"Mal. Bad. In the Latin."

I'd heard 2021's Malignant was bad. And considering how much I disliked the other James Wan movies I've seen, Saw and The Conjuring, this made sense. But I watched it anyway. It turns out it is bad.

Wan evidently decided to make this is his ode to giallo films but doing so only serves to emphasise his deficiencies as a filmmaker. When one compares a luridly, colourfully lit scene of garish violence in a Mario Bava film versus one in Malignant, one notices about Malignant primarily its cheap ass production design.

From a peculiarly gigantic holding cell with spotless walls and floor, to a house interior that looks like a department store display section, there was clearly no effort or imagination at work.

Composer Joseph Bishara can't match the extravagant energy of Goblin or Ennio Morricone. So when Wan decides to layer his score as a constant grove for scenes, placing odd emphasis on moments that don't seem especially important, it just seems silly and slightly confusing.

No-one gives a good performance in the film, either, with the exception of contortionist Marina Mazepa.

And when she first crawled backwards into frame, her tangled black hair veiling her face, my main thought was, "Sadako sure casts a long shadow." If The Ring had been a weak imitation of a giallo, it might have looked something like this.

As for the writing, Wan relies entirely on a plot gimmick to lend his story interest. And it's a plot device--spoilers--already seen before in Brian De Palma's Sisters, among other films--the secret, evil, conjoined twin. Really, it's Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, if there were no psychological depth to Jekyll or Hyde or any particular thematic or psychological significance to their pairing.

Some critics say that Malignant is intentionally bad. If so, mission accomplished. Mr. Wan, if you intended that I should be bored by your movie, you did it.

Malignant is available on HBOMax. I'm ending my subscription now that House of the Dragon's over, hopefully I can find something better to go out on.