw murders (gorgeous!). Malignant will certainly not please fans of PG-13 ghost stories and probably won't say anything to teenagers as they need to have the term giallo explained to them, but I enjoyed it. Visually, it’s very appealing, the music is downright banging (the soundtrack already has a cult-classic feel to it). Like Wan's Saw, it has a likeable B-movie like story with a creepy twist that, while guessable beforehand, is disturbing and refreshing enough to make you forgive it. Everything culminates in the insane third act, where Wan gets unleashed like a lion that hasn't eaten in days. The prison scene is so stylish and insanely paced that even the The Raid would bow before it. I screamed with delight again and again and will probably replay this sequence every time I'm in a bad mood. When I read that violence makes people sick, it makes me sick. Not for fancy people. Story 4/5, Action 5/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 4/5, Funny 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 3/5. 8.5/10. (17/09/2021)

A festival of bad decisions and red herrings, including some outright lies during the exposition. I am glad that James Wan is gradually trampling into the ground any expectations for the next variation on The Conjuring, but the direction he's taking is very wrong-headed for the given moment. The inferno of the last half hour does show how good of an action director he is, but I simply did not have the capacity to take anything happening on the screen seriously, even for a second. And yes, I understand that there are a lot of references and homages here, but when the source material you're referencing is a genre questionable at best, and you're replicating it in the majority of factors, I won't give you credit for imitation when the result is such a B-movie. (06/10/2021)