This brilliant horror is heaps of fun and commits to lunacy before staying the course
A few years back – although it seems like a decade – I was shown around the set and some of the props from the making of Annabelle: Creation –andI remember being quietly surprised at the level of thought and detailing that had gone into literally everything that the camera was going to see.
Medium budget horror movies about possessed dolls and suchlike aren’t really renowned for the attention to detail that goes into their sets and props placement. Why would you, when everything is about to be drenched in blood anyway?
But producer James Wan – who turned out to be a hell of a nice guy – reasoned that in a crowded market for horror, one way to stand out was to make your teen-targeted horrors at least as richly detailed as the bougiest of art-house dramas. It was Wan’s way of demanding a little respect for this most easily dismissed of genres.
And I reckon, he’s on to something.
Annabelle: Creation was directed by Lights Out-maker David Landstrom. Wan had directed The Conjuring and its sequel, both of which had made millions and earned plenty of critical success. The Conjuring franchise (or ‘‘universe’’, if you insist) has since become a behemoth, with eight feature films on the roster, ranging from the very good to the pretty much abysmal. But they have all made money.
Malignant sees Wan in yet another spin-off. The film is not a part of any series – yet – but it does share Wan’s respect for horror classics: Dario Argento is quoted early and often – as well as that same welcome preoccupation with having what is on screen look better than anyone else in the horror genre is bothering to.
Malignant follows a woman – Annabelle Wallis from Peaky Blinders – who believes she is dreaming of murders before they happen. The truth is far, far madder than that.
I absolutely love a film that commits to lunacy and then stays the course, while the cast, the visuals and the soundtrack all become utterly demented, hilarious and inspiringly insane.
Wan is having fun here, maybe clearing his creative throat before he’s back on Aquaman duties or whatever else Hollywood has him attached to.
As with much of Wan’s work, no-one is ever going to accuse Malignant of being a ‘‘good’’ film. But at times, it is a bloody great one. Have fun.
Malignant is now available to rent from iTunes, Neon, GooglePlay, YouTube, AroVision and Academy OnDemand.