A new film on HBO Max is generating plenty of buzz on social media. Released both in theaters and on the streaming platform on Friday, Sept. 10, just ahead of the official October start of the spooky season, the ’90s-inspired horror film Malignant is serving up plenty of scares and proving to be a must-watch horror film for Halloween.
Marking director James Wan’s return to the horror genre — Wan is also the mastermind behind popular horror titles like The Conjuring, Insidious, and Saw— Malignant follows Maddison, a woman paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders. Those waking dreams, however, prove to be reality. The film stars Annabelle Wallis (The Mummy and Annabelle) in the lead role alongside Maddie Hasson, George Young, and Michole Briana White. The film is heavily influenced by ’90s horror.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“When people ask me, ‘how would you describe Malignant?’ And I would say, I would describe it best as it’s the kind of movie, if we were living in the ’80s or early ’90s, we would go to the local video store, go down to the back, to the very end, where the horror section or the science-fiction would be. And we would go even deeper into the very back shelves. And we would pick up some movie we would have never heard of before, but it would have the coolest poster art on it. It’d be like Evil 9-9-9, or 6-6-6. And then that was the movie that you can go, ‘Oh, this is cool. Let me take you back and see what this is,’” Wan previously said during a press event, according to ComicBook.com. “And that’s how I kind of describe Malignant as being if it came out in the late ’80s or early ’90s. But of course, I would want to kind of try and elevate it beyond the sort of exploitation, lurid level of those films and actually, and try and class it up a bit.”
Malignant is now available for streaming on HBO Max on the ad-free plan, which costs $15 per month. The film will be available on the platform for the next 31 days before it departs on Oct. 10. It is also in theaters. As the film arrived on HBO Max early Friday morning, many viewers took to social media to weigh in, many applauding the film as being a must-watch title. Keep scrolling to see what people had to say.
‘Game-changer’
“[Malignant] is a game-changer,” wrote critic Shannon McGrew. “Defying the boundaries of genre film, Wan has created something unique and terrifying. It’s a beautifully deranged work of art that is destined to become a cult classic. A love letter to the genre & its fans, this is Wan at his best.”
‘Insane and completely unpredictable’
“[Malignant] is absolutely insane and completely unpredictable. It’s also one of the first modern horror films I’ve seen in years that fully embraces CAMP, which I thought was a long-dead art,” tweeted another viewer. “More like this, please.”
Feels ‘real and creepy’
“Movie was wild! James Wan is a mad man! Horror has been on a roll this year!,” wrote somebody else. “STAY AWAY FROM SPOILERS if you can! The visuals and the soundtrack man.”
‘Absolutely bonkers’
“I don’t really do movie reviews (i should) but [Malignant] is a low key mind f—,” commented another person. “Some of the scenes in the beginning will have you questioning why you’re even watching, but once you get into the juice of the story it’s brilliantly unique.”
‘Unique and scary’
“[Malignant] is frickin insane,” added one fan. “It’s James Wan’s most Innovative, goriest horror film till date. It’s mind-bending & also has some decent scares, but not in typical James Wan fashion like we see in Conjuring and others. It’s very fresh, unique and scary at the same time!!!”
‘Fantastic movie’
“So I just finished watching James Wan’s brand new film Malignant and wow, I certainly did not see any of that craziness coming,” tweeted one. “Absolutely bonkers and f—ing insane. The horror genre needs James Wan. Badly. Fantastic movie. 5 star work again.”
‘Instant horror classic’
“[Malignant] is fckn INSANE!” wrote another viewer. “It feels like an instant horror classic and James Wan does it once again. The twist is on the level of The Sixth Sense. Also a surpising amount of action that is so bloody, cool, and inventive. I loved this film!!”
