By Ryan Schreiber
I walked into the movie theaters with high hopes that “Malignant” was going to be another top-tier horror movie.
When I first came across the trailer, I was excited to know that it was written and directed by James Wan, the mastermind behind movies such as “The Conjuring” franchise and the first “Saw” film.
I love these movies. I can watch them again and again without getting tired of them. I was hoping that I could say the same for this movie. Oh boy, was I wrong.
I left the movies unfulfilled. It was very slow and boring, and the big twist at the end was less than mediocre. As a whole, it was similar to a dumpster fire. It was hard to watch the full 111 minutes of it. It made me question things throughout and some scenes didn’t make sense.
The jump scares that were portrayed in multiple trailers never landed. They weren’t scary at all and it was very predictable when they were going to happen.
The movie started with a questionable flashback, then jumped straight to the main character, Madison (Annabelle Wallis), who was moving into her house. Domestic abuse was not shied away from – it was a key theme of the film – as if that was a spoiler to the main plot twist!
Besides the hard twists, there weren’t any crazy fight scenes and it made me question how someone could suddenly be so strong. All of the fight scenes were something that horror fans, myself included, have seen before. They were very fast and had no kick. I like long fight scenes and this movie had none of those.
Gore is one of the only good parts of the film- which there was plenty of and would fulfill a horror fan’s fantasy. With characters getting their arms broken, to characters getting shot, as well as characters getting stabbed and slashed to death, it was a lifesaver for the movie.
The enemy’s reveal was pretty awesome, but disgusted me – I almost threw up all of my popcorn.
The special effects and cinematography were amazing, which made this movie great. The lighting of the scenes and the colors flowed well. I also enjoyed the long overhead shots.
On the other hand, this film had many disappointing parts. The flow was very slow. It was hard to watch as the movie dragged on, but I had to wait until the end to figure out what the movie was about.
As far as acting goes, it was at best subpar. These characters didn’t have any connections, especially the siblings. I love watching siblings and seeing their connection, but that was the opposite for this movie. It felt like these characters were strangers and had no idea who each other were.
The rest of the film was upsetting and left a dissatisfied feeling. When we finally got to the climax, it was upsetting. There was no clear ending and left an incomplete feeling. It was something that we see all the time. The idea of an imaginary friend gone crazy gets regurgitated over and over again.
I regret spending the rest of my paycheck to go and see this movie. As the first film I saw in theaters since COVID-19, I was disappointed. It was probably one of the most boring and annoying films I have ever watched. I really hope that James Wan’s future projects do not follow suit of “Malignant,” because if they do it would be hard for me to watch any other movies directed and written by him.
Rating: C
Save your money