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I’ll tell you one thing…M.Night Shyamalan looks like a total clown after the quality of this movie. So Malignant was directed by James Wan and tells the story of a woman who can see murders happening right before her eyes and soon finds out that there is a very dark and twisted reason behind it. I was pumped out of my mind for this movie. James Wan is a great director and the horror movies that I’ve seen from him are all near perfect. I haven’t seen Dead Silence or Insidious chapter 2 so I don’t speak for those. Also Saw isn’t in that category but the two conjuring movies he directed and the first Insidious are. The trailer for this movie was honestly perfect. It didn’t give anything away except hints at the plot. And walking out I have to say…I have a new horror movie for 2021 and I JUST SAW Candyman.
Malignant is an absolutely amazing horror film with an absolutely amazing twist that legit had my jaw on the floor. The acting is really good from Annabelle Wallis. She does a really good job in the movie and sells her role great. Her sister in the movie played by Maddie Hasson I thought did a good job as well. George Young while looking insanely like Keanu Reeves did a really good job as well and I really liked his character. The direction of this movie is just insane. I love it when you watch movies from a director that are older and then watch their newer stuff and see how they’ve evolved as a director. James Wan is so great behind the camera. There are so many amazingly crafted sequences and that’s mainly due to the way Wan shoots the scenes. There’s one sequence where I believe it was a one shot take but at the same time it’s an overhead shot of someone in a house and it was brilliant. Let’s talk about our killer in this movie. Jesus Christ I loved him. He is brutal and vicious and honestly reminded me of Ghostface but if he wasn’t trying to be funny. I don’t know who did the voice but it was a great job. Also the kills are BUSINESS. It’s funny I was just talking with my buddy AJ about how there haven’t been many memorable kills in horror this year. Yea Um I’m here to say James Wan has us covered.
The kills in this movie are so great, in particular this sequence in the third act. It was just BRUTAL and I loved every second of it. The story here I also think is very well done. It takes its time telling the story and the whole movie you’re not quite sure where it’s going but when it reveals itself it is awesome. The twists in the movie are really interesting and they honestly just snowball on top of each other. One twist just builds on top of the last one and I really liked that. Finally the third act I thought was really great. I legit was smiling the whole time. James Wan has just proved that after doing superhero movies and action movies that he isn’t going anywhere in terms of the horror genre. Malignant is an absolutely amazing movie from start to end that I honestly loved and cannot wait to see again. If you don’t want to go out to see it that’s okay because it’s on HBO max right there for your viewing pleasure. But I'll tell you this much, if you do watch it on HBO max, you’re going to wish you saw it in a theater. I’m going to give Malignant a 10/10
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2021
18
director: James Wan
starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Ray Chase.
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. What an absolutely insane experience Malignant was, I loved it!
My first few positives would be the cinematography, gore, and sound design. As well as the creative idea and fantastic set locations. And also, the great building of tension and Jumpscares. This film was one of the most visually creative things I have seen. The use of red was excellent. And the camera angles were unique and used well to create tension or a different perspective to the scarier scenes. High angle shots and panning especially was used very effectively and it felt very immersive. The film was incredibly gory, and I loved it. It was very over the top which was the films intension and even I had to look away in parts where the film dialled the gore up to a one hundred, but it added a lot more impact to the scenes and James Wan wasn’t afraid to go all out. What I also really liked was the films sound design, the film really went all out with grossing out the audience, with bones cracking and the brutal stabbing noises whenever a kill happened, I also thought the soundtrack itself really added a great cinematic and different feel to the film and was a great asset. the idea itself was also very clever, it took inspiration from campy 80’s horror but the film had a modern twist to it. I have never experienced a film like this before, so I must tip my hat to James Wan as this film was unique and not like anything else. I also thought the set locations for this film was incredible. This film really built its story world excellently with some creative sets that were perfect for the desired tone and for the jump-scare scenes and they were really incorporated into the film. I also thought the building of tension and Jumpscares were so well done. James Wan is the master of crafting intense scenes for Jumpscares, he plays cleverly with genre tropes and always builds the tension to the max and teases the audience to keep you on edge for as long as possible.
My next few positives would be the balance of tones, character depth and emotional weight. As well as the good mystery and development to the plot. I loved how Malignant managed to balance its different tones excellently. The film often had a very dark and gruesome tone and went to some messed up and sinister places, but the film balanced this with a fun, campy and silly tone that worked excellently, I could really see what James Wan was trying to do and for me it worked brilliantly. I also think this film had a surprisingly strong amount of character depth and emotional weight in parts. The main character Madison (Annabelle Wallis) went through a lot of trauma with losing her baby multiple times, and how her partner treated her and blamed her for losing the baby gave her as a character a great amount of depth and sympathy for her. And the emotional weight the film achieved with the more grounded and personal scenes between Madison and her sister was a great element. I also really liked the great mystery and development to the plot. This film had such a great mystery surrounding Gabriel and his origins, it took the film down and unexpected path and always kept me guessing what was going to happen, it certainly wasn’t predictable, and I loved the murder mystery side to it as well. The plot also developed really well from the mystery, the film was really well written, and everything slowly started to make more sense as things were revealed, with the connected deaths and Madison’s past starting to connect with each other.
My only slight negative would be that it was slightly too over the top in places. I fully embraced how campy and over the top the film was, and it was a strong element to the film. However, there were a couple of scenes that felt too over the top and dramatic without needing to be and felt more forced than a lot of the film.
My final few positives would be the performances, humour, insane plot twists and excellent final act. As well as the great character design for Gabriel. I thought the performances here were strong. Were they over the top and silly yes, but that’s what they were supposed to be so the whole cast did a great job. Especially Annabelle Wallis who did a fantastic job with a very demanding role. I also liked the humour in the film. It was very self-aware and made fun of itself in particular scenes which I found refreshing. I also loved the character design for Gabriel. The design was genuinely disturbing but very inventive. He had hair similar hair to Madison’s and the grotesque face was very graphic, and the way Gabriel moved backwards and in reverse for everything was a mixture of terrifying and creative when it came to the action. I thought the plot twist in the final act was one of the most insane things I have ever seen. It connected everything together and took the film in a crazy and unpredictable direction. Having Gabriel be a parasite attached to Madison that controls her was very messed up but lead to one of the most gruesome and entertaining final acts I have ever seen, and it was an experience I won’t be forgetting.
Overall, James wan asserts himself as one of the greats. Malignant is a silly, campy and over the top masterpiece of horror, that is very reminiscent of the 80’s. This was one of the most inventive and unique horrors I have seen and an experience I won’t be forgetting for a very long time.
Overall score 98/100
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Wenn James Wan drauf steht, ist es gerade für eingefleischte Horrorfans, eigentlich Pflicht, mal zu schauen, was der Regisseur und Produzent mal wieder gezaubert hat. Dass Wan aber auch ein Talent dafür hat, doch immer nur Horrorklischees in dem jeweiligen Subgenre zu bedienen, zeigten die ausgeschlachteten Franchises, die er in den letzten Jahren geschaffen hat. Oft nichts neues und oft nichts besonderes.
Mit dieser Erwartungshaltung bin ich auch in MALIGNANT gegangen. Doch ich muss sagen, dass Wan mich in diesem Fall etwas überrascht hat. Gefühlt ist MALIGNANT ein Mix aus verschiedenen Subgenre des Horrors. Zu Beginn fühlt er sich wie ein klassischer Haunted-House Streifen an, bei dem James Wan sein Können aus Filmen wie CONJURING präsentiert, was flackernde Lichter und sich von alleine öffnende Türen angeht. Dann wird der Film plötzlich zu einem Slasher, mit blutigen und teils ziemlich brutalen Kills. Eine Kampfszene, die gegen Ende in einem Polizeirevier stattfand, war visuell und kameratechnisch echt gut inszeniert. Hat mich aber etwas an KINGSMAN erinnert.
Gerade die erste Hälfte war recht langatmig. Die zweite hingegen empfand ich um einiges stärker und die Handlung beschleunigte etwas.
Trotzdem hätte man den Film hier und da durchaus kürzer halten können.
Die Geschichte folgt durchaus einer internen Logik. Aber man kann relativ früh erahnen, wo der Film hinsteuert. Jedoch blieben noch Fragen für mich offen, die zwar nicht wichtig für die Handlung an sich gewesen wären, mich die Erklärung aber interessiert hätte. Die Idee des Plots ist etwas erfrischender, im Vergleich zu dem, was Wan sonst so in den letzten Jahren gemacht hat. Trotzdem hat er sich auch hier an vielem bedient, was in der Vergangenheit bereits funktionierte. Mal mehr, mal weniger.
Wenn man über schauspielerische Leistungen, wie eine etwas nervige Hauptdarstellerin, die gefühlt in jeder Situation, die sie schockiert, da steht und schreit und manch mittelmäßigen CGI-Effekt hinwegsehen kann, ist MALIGNANT ein sehenswerter Horrorfilm, der zwar nichts so wirklich neu erfindet, aber sich trotzdem wie eine Abwechslung anfühlt.
By @deralthoff
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