Download Malignant movie review

MALIGNANT

Cert 18

111 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, gore, domestic abuse

Melodramatic music, B-movie-standard acting, Shining-esque locking of doors and enough fake blood to choke an elephant - James Wan's Malignant is clearly aimed at a very specific audience.

That said, if eardrums survive 90 minutes of Annabelle Wallis's screaming, there is a twist which narrowly justifies a cinema release.

Fo me, it remains baffling why studios and cinema chains have given the baton to the horror genre to bring their industry out of post-Covid lockdown.

I would have thought it would make far more sense to lean on family movies.

Nevertheless, A Quiet Place Part II led the way for a glut of films specialising in gory deaths and attempting to make audiences jump.

The problem is that that none have reached the bar it set.

Malignant is James Wan returning to his roots after becoming a mainstream director with the likes of Aquaman.

It is centred on Wallis's character, Maddison, who has suffered repeated miscarriages and then has hallucinations of savage murders which it transpires have actually happened.

No surprise that she should come under the suspicion of homicide detectives (George Young and Michole Briana White) but she insists that an imaginary friend called Gabriel is to blame.

As the killings continue, the more fraught Maddison becomes and the more ludicrous the storyline develops.

It also leans on many a horror stereotype including Maddison's house which seems to be continually in the dark and resembles the property in which Scooby-Doo and his gang would confront ghosts.

But I guess there is a modicum of interest created by a connection to the Seattle underground tour (which Mrs W and I visited a couple of years ago).

Otherwise, there is nothing to recommend Malignant.

Reasons to watch: If you have a desire for a b-movie

Reasons to avoid: Too many reasons to list

Laughs: None

Jumps: None for me

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 2/10

Did you know? The name of the film refers to the medical term for the type of cancer, which, when untreated, can lead to death. 

The final word. James Wan: " I honestly I just miss my Saw days, my Death Sentence days and my Dead Silence [days], and I wanted to go do those again. I had so much fun making those films." EW.com

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