Malignant (2021) Review

 "Wait, are you saying that the killer is your imaginary friend?"
-Det. Regina Moss


As a series of brutal murders plague Seattle, Madison Lake (Annabelle Wallis) has visions of each murder happening.  Madison, her family, and the police soon fine themselves on a dark journey to discover the connection between her and the killer.

Don't read any further if you haven't seen Malignant.  If you like horror movies at all, I beg you to see this movie, and soon, before it gets spoiled for you.  The surprises are part of what makes this movie so fun and I won't be able to talk fully about this film without spoiling it, so drop what you're doing and go see Malignant.  It's a great movie.  I mean it.  Get out of here and go watch this!  Spoilers below!  You've been warned!


What Works:

What captured my interest in this movie right out the gate is the score.  During the opening credits we get some absolutely incredible tone-setting music.  I haven't loved a score this much since the 2018 Halloween.  I was hoping it would show up again throughout the film and not just in the opening credits, and it does.  It's nothing short of fantastic.

On a technical level, this movie is amazing.  James Wan really knows how to make a movie look good.  It's extremely well shot with fluid cinematography.  Filming inside of a house has never looked so good.  Not to mention the lighting and the editing.  It's a beautiful film.

Moving onto the killer, Gabriel's performer, Marina Mazepa, does a fantastic job of giving the character unique and jarring movements.  He is a very unique character in terms of design, but the psychical performance really dials it up to 11.

This movie takes elements from some of my other favorite horror movies, but uses those elements to become its own thing.  Basket Case and A Nightmare on Elm Street are the big ones with some Halloween as well.  While Malignant borrows from these movies in obvious ways, it never loses itself in what came before and stays its own movie.

Finally, the twists.  Wow, the twists are good.  Well I predicted that Gabriel was living on the back of Maddie's head, I wasn't expecting a woman to fall through the attic and into Maddie's living room.  That blew me away and was supremely well executed.  Not to mention the reveal that Gabriel was leaching off of Maddie's unborn children.  Yikes.  I knew this movie had twists, but they were so well executed that while I may have caught one of them, there was no way I could get them all.


What Sucks:

My only complaint with the movie is some of the dialogue isn't very good.  Maddie has a few dramatic moments that just don't fully click due to the dialogue.  And the quirky CSI character's attempts at humor fell flat.  But these are just minor complaints.


Verdict:

I wasn't expecting much from Malignant, but I was more than pleasantly surprised.  This movie is creative, extremely well directed, with some awesome twists, and an amazing score.  The dialogue could have been stronger, but I'll say that this is James Wan's best horror movie and it has definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great 



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