What does a superstar director turn his attention to after reviving and mastering the demonic possession film and helming a giant superhero epic? Well, if you’re James Wan you set your sights on the campy supernatural slasher films of the 80’s, with the absolutely insane new offering Malignant. Heading in a completely different direction from his Conjuring films, Wan proves once and for all that his talents behind the camera translate to any genre, embracing the weird and whack to terrifying effect in one of the most jarring (in the best possible way) and outright fun horror films of the year.
Let’s get one thing straight, Malignant’s plot is definitely a case of “the less you know the better” and to get too into the plot would be to spoil half the fun of its central mystery. On a very basic level the film follows the heavily pregnant Madison (Annabelle Wallis), a woman trapped in an abusive relationship with no hope of a way out. When a particularly bad encounter with husband Derek (Jake Abel) leaves her unconscious, Madison awakens only to find him horribly mutilated and a mysterious figure waiting to attack. Now more alone than ever having lost the baby in the ensuing chaos, Madison returns home intent on not giving in to the eerie presence she feels stalking her at every turn.
It would be easy for Wan to fall back on his laurels and construct another riff on the same sub-genre as his career-defining Conjuring films – the reason they were so big is due to just how well Wan is able to control the scares and audience’s expectations, leading you down the beaten horror path before pulling the rug out when you least expect it. He still employs these techniques to typically scream-inducing effect, but Malignant falls more in-line with campy slasher films of the 70’s and 80’s, with a heavier focus on gore and the whodunnit mystery at the centre which he pulls off without a hitch – remember, this is the man who gave us Saw, the very film that coined the term “torture porn” – he can do gory.
That’s not to say that the film sacrifices story for the sake of violence, with a tour de force performance from Annabelle Wallis holding the entire plot together. Slowly watching her unravel and question her every waking moment is its own form of torture – with the viewer desperate to get to the bottom of things – as each new clue chips away at what remains of Madison’s sanity; her face becoming more gaunt and harrowed as the horrors increase. George Young and Michole Briana White’s cop-centric side story is less involved, if still essential, as they strive to uncover the identity of a killer they believe to be Madison’s attacker before he strikes again. Becoming somewhat formulaic at times, their chemistry offsets whatever fatigue might have set in, with White providing a lot of the humour as the stereotypically pissy ‘bad cop’.
Tone is where Malignant will undoubtedly divide fans of Wan’s previous work, eschewing the more grounded, realistic tones of his earlier horror in favour of a campy, oftentimes over-the-top style. Madison’s attacker leaps and scrambles around with over-exaggerated gusto; Wallis locks into her inner scream-queen, constantly emptying her lungs at the smallest disturbance; and the police investigating communicate in the most intentionally clichéd dialogue. It won’t be for everyone, to be sure, and Wan does go too far at times – peppering a jarring (in the worst way) electronic cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” into Joseph Bishara’s otherwise sublime score – but those that do latch onto the vibe Wan is shooting for will find it endearing in the same way as other horror films of this ilk, with each new quirk inching the film further to becoming a cult classic.
Malignant is a fascinating new chapter in James Wan’s increasingly diverse filmography, mixing in enough tried and true Wan-ism’s to satiate longtime fans whilst presenting a strikingly different turn for the oftentimes subdued and grounded filmmaker. The tonal shifts from his earlier horror films might not be to everyone’s tastes but the talent behind the camera and the proficiency through which the horror maestro delivers bone rattling scares and huge swing-for-the-fences curveballs in the plot cannot be denied: Wan’s latest is anything but benign.
Malignant stars Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jake Abel, Jacqueline McKenzie & McKenna Grace – In cinemas now and streaming on HBO Max in the US.