“Malignant” Trailer Covers Familiar Evil Territory

James Wan moved into the big leagues in the last few years. After making his name with low-budget horror flicks, he later helmed $1 billion blockbusters like Furious 7 and Aquaman. But before he started work on the sequel to the latter, he went back to his scary roots to make Malignant.

Annabelle Wallis stars as Madison, who has grisly visions of murders before they happen. They all revolve around an evil entity named Gabriel, who Madison learns she had a past connection to. This is pretty familiar territory for horror movies and TV, Wan remains one of the genre's top craftsmen. While he's is generally known for his in-camera tricks, this seems to feature much more CGI than usual. (Though it's probably nowhere near as much as Furious 7 and Aquaman.)

Malignant opens in theaters on September 10. It will also be available on HBO Max for one month.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.