Horror Malignant | James Wan

[Pennywise]

 

[Daywalker89]

Wowwww thats massive news.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Marvolo]

5m - 9m might be good for an R rated horror film in a Covid world during a Delta surge. They shouldn't be comparing it to pre-covid numbers or any other current box office numbers because nothing like this has had a theatrical release during a surge.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Well Candyman opened to 22M but that was theatrical only.

 

[Prison Mike]

I’ll be watching this probably Saturday. Hopefully it’s good.

 

[Marvolo]

Well Candyman opened to 22M but that was theatrical only.

And Candyman is a well known cultural icon of the horror genre. Malignant is an entirely new IP.

 

[Marvolo]

71% - 7 reviews

Malignant - Rotten Tomatoes

Not a great start.

 

[DCnightwing23]

Finished it tonight as soon as it showed up on HBO Max - Really solid horror here, it feels like this will become a cult classic. It riffs off of a couple of big Wan movies we've seen in the past: Dead Silence, Saw, and Conjuring. I feel like you can also hear a bit of similarities to the Dead Silence score in this movies score as well, it's brilliant. I think if you're a James Wan horror fan, you'll really enjoy this one. I plan on rewatching it once October comes around for sure, I really really enjoyed this. Dead Meat's Kill Count on Youtube should have fun with this one

 

[Broseph44]

Very excited to watch this one hopefully this weekend if I have the time.

 

[Marvolo]

Thirty minutes in and this really isn't what I thought it would be.

I think the marketing gave this film the short end of the stick. This isnt just another James Wan demonic haunting spookfest. This is like Stephen King's The Dark Half, and is a crime thriller and mystery film with some supernatural abilities involved.

****ing hell that police station scene was insane!

This was absurd, but in a fun way. I think a lot of viewers are going to think its silly or stupid. But people that grew up in the 80s and 90s watching creature features and practical effects horror might be more willing to accept it, and just enjoy the craziness.

Id give it a strong 7.5/10.

 

[Lasirius]

Great to hear. I’ll be watching it this weekend.

 

[The Chris]

This movie was like if early weird James Wan had a baby with recent master of his craft James Wan! This movie was beautifully nuts!!!!!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I am half way through this. It is bizarre, from tone to musical choice. But I like it so far. Quite a bit. It's both creepy and funny.

 

[Ninjablade]

About to start watching this and going in completely blind. Only thing I've seen so far are the beautiful posters? Hoping for the best.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Well if the first half was bizarre, the second half is bat****. Loved it.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

This movie was absolutely insane and I mostly loved it aswell. Kudos to James Wan for actually trying to do something original and ambitious within the horror genre which is definitely a rarity nowadays.

I don't expect general audiences to like this very much at all because of how crazy and gory it gets, but man I really ate this thing up and for me personally it was like the best mashup of horror films from the 70's, 80's and 90's all bundled up together in a awesome, deliciousy campy B-movie package.

It's basically James Wan's attempt at doing an Argento/Giallo slasher flick with creature feature and body horror elements and not to mention his excellent sense of direction thrown in for good flavor.

I also really loved the atmoesphere and the 80's, synth, heavy score.

 

[Ninjablade]

So, yeah, I went into this completely blind. I hadn't so much as as read a plot synopsis. Thank god I did because, as someone who has a love hate relationship with Wan's horror movies, I absolutely loved it. While not his best, it is easily my favorite film of his. James Wan doing a giallo? Brilliant, especially with him adding his own flare. This is the perfect type of movie for him. Reminded me a lot of Dead Silence, in terms of tone, but infinitely better. Wan's truly mastered his craft though.

Like I said though, I have a love hate relationship with James Wan horror, and that reared it's ugly head during the last 15 minutes or so. Wasn't a huge fan of the ending. The last half hour is very out there and goofy, but the very last scene left me slightly disappointed. Didn't totally hamper my enjoyment of the movie though.

Just throwing a bunch of random thoughts I was jotting down throughout the movie in a spoiler tag bellow. They're in chronological order, so there are legit spoilers towards the bottom.

Spoiler: Random Notes

- Some of the editing is jarring
- As soon as they showed the house I knew exactly what the layout would be. James Wan is very particular about his spooky houses
- Wow wow wow, that top down shot of Maddie running through the house is super inventive
- The sister's acting is very questionable
- The death vision visuals are beautiful
- The third murder (hotel) might be my favorite horror scene in a long while
- I love this female detective
- Okay, which young version of a main female character hasn't McKenna Grace played
- "The Killer is your imaginary friend" I could've done without that, but at least my favorite character said it
- A nice little cameo from the girl that played Janet in The Conjuring 2 as Serena May. I like when directors do that kinda thing
- Gabriel being a tumor is something I unfortunately saw coming just due to the title of the film. I remember years ago Wan floated around the idea of a super hero named Malignant Man who gained power through a tumor. The body horror application and twist I did not see coming and was really f-ing cool. What an awesome reveal. I thought he was going to be a separate entity that developed a body after being removed
- Gabriel slaughtering all the police is a little OTT for me, but it certainly looks nice. Wan's flexing that action directing skills. Just feels a little out of place
- The pacemaker kill was creative
- The mom "forgive me" was cheesy
- Wish it ended on a slightly better note, but the movie's world certainly didn't allow much room for a lot of closure

I'm a little pissed that I decided to stream this first instead of seeing in theaters. I'm definitely going to have to go and see it on the big screen at some point because this was amazing.

 

[Asr]

I'm a little pissed that I decided to stream this first instead of seeing in theaters. I'm definitely going to have to go and see it on the big screen at some point because this was amazing.

Glad I read that part. Wasn't really planning to see this in theaters before, but now I will. Also glad for the positive reviews so far! Was a little wary with how the critic reviews have been going.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Maybe i need to rewatch it because I thought it was fairly terrible

 

[Gothamsknight]

awesome film, and very very surprising. I can see why Wan didn't want things spoiled! An original concept and an original villain. Really hope it becomes a franchise.

 

[The Shape]

Going to see this tonight. Sounds bonkers in all the right ways.

 

[Mysteryman]

Maybe i need to rewatch it because I thought it was fairly terrible

I wouldn't say it was terrible.
But, I am glad that I watched it at home on HBO MAX.

 

[VictusMortuus]

Found myself bored at times in the first half but glad I finished because the last half was bonkers in the best way. Loved the way the antagonist moved it felt so surreal to see and from the policestation sequence to the end was one of the most exhilarating parts of a horror movie I’ve seen in quite some time.

 

[aliakrep]