Malignant: 10 Horror Movie References You Missed
9. Black Sabbath
While Dario Argento is perhaps the most famous Giallo director, legendary Italian cinematographer Mario Bava inaugurated the genre with his 1963 film, The Girl Who Knew Too Much. Bava went on to direct some of the most enduring classics of Italian horror, and Malignant's sound design nods to one of Bava's seminal works: Black Sabbath.
Wan already made a feature length tribute to Black Sabbath with his 2007 guilty-pleasure flick, Dead Silence, specifically 'The Drop of Water' segment of the anthology.
In 'The Drop of Water' a nurse robs a corpse of a ring, upsetting a glass of water in the process. It makes a highly audible drip, the sound of which follows the nurse back to her apartment, driving her mad with terror. Dead Silence's sound design recreates Bava's choice to have everything go ominously quiet before a loud noise presages danger.
Listen to the sound in the sequence when Madison is stalked in her home by Gabriel and you will hear a very loud, very distinct drop of water as things go quiet. This audio homage not only references to Bava, but also Wan's previous horror pastiche, Dead Silence.