Director James Wan returns to his roots with this new original horror thriller. A woman is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Malignant: James Wan's Visions
Groundbreaking filmmaker James Wan takes us behind the scenes for a look at his latest film, Malignant, a genre-bending thriller.
An in-depth special effects featurette would get me to buy this, unfortunately that description of the sole extra does not sound promising. Guess I'll wait to see the length. This is the kind of thing that would benefit from a Scream Factory kind of release for that reason. Too bad it's a brand new big studio movie!
Really enjoyed this movie, more than I ever thought I would. Bonkers in all the right ways.
Totally agree. I was like an hour in and still not sure where I landed on it, then I realized that I was enjoying the everything-way-over-the-top energy whether or not it was "good" by my usual standards. By the end I decided it was like they'd taken a so-so movie and made it so dang well that it became a great movie.
Anyways, I'll definitely be picking this one up at some point!
I would have liked it more if it was less "slick." Like, the big "fight scene" seemed like something out of a Marvel movie far more than something from a Basket Case remake. Though I guess the Marvel movie it was most reminiscent of was Blade 2, specifically those weird long-take swooping camera scenes that were hobbled by the technology of the time. That said, I still definitely appreciated the hilarious concept and excess of gross physical effects.
An in-depth special effects featurette would get me to buy this, unfortunately that description of the sole extra does not sound promising. Guess I'll wait to see the length. This is the kind of thing that would benefit from a Scream Factory kind of release for that reason. Too bad it's a brand new big studio movie!
Tis the case for James Wan films. Guy barely does commentaries.
Where as his pal Leigh Whannell could talk for days.
I would have liked it more if it was less "slick." Like, the big "fight scene" seemed like something out of a Marvel movie far more than something from a Basket Case remake. Though I guess the Marvel movie it was most reminiscent of was Blade 2, specifically those weird long-take swooping camera scenes that were hobbled by the technology of the time. That said, I still definitely appreciated the hilarious concept and excess of gross physical effects.
My GF and I both absolutely loved this movie. She made me promise to get the biggest, bestest edition of it. And this is it? A standard BD + digital, light on the special features? No UHD? No Steelbook? I'd buy a f**king replica of the sword that holds the discs in its base! Come on, man!!!
My GF and I both absolutely loved this movie. She made me promise to get the biggest, bestest edition of it. And this is it? A standard BD + digital, light on the special features? No UHD? No Steelbook? I'd buy a f**king replica of the sword that holds the discs in its base! Come on, man!!!
We are getting a Zavvi exclusive Steelbook in the U.K. I would be surprised if you guys don’t get a store exclusive Steelbook.
Not sure what's going on, but Redbox didn't stock it, and my Walmart didn't have a single copy on the shelf.
That is odd, because the Redboxes in my area all had this, and I am very glad I rented it and didn't buy.
I guess I'll have to go against the grain here and say I was very disappointed with this film. Annabelle Wallis was decent, but some of the acting was downright bad, like a 1980s TV movie bad. It was too easy for me to tell where the film was going as soon as it started and I'm not usually one to think ahead like that. Honestly, in parts I was almost bored, because so much of the movie recycles plot points or tropes of recent horror films, like slow pans in dark areas, shadowy figures that appear and disappear, sounds that come out of nowhere but portend something wicked, and so on. Even characters like the "'crazy' female lead" and the "abusive boyfriend" seem to be in every second or third studio horror film these days.
The film is not scary in the least, and while it does get satisfyingly gory towards the end, the rest of the film is a slog to sit through in order to get there and because the "twist" (sorry) is fairly obvious, the ending itself feels as routine and played out as the rest of the film. I'm actually kind of shocked that Wan went with such a generic script here, since Saw and The Conjuring are both very inventive, if not clever and the acting in the latter especially is much better than what was brought to Malignant.
Anyway, this isn't "official", but here is the BDInfo scan of the Redbox rental disc, which is almost certainly the US/UK retail disc. The English: Dolby Digital tracks are US and UK described audio.
Code:
Total Video
Title Codec Length Movie Size Disc Size Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track Secondary Audio Track
----- ------ ------- -------------- -------------- ------- ------- ------------------ ---------------------
00800.MPLS AVC 1:51:35 35,821,289,472 39,033,454,093 42.80 33.65 DTS-HD Master 5.1 3284Kbps (48kHz/24-bit) DD AC3 5.1 448Kbps
That is odd, because the Redboxes in my area all had this, and I am very glad I rented it and didn't buy.
I guess I'll have to go against the grain here and say I was very disappointed with this film. Annabelle Wallis was decent, but some of the acting was downright bad, like a 1980s TV movie bad. It was too easy for me to tell where the film was going as soon as it started and I'm not usually one to think ahead like that. Honestly, in parts I was almost bored, because so much of the movie recycles plot points or tropes of recent horror films, like slow pans in dark areas, shadowy figures that appear and disappear, sounds that come out of nowhere but portend something wicked, and so on. Even characters like the "'crazy' female lead" and the "abusive boyfriend" seem to be in every second or third studio horror film these days.
The film is not scary in the least, and while it does get satisfyingly gory towards the end, the rest of the film is a slog to sit through in order to get there and because the "twist" (sorry) is fairly obvious, the ending itself feels as routine and played out as the rest of the film. I'm actually kind of shocked that Wan went with such a generic script here, since Saw and The Conjuring are both very inventive, if not clever and the acting in the latter especially is much better than what was brought to Malignant.
If it makes you feel any better, I haven't ever disliked a thing James Wan has done and was in complete disbelief that he had anything to do with this, much less directed it.
Critical consensus and I continue to drift further and further apart. This was puzzling from the opening. You and I are exactly on the same page with the "1980s TV movie bad" take. I did wonder if it was intentionally awful. I guess we do differ on our opinion of Wallis, because I didn't think she survived this movie unscathed. I've always liked her, but thought she was pretty bad. I don't blame her - I've seen bad things happen to great actors before ("The Happening") and everyone was on the same page here so I can only assume it's what Wan wanted and the cast trusted him.
I did like the score, though. It didn't fit the movie at all, but it was really trying to make the movie seem way cooler.
I do think this premise COULD have been decent which is why it is even more shocking that it completely crumbled in the hands of James Wan.
If it makes you feel any better, I haven't ever disliked a thing James Wan has done and was in complete disbelief that he had anything to do with this, much less directed it.
Critical consensus and I continue to drift further and further apart. This was puzzling from the opening. You and I are exactly on the same page with the "1980s TV movie bad" take. I did wonder if it was intentionally awful. I guess we do differ on our opinion of Wallis, because I didn't think she survived this movie unscathed. I've always liked her, but thought she was pretty bad. I don't blame her - I've seen bad things happen to great actors before ("The Happening") and everyone was on the same page here so I can only assume it's what Wan wanted and the cast trusted him.
I did like the score, though. It didn't fit the movie at all, but it was really trying to make the movie seem way cooler.
I do think this premise COULD have been decent which is why it is even more shocking that it completely crumbled in the hands of James Wan.
Oh I don't think Wallis came out unscathed, either, just that she delivered the best performance of the bunch, but that's sort of damning with faint praise. The two cops and the abusive boyfriend were jaw-droppingly poor, and several touches in the film were outright unintentionally hilarious.
Wow, BD.com apparently loved the shit out of it. 5/5. It's definitely my fav horror film this year along side Candyman 2021, but lordy I wouldn't have given it a perfect 5/5. 4/5 though, yes.
Needless to say, this movie has gotten nothing but the shaft. No UHD, no availability beyond online order, barely any marketing. Malignant deserved better, whether you couldn't hang with it or not... you can't deny it's more memorable.
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Malignant - November 30, 2021
Linear Mode
