Malignant Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

4. The Dull, Generic Scares

Malignant Annabelle Wallis
Warner Bros.

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.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.