'Malignant' is a beast of a movie: while it's an original story, its influences are noticeable when we look back at De Palma's "Dressed To Kill" (the dressing of the killer -and the duality- reminded me of this and Jigsaw's coat in 'Saw' franchise) or even Fincher's "Seven" (the Chase scene down the stairs of the building), with a special mention of Argento's giallo of "Suspiria" (the bright and deep red). But James Wan has that extremely good style of his own that proves he's the only one who could have brought the unnerving and stunning feelings to the screen and showing us how he's sorely missed in "Conjuring 3" (stunning tracking shots, a straight camera following the characters while introducing us in the Evil atmosphere, the use of dark spaces to imply something lurking there while not being actually able to see it clearly).
The story of the movie is a diabolically fun trap. While the clues are there and you are capable of expecting Wallis' character to be involved with the killer in some way, I higly doubt anyone could really exactly predict the awesome reveal of the final act. Maybe some stuff is predictable, but not all of it. And it's both shocking and refreshing to see how Wan isn't restrained at all and uses blood, gore and explicit elements to squeeze the comfort of the audience. The pacing is good and the somewhat typical build up helps to get better and wilder towards the climax.
Not everything is fine though. Here Wan has caught some "Shyamalan virus" -irony- in terms of some clunky characters and cliched dialogue (mostly the police). Also the performances are not that good: Annabelle Wallis is really good, but she is the only one that works of them all to me. And those cracks hurt a bit what could have been the best Wan movie since 'Conjuring' or 'Saw'.
But, to sum it up, this is a good horror fun and a pleasent surprise with a twist in the end that elevates the movie. It's on the better side of the director's career and a great throwback to classic, bloody horror movies. Great fun!
The story of the movie is a diabolically fun trap. While the clues are there and you are capable of expecting Wallis' character to be involved with the killer in some way, I higly doubt anyone could really exactly predict the awesome reveal of the final act. Maybe some stuff is predictable, but not all of it. And it's both shocking and refreshing to see how Wan isn't restrained at all and uses blood, gore and explicit elements to squeeze the comfort of the audience. The pacing is good and the somewhat typical build up helps to get better and wilder towards the climax.
Not everything is fine though. Here Wan has caught some "Shyamalan virus" -irony- in terms of some clunky characters and cliched dialogue (mostly the police). Also the performances are not that good: Annabelle Wallis is really good, but she is the only one that works of them all to me. And those cracks hurt a bit what could have been the best Wan movie since 'Conjuring' or 'Saw'.
But, to sum it up, this is a good horror fun and a pleasent surprise with a twist in the end that elevates the movie. It's on the better side of the director's career and a great throwback to classic, bloody horror movies. Great fun!