It's time to cut out the cancer (Malignant 2021)

 298.

Malignant

7/10

I am a big fan of James Wan's work since he created my favourite horror universe revolving around The Conjuring movies. Over the past few years, Wan has put his name to things without being at the forefront of directing or writing. This time he is the lead name in both as he looks to bring a unique movie to the cinema. Too many times do we see the same formula of horror movies come about, same beginning, middle and end leaving the audience with the enjoyment of the horror but not really making them think. This movie was the complete opposite. The storyline was completely off the chain and will 100% be too much for some people but going in a brand new direction was a point of the board for me. There is only one cast member that I recognised and that is Annabelle Wallis in the lead role of Madison. Let's try this a new way and not give too much away in the story.

The movie starts in the early 90s as a character called Gabriel is in a psychiatric hospital receiving treatment from a couple of doctors. Gabriel has special powers in which he can control electricity and communicate via nearby speakers. One night, during some routine examinations, he decides it's time to kill a few people, just before the timeline gets to 27 years later and we meet Madison. The movie will now take us on a quick journey to learn about Madison and her abusive relationship, the fact she's pregnant and before she locks herself in the bathroom to get away from the husband. Falling asleep, she dreams that her husband is murdered but this isn't a dream and the attacker is still in her home. She is once again attacked, this woman can't catch a break and it's lights out once again for Madison. 

Madison wakes in a hospital with her sister at her side. She finds out that her baby didn't survive the attack and after the police ask a few questions, she returns home. Her sister Sydney stays for a while and Madison reveals to her that she was actually adopted into Sydney's family at 8. After another sleep, Madison has another vision of the killer kidnapping a woman in the Seattle underground, only to find out it is a Dr Weaver who, during an investigation is found to be a child reconstructive surgeon. The detectives find a picture of Madison in the Doctor's office. The police are contacted by Madison and Sydney after yet another vision of a Doctor getting killed. The killer gets in touch with Madison, and revealed himself to be Gabriel which Madison believed was her childhood imaginary friend. They visit mom, find out that Gabriel was actually real and are both led to a string of doctors linked to Madison and yet another body. 

Madison is hooked up with a psychic of sorts and her memories are unlocked to an extent. She remembers her birth name, the fact that Gabriel wanted her to kill her unborn sister and she came very close but thankfully was able to stop herself. Randomly, a woman that has been kidnapped falls through her ceiling and it turns out that Gabriel had been living in the attic all along. This doesn't look good for Madison and she is arrested. This woman is Madison's birth mother, Serena May. Whilst Madison is locked up, Sydney heads to the old Hospital where her sister and the dead doctors met when she was younger. She finds out that Gabriel is actually Madison's twin brother that is an extreme version of teratoma. If you don't know what that is, it's a very rare form of tumour and can be thought to be a person's twin. It instantly reminded me of the fella who had a face on the back of his head who apparently told him to do evil things. This story is instantly thrust in that direction. The doctors hacked away at the twin and pushed it back into Madison's brain, sewing the back of her head up. Yeah I know, as far-fetched as shit from China but at the same time, very unique as a villain. They share a brain and when you look back at the attacks, Madison's body is walking and used backwards, so that Gabriel has the view out of the back of her head. He had laid dormant for a long time but when the ex-boyfriend smashed Madison's head against the wall, the tumour was woken up. 

Gabriel is provoked whilst locked up and attacks the other inmates, leaving none alive. With some super-human strength, he works through the police station until he comes across Sydney and one of the detectives. They don't last long as the detective is injured and Sydney is pinned against a wall but a hospital bed. Sydney tries to wake Madison back up by telling her that the brother is the reason for her miscarriages because he was feeding off them through her body. This wakes Madison back up and she takes control of her body once again. She enters her own mind to lock Gabriel behind some metaphorical bars, before proclaiming that her body is now hers along with the powers that Gabriel has. Gabriel finishes by saying he will be back one day to terrorise her. Madison claims she will be ready and leaves her mind to return to the scene in the police station's med ward. She lifts the bed with her newfound strength to release her sister before they embrace as a happy family, even if not by blood. As they embrace, a light bulb in the corner flickers, which has been a sign for Gabriel taking over.

This movie will very much split opinions. There are going to be some audiences that think this movie went too far and the story was a little crazy and this movie will never be successful. Then there are the opposite viewpoints who will think that this movie was something very different and loved it for that. I really enjoyed that this movie didn't go down the conventional route and didn't play it safe. The point of a horror movie is to make you feel very uneasy. We have all seen movies with a slow-walking killer following a bunch of teens. We've seen those stories of a house-haunting building to a climax. This movie was very different and with James Wan at the helm, I had every bit of confidence that this would be an interesting watch. The twists and turns weren't expected for a little while but I did start to notice that Gabriel was turned backwards and although it still wasn't completely transparent what was happening, it did start to unravel. 

There is a handful of supporting cast who are ok with helping the story along but the main success of the group has to be Annabelle Wallis as Madison. Wallis has been in a couple of movies that I have seen. The Mummy with Tom Cruise is a flop and she is also part of the Conjuring Universe, which I am a big fan of. Wan must have known her potential and drafted her in again. Wallis drove forward a character who was packed with emotion and mystery whilst also trying to be as normal and relatable as possible. The whole movie relied on her performance and it did not disappoint. It got a little crazy towards the end as she challenged her inner demon and the scenes were very expressive but nothing other than some kudos to our lead actress. 

The movie got dark, gruesome and out of hand real quick and I was all for it. There is no reason we need slow burners and longer-running horror movies. Give us action-packed and keep us gripped and Wan is becoming a master of doing just that.  It was very refreshing not to get another sequel, prequel or re-run of the same old horror movie and have a stand-alone which may gather up a little cult following within the audience who like the outrageously absurd. The third act of this movie completely opens up the gore-fest and it is welcomed with open arms as it emerges from a dark, mystery into an all-out, off-the-chain ending sequence. Years ago this would have been straight to DVD but thankfully it's getting some time in the cinema and I'm all for it.