Malignant Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

4. The Dull, Generic Scares

James Wan has proven himself to be a master of stylish cinematic suspense, and though Malignant is a handsomely mounted piece of work, the majority of the set-pieces are disappointingly unadventurous.

Aside from the more heightened, action-heavy third act, there's very little on offer you haven't seen in a horror movie before - namely numerous scenes of characters slowly walking through dark rooms in anticipation of a malevolent entity, in this case a shadowy humanoid by the name of Gabriel.

Considering the brilliance of Wan's work on the Conjuring movies in particular, the "suspense" sequences here feel totally slack and phoned-in by comparison.

Few are likely to be left truly unnerved by what the film has up its sleeve, even with some of the bolder narrative decisions made later on.