Director James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw, Insidious) is returning to his “more gritty, rough thriller roots†for his new horror-thriller film, Malignant. Starring Annabelle Wallis (Annabelle, Peaky Blinders) as Madison Mitchell, the movie follows her character’s bouts with eerie visions and encounters with her devilish, childhood imaginary friend, Gabriel. “It’s horror, but it’s also a traditional thriller,†Wan said in an interview with IGN. “It’s psychological, it’s serial killer, but it’s also potentially a monster movie.†As its “not a jump scare film,†Malignant is Wan’s return to using a more retro approach to thriller films. “I just thought, ‘When am I ever going to get the chance to do a film like this ever again?,’ he said. “‘Now is the time for me to use this opportunity to make the kind of movies that I don’t think really get made at this level anymore.’ And so it really came from the want to just make a hark back, a throwback kind of film. And this was just a story that I came about that really fit that desire.†Malignant will begin haunting theaters on September 10.
