Movie Review: “Malignant” is an entertaining and relentlessly bonkers Giallo-laced slasher movie!

MOVIE REVIEW: MALIGNANT (R)

“Malignant” is an entertaining and relentlessly bonkers Giallo-laced slasher movie!

Halloween is upon us and if you’re looking for a new genre film worth watching this witching season, I wholeheartedly recommend James Wan’s “Malignant,” a bonkers, balls-to-the-wall slice of Giallo-laced slasher horror that, for whatever reason, seems to be dividing genre film fans. True, this isn’t the sort of haunting, “Conjuring”/”Insidious”-like the movie the marketing slightly implies it might be. Instead, this is something else entirely. What is it, exactly? Well, let’s just say that “Malignant” leans heavily into its campy sensibilities, and it’s all the more entertaining for it.

At the center of “Malignant” is Madison Mitchell (Annabelle Wallis), an abused woman who, following a violent altercation with her jerk of a husband, begins having strange visions that involve grisly murders. Unfortunately for her, those visions aren’t visions at all. The killings she’s seeing are actually happening in real life. On the case are a pair of reputable police detectives (engagingly played by George Young and Michole Briana White) who begin to suspect that Madison may have more to do with the crimes than she’s letting on. With no leads, they begin to question her but Madison continues to maintain her innocence. Where “Malignant” goes from there is best left unspoiled only to say that this movie is ridiculous and ape-shit crazy in all the right ways.

After having been a dominant force behind popular horror titles like “Saw,” “The Conjuring,” and “Insidious,” Wan would go on to have great success in mainstream action movies with films like “Furious 7” and “Aquaman” tucked firmly under his belt. Given the gargantuan numbers brought in by those movies, Wan was given an opportunity to do whatever he wanted so he opted to go back to his horror roots. Only rather than repeating himself, he’s fashioned a genre picture that’s decidedly different in tone. It’s pretty unpredictable, too. Again, “Malignant” isn’t afraid to get goofy. In fact, it wears its camp badge oh so proudly. 

There’s a fine line between what scares us and what makes us laugh and Wan is very well aware of this. Ultimately, he’s made a love letter to the genre that owes just as much to the high energy horror antics of Sam Raimi (think “Drag Me to Hell” and “Darkman”) as it does to the world of Giallo, slasher movies, and strange underappreciated 70s and 80s gems like “Eyes of Laura Mars” and “Basket Case.” What’s more, Wan really brings the manic energy, particularly in a crowd-pleasing, appropriately over-the-top final act.

At the heart of this movie is a wonderfully creative boogeyman/killer. This film’s big bad is so distinct, in fact, that he has the potential to stand toe-to-toe with all the greats; Michael, Freddy, Chucky, Leatherface, Pinhead, Jason, etc. Add Gabriel to that list. What makes this vicious antagonist so worthy of such praise? Well, aside from the character’s primary motivation, Gabriel’s physicality is key. Particularly, the way he moves (he has shades of the “More brains!” zombie from the 1985 treasure, “Return of the Living Dead” and Pretzel Jack from an expertly crafted “Channel Zero” season 4.) A slasher movie is only as strong as its killer and Gabriel is a winning creation to be sure. 

“Malignant” takes a little while to get cooking and again, the humor and aforementioned campy spirit of it all won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but for me, it’s just what the doctor ordered. It’s well shot (the colors pop adding to that familiar Giallo vibe), well-edited, and punctuated by wonderfully creative effects, and for all the horror on display, parts of it even play like a high octane action movie. Wan really swings for the fences by way of the kind of zany genre flick that we don’t often see from big studios and the end result is a joyful and most unexpected horror treat. 

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