CinemaBlend participates in affiliate programs with various companies. We may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via links.
It’s another big weekend for horror fans since Malignant has hit both theaters and HBO Max. The release is especially exciting because it sees the return of James Wan, the favorite horror director behind The Conjuring universe. In recent years, Wan has taken a step back from helming his terrifying projects to produce and make Aquaman for DC, but Malignant is an exciting homecoming to the genre. As fans go out to see it and/or tune in at home, Wan has shared a message to keep in mind.
The filmmaker took to his Instagram account to celebrate Malignant's release, sharing his stance on the movie being available day-and-date to theaters and streaming. As he writes, he made the horror to be viewed in a dark theater with a group of people as a “communal horror” experience, but given the circumstances, he seems content with fans turning down the lights and experiencing the movie’s scares at home.
In the pandemic era, how the Hollywood industry has attempted to adapt has been a tough line to walk for filmmakers especially, who have had to make compromises for their work to still reach audiences. Warner Bros 2021 model that has seen each and every one of its releases come to theaters and HBO Max on the same day has been controversial, but seemingly successful. Earlier this summer, the James Wan-written and produced Conjuring sequel The Devil Made Me Do It had a solid box office performance with the model.
As James Wan also said in the post, Malignant is quite different from his most popular horror franchise, The Conjuring. He called it a “different beast,” but foremost asked that viewers stay away from spoilers as much as they can and try to hit play without much context as to what the movie will involve. In spirit of this, we’ll only give you a teaspoon about what to expect from Malignant.
The horror movie centers on two sisters, one of which, Annabelle Wallis’ Madison, has been paralyzed by terrifying visions of murders. You can check out the trailer for Malignant below:
If you’d like to check out Malignant at home, you can sign up for HBO Max using this link. The movie will be available to watch for a month before being removed from the service.
Malignant is receiving some early praise from critics, who are calling it a ton of “fun” – which might tip off Wan’s whole bit about it being different from The Conjuring. CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg gave the movie 4 out of 5 stars in his review, calling it one of the “best scary movies of 2021.” High praise! You can go see or stream the movie now, and then check out what horror movies are coming up here next.
