New on Netflix: One of the best horror films of recent years – with a crazy twist that will leave you speechless

‘Malignant’ is a genre gem that would hardly have been thought possible in 2021, because the horror film by ‘The Conjuring’, ‘Saw’ & ‘Aquaman’ director James Wan is a declaration of love to the Italian giallo Film – that horror subgenre that formed was created by directors such as Dario Argento (“Suspiria”) and Mario Bava (“The Bloodlust of Satan”) and reached its peak mainly in Italian cinema in the 1970s. The focus here is on the artistic and stylish staging, bloody murders, strange killers and supernatural elements – there are few (logical) limits to creativity.

And James Wan gets fully involved in this genre adventure, jumping headfirst into this mix of madness and blood. If you’re expecting generic genre fare with jump scares, creaking doors, and mask killers, you might even be disappointed and/or extremely confused by “Malignant.” But if you want to experience another wonderfully crazy movie evening, which is even crowned with a wonderfully crazy twist (which at least left the author of these lines speechless for a while), you should definitely give this nasty genre contribution a chance.

You can stream the film as a subscription on Netflix at no extra cost from November 18, 2023.

James Wan – master of horror cinema

James Wan is an absolute directing professional who is extremely well versed in the field of horror films and knows how to use the mechanics of the genre perfectly. The man is best known for his ability to launch successful film series with sleepwalking certainty: ‘Saw’, ‘Insidious’ and ‘Conjuring’ were made under his creative control.

Essential for success: James Wan loves the genre. He proves this again with “Malignant”. After excursions into the haunted house horror subgenre (“Magic“) or torture porn (“Saw“), in this horror highlight from 2021, he returns to the giallo film and brings classic topoi from Italian genre cinema to the present.

In our FILMSTARTS review, in which the film is rated no less than 4.5 out of 5 stars, our chief critic Christoph Petersen writes:

“’Malignant’ is a visually outstanding and extremely entertaining horror slasher that is primarily aimed at fans and connoisseurs of the genre and makes no concessions to a mainstream audience – neither in terms of the level of violence, nor in all the crazy madness that unfolds before our eyes on screen.

And that’s what ‘Malignant’ is about

Life isn’t easy for Madison (Annabelle Wallis). She experienced terrible things as a child. But the traumatized girl is adopted by a loving foster family. Unfortunately, the horrors of the past come back to haunt her when one night a stranger breaks into her apartment and kills her husband and unborn child.

Since that night, she has been haunted by visions of gruesome murders that also feel very real. When it turns out that the bloody atrocities actually took place, she turns to the police – and ends up at the top of the list of suspects. What connects Madison to these cruel acts?