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Malignant follows Madison (Annabelle Wallis) who, after being assaulted by her abusive boyfriend, starts experiencing a string of hallucinations and visions of murders that end up happening in reality. The above quote is how she tries to comfort herself at one point after listening strange sounds in the night. "It's all in my head..." But in this case, what's in her head might end up being worse than anything else.
This film starts as many modern horror films where strange occurrences start tormenting our lead character, making us question her sanity and state of mind. Director James Wan does a solid job of building up the tension and mystery of what's happening around Madison, and he does it well enough that when he sweeps the rug from under our feet in the last act, it makes you go like "what??"
You gotta admire a film that goes all in with a completely batshit crazy twist and that's what Malignant does. It doesn't really cowers from the total absurdity of what happens trying to sell itself as so-called "elevated horror", but rather commits to it all the way. This makes it feel all the more fresh, unique, and yes, fun.
There are a couple of shaky performances here and there, and overall there isn't really a standout, though. However, this is a film that relies on pure story and direction. Most of the kills are good, and there is a sequence in that last act that's pretty cool and impressive. There are a lot of things that surely wouldn't hold up to closer scrutiny, but as far as wickedly fun, bonkers horror films go, Malignant delivers.
Grade:
MALIGNANT
(2021, Wan)
(2021, Wan)
"There's no one there ... It's all in my head. It's all in my head. It's all in my head."
Malignant follows Madison (Annabelle Wallis) who, after being assaulted by her abusive boyfriend, starts experiencing a string of hallucinations and visions of murders that end up happening in reality. The above quote is how she tries to comfort herself at one point after listening strange sounds in the night. "It's all in my head..." But in this case, what's in her head might end up being worse than anything else.
This film starts as many modern horror films where strange occurrences start tormenting our lead character, making us question her sanity and state of mind. Director James Wan does a solid job of building up the tension and mystery of what's happening around Madison, and he does it well enough that when he sweeps the rug from under our feet in the last act, it makes you go like "what??"
You gotta admire a film that goes all in with a completely batshit crazy twist and that's what Malignant does. It doesn't really cowers from the total absurdity of what happens trying to sell itself as so-called "elevated horror", but rather commits to it all the way. This makes it feel all the more fresh, unique, and yes, fun.
There are a couple of shaky performances here and there, and overall there isn't really a standout, though. However, this is a film that relies on pure story and direction. Most of the kills are good, and there is a sequence in that last act that's pretty cool and impressive. There are a lot of things that surely wouldn't hold up to closer scrutiny, but as far as wickedly fun, bonkers horror films go, Malignant delivers.
Grade: