My podcast co-host, Scott Colbert, was on my case to watch this, and I had heard a lot about it, both good and bad, so I finally went to the theater to see it. This was only my second time in a movie theater since March of 2019, and I am glad I saw this on the big screen! I will start of by saying that this is one of those horror movies that has it's flaws, but is a lot of damn fun! Malignant is directed by one of my favs, James Wan, and I am glad to see a film of his that is NOT set in the "Conjuring" universe.
So, what's it about? I'll give a brief summary because as my readers know, I don't like to spell out the entire plot in my reviews. I encourage everyone to see the films for themselves.
The film stars Annabelle Wallis as Madison Mitchell, a woman who is married to an abusive husband Derek (played convincingly by Jake Abel). Madison has had several miscarriages, but is pregnant with another child, and she's hopeful that this time everything will work out fine. Alas, not so fast.... During an argument, Derek shoves her and her head cracks against the wall, hard. That's when things start to go haywire.
So, what's it about? I'll give a brief summary because as my readers know, I don't like to spell out the entire plot in my reviews. I encourage everyone to see the films for themselves.
The film stars Annabelle Wallis as Madison Mitchell, a woman who is married to an abusive husband Derek (played convincingly by Jake Abel). Madison has had several miscarriages, but is pregnant with another child, and she's hopeful that this time everything will work out fine. Alas, not so fast.... During an argument, Derek shoves her and her head cracks against the wall, hard. That's when things start to go haywire.
Madison begins to have visions of horrific murders and slowly she begins to realize that she's somehow witnessing these killings as they happen. This revelation leads her down a rabbit hole and towards a mysterious figure named Gabriel.
Along the way, law enforcement gets involved but of course, Madison's story is so crazy that they do not believe her, until she leads them to the scene of one of the recently committed murders. Naturally, Madison becomes a prime suspect because of her knowledge of the location of the crime, and things continue to unravel, as Madison, her sister Sydney (Maddie Hasson) and detectives Kekoa Shaw (George Young) and Regina Moss (Michole Briana White) race to try and stop Gabriel's rampage of murder. All of this leads to a climax which, for lack of any better words, is completely BATSHIT INSANE!
So, what did I think of it? Well, I agree with Scott Colbert when he said on our podcast, The Imaginarium With Scott and Todd that "Malignant" is not nearly as amazing as some people said it is, and not nearly as bad as some other people said it is.
Personally, I can agree with the positive reviews way more than I can with the negative ones. I really do not understand some of the hate this film received, but then again, I'm going by my social media feeds, so I should probably just dismiss most of it as "I'm gonna hate this movie so I can seem cool, edgy and contrarian."
Along the way, law enforcement gets involved but of course, Madison's story is so crazy that they do not believe her, until she leads them to the scene of one of the recently committed murders. Naturally, Madison becomes a prime suspect because of her knowledge of the location of the crime, and things continue to unravel, as Madison, her sister Sydney (Maddie Hasson) and detectives Kekoa Shaw (George Young) and Regina Moss (Michole Briana White) race to try and stop Gabriel's rampage of murder. All of this leads to a climax which, for lack of any better words, is completely BATSHIT INSANE!
So, what did I think of it? Well, I agree with Scott Colbert when he said on our podcast, The Imaginarium With Scott and Todd that "Malignant" is not nearly as amazing as some people said it is, and not nearly as bad as some other people said it is.
Personally, I can agree with the positive reviews way more than I can with the negative ones. I really do not understand some of the hate this film received, but then again, I'm going by my social media feeds, so I should probably just dismiss most of it as "I'm gonna hate this movie so I can seem cool, edgy and contrarian."
Before I go any further let me say this. I thought both the digital and practical effects were outstanding! This is a little hard to explain, but when Madison is experiencing her visions, and the scene transitions to the alternate reality, the effect they use to do that is fantastic. As everyone knows, I am a big fan of "movie magic" and that effect is a great example of it. The gore effects are also very good for the most part. Towards the end of the film the CGI gets a little clunky, but I didn't let that get in the way of my enjoyment of the film.
I thought the acting was excellent as well. Wallis does a great job as Madison in portraying someone who genuinely doesn't understand what is happening to them, and desperately tries to convince those around her of what's happening, knowing that it sounds completely crazy. The supporting characters are serviceable but not great. Specifically, the two detectives are a little generic, but it's not totally their fault. The lines they are given don't help them, and their actions fall into "would a real cop actually do that?" territory, but again, that's a function of the writing, not of their acting ability.
As far as the plot is concerned, I kind of figured out the basic premise about 1/3 of the way through the film, BUT, I did NOT anticipate the direction in which the writers ultimately took that premise. I thought what they did was very cool, however, I will tell you know that is does require suspension of disbelief, and THIS boys and girls, brings me to my problem with a lot of the criticisms of this film.
EVERY horror film, especially ones like this, require suspension of disbelief! Horror fans are OK with Michael Myers and Jason being completely indestructible, but they have a problem with the plot of Malignant? Come on! Can't we just have fun with a movie?
The third act of this movie is completely fukkin' nuts, and I loved it! It reminded me of a Stuart Gordon or Brian Yuzna film from the 1980's. You have to just sit back, enjoy it, and say "Holy shit! at least a dozen times! Horror fandom really is the worst sometimes, and not to mention inconsistent. If this movie had been released in 1985, these same fans would be creaming themselves over it.
I thought the acting was excellent as well. Wallis does a great job as Madison in portraying someone who genuinely doesn't understand what is happening to them, and desperately tries to convince those around her of what's happening, knowing that it sounds completely crazy. The supporting characters are serviceable but not great. Specifically, the two detectives are a little generic, but it's not totally their fault. The lines they are given don't help them, and their actions fall into "would a real cop actually do that?" territory, but again, that's a function of the writing, not of their acting ability.
As far as the plot is concerned, I kind of figured out the basic premise about 1/3 of the way through the film, BUT, I did NOT anticipate the direction in which the writers ultimately took that premise. I thought what they did was very cool, however, I will tell you know that is does require suspension of disbelief, and THIS boys and girls, brings me to my problem with a lot of the criticisms of this film.
EVERY horror film, especially ones like this, require suspension of disbelief! Horror fans are OK with Michael Myers and Jason being completely indestructible, but they have a problem with the plot of Malignant? Come on! Can't we just have fun with a movie?
The third act of this movie is completely fukkin' nuts, and I loved it! It reminded me of a Stuart Gordon or Brian Yuzna film from the 1980's. You have to just sit back, enjoy it, and say "Holy shit! at least a dozen times! Horror fandom really is the worst sometimes, and not to mention inconsistent. If this movie had been released in 1985, these same fans would be creaming themselves over it.
Like I said, my bigger problem with Malignant wasn't with the implausibility of the overall plot. It was with the elements that are more grounded in reality, like the actions taken by the lead detective in the case. The poor decisions really boggled my mind sometimes. That again again, the CGI near the end is a bid dodgy, but that really is a nitpick.
Overall I really liked this movie and I highly recommend it. Just sit back and have some fun with a movie that has a pretty cool premise, a great, unexpected antagonist and some completely insane, bloody, action set pieces.
Overall I really liked this movie and I highly recommend it. Just sit back and have some fun with a movie that has a pretty cool premise, a great, unexpected antagonist and some completely insane, bloody, action set pieces.
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