Malignant: 10 Horror Movie References You Missed
1. The Dark Half
No loving-pastiche of the horror would be complete without a nod to one of the titans of modern scare-fests, the beloved author and screenwriter Stephen King. For those unfamiliar with 1993's The Dark Half (based on King's novel of the same name) the plot concerns a novelist named Thad's fight against the spirit of his parasitic twin, George, who was surgically removed from Thad's brain when he was a child.
This film is perhaps the biggest inspiration for Gabriel's look and origin. The Dark Half opens with the surgery that removes George from Thad and depicts George's undeveloped eye looking out from Thad's brain.
Of course, Wan borrowed this highly memorable imagine to create his own movie monster, depicting Gabriel's face growing out of Madison's skull with two eyes looking out from her brain matter.
Wan's love for the genre that kicked off his career with 2003's Saw is evident in every frame of Malignant and, if you missed any of the aforementioned classics he references, it's time to get your Halloween movie list in order and take a deep dive into some of the most gonzo masterpieces from horror's past.