Believe it or not, the original Saw is a Giallo-inspired slasher, which would eventually contort into its own new sub-genre, dubbed incorrectly “torture porn”.
It comes as no shock that Saw director James Wan is calling back to his love of Giallo with Malignant, his surprise low-budget horror that stars Annabelle Wallis as Madison, a woman who is plagued by horrific visions of gruesome killings that turn out to be real.
“It’s my take on that particular ’80s trope of storytelling where a victim starts seeing through the vision of a killer,” Wan tells Games Radar, who also shared the above new shot of Wallis in the film. “There was a period where there were a lot of movies like that, and I’m a big fan of that particular sub-genre. Movies like The Eyes of Laura Mars. I wanted to do my own version, crossed with my love of [Brian] De Palma and [Dario] Argento and [Mario] Bava.”
After directing Saw, Dead Silence, Death Sentence, and even giving birth to the Insidious franchise, Wan catapulted to the big league with The Conjuring, and its sequel, furthering his rise with Universal’s Furious 7 and DC’s Aquaman. But with Malignant, it’s a return to the horror director’s indie roots.
“I felt like it might be cool to make something under the radar, that’s not based on any IP, an original story,” he added. “Keep it as low-key as possible and make it really fun. The goal was to go back to my indie horror roots but at the same time, do something that I’ve never done before.”
You aren’t a fan of remakes? Don’t like A24? Well, maybe Malignant is that “original” horror you’ve been begging for? Check it out when Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema release the film in theaters and on HBO Max September 10, 2021.
