Malignant: 10 Horror Movie References You Missed
8. Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes
Lucio Fulci is another icon to fans of Italian scare-fests. Known for being one of the more extreme Giallo directors with a penchant for eye-stabbing gore sequences, Fulci produced several minor classics during his run.
Wan must love this director's gore-heavy oeuvre because Fulci's Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes (alternately titled The Psychic) is one of the most obvious inspirations for Malignant.
Seven Black Notes follows Virginia, a rich homemaker, after she begins to see psychic visions of murders she is helpless to prevent.
For anyone that has seen Malignant, the similarities between Wan's gonzo offering and Seven Black Notes is obvious. Throughout Malignant, Madison has visions of Gabriel's murders and much of the plot concerns her attempting to find the killer and prevent him from murdering again.
This aspect of Wan's plot borrows heavily from Fulci's film, and Gabriel's bloody kills are a knowing wink to the beloved purveyor of gore.