Malignant: 10 Horror Movie References You Missed

10. Terror At the Opera

Much has been made about Malignant being a Giallo-homage, and while Wan pays tribute to a host of horror films, the Giallo influence is undeniable.

The genre has its roots in popular Italian murder mystery paperbacks with yellow covers (giallo is Italian for 'yellow'), but found its way to cinemas where it transformed into a proto-slasher genre that's heavy on the bloodshed. As Giallos gained in popularity, Dario Argento emerged as one of the genre's most influential directors.

Malignant makes numerous nods to the horror auteur's work throughout and when the villain of the film, Gabriel, holds one of his victims hostage with her mouth ducted taped and eyes wide in terror it's a direct visual reference to an under-appreciated Argento gem, Terror at the Opera.

Terror at the Opera tells the tale of a murder that forces the heroine to witness his killing spree by tying her up and putting pins under her eyes so she can't close them. From the killer's raspy voice to the his black gloves and his use of duct tape to make his victim a silent witness to horror, the parallels between the two films are unmistakable.