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Released by: MVD Visual
Released on: February 17th, 2015
Director: Brian Avenet-Bradley
Cast: Brad Dourif, Nick Nicotera, Gary Cairns
Year: 2013
Purchase on Amazon
The Movie:
Malignant is a tightly budgeted thriller film with horror and science fiction elements which comments on the nature of addictions, and the lengths some might go to curb certain self-destructive behavior.
Gary Cairns stars as Allex, a young man who develops an alcohol problem following the untimely death of his wife, and his cat-and-mouse game with a mysterious medical man who develops some seriously frightening ideas about experimental addiction treatment. The Man is played by legendary genre character actor Brad Dourif-performing circles around everyone else in the cast-whose meddling scientist implants in Allex a mind-control device which kicks in when Allex drinks excessively and passes out, working off the young man's brain waves during deep REM sleep. During this time, the comatose Allex commits murders under the control of The Man-similar in fashion to Bela Lugosi's "living dead" in White Zombie-who then shows Allex video evidence of said murders the next day.
The real trouble with Malignant isn't the story, which certainly has potential for some interesting angles, but rather the strength of the performances. Cairns is a young actor who is clearly eager, but fails to bring a sufficient amount of emotional depth to his character, while Nick Nicotera's performance of Chad, a tech-savvy friend of Allex's feels cut form a similarly cardboard mold. The real star of the show here is predictably Dourif, who brings plenty of menace and delusional anger to his role of The Man, although it must be said that Malignant really focuses primarily upon Cairns' character, with Dourif taking a back seat to Allex's struggle with self-control and the ticking time bomb which has been implanted within his chest.
It must be said that Malignant is a nicely shot film, however, with some gorgeous and evocative shots early on, as we see a former patient of The Man attempt an escape, only to be caught by Dourif in a great, mood-setting scene. The film is also tightly edited, and flies by at a brief eighty-five minutes; it's just a shame that Malignant can't keep the tension required to lift the film from simply being passable viewing. The whole affair feels episodic early on with the murders, and only ramps up once Dourif finally makes his reveal and confronts Allex face to face.
Add to this unsatisfying finale, and you have a film which had good intentions, but sadly fails to thrill to its full potential.
Audio/Visual/Extras
MVD Visual's DVD of Malignant is presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio with Dolby 2.0 audio. The cinematography of Laurence Avenet-Bradley pops nicely with the saturated colors here, while the audio track itself is clear and without error. Extras include a nicely detailed and lengthy "making of" documentary, titled "Surgery for the Soul," which is hosted by the film's director and producer (over some glasses of wine, no less) and goes over all of the aspects of production. It's here where we get a sense of director and writer Brian Avenet-Bradley's inspiration and ideas for the film, while interviews and behind the scenes footage give a great view behind the work which went into creating Malignant.
The Final Word
Malignant was a decent watch, but nothing that's gonna be burning up demand or making anyone's year end lists anytime soon. The curious are recommended to check it out on Amazon Prime's streaming service, but don't expect to return back to this one after you've watched.
