Malignant (2013)

Allex, understandably distraught at his wife's death, takes up the bottle. Now, after months living in a drunken haze, he finds himself in the midst of a fiendish plot by a nameless enigmatic voice (Genre mainstay, Brad Dourif) to rid him of his vice once and for all in this slow-burning little horror film.Although Mr. Dourif is undeniably the 'highlight' of this film, that's my by default as the rest of the film is pretty awful. The main gist of the movie felt extremely padded and could've been told in 45 minutes tops to get rid of some needless repetition. As far as Brad films go, i'd put it way down with the abysmal "Junkyard Dog"

After Allex (Gary Cairns) loses his wife tragically, he turns to the bottle and makes a bad habit of it. Being an alcoholic is affecting every aspect of his life, including getting him on his boss' bad side. It seems like a lot of people around Allex have noticed his addiction, yet no one has stepped in to help. That is until The Man (Brad Dourif), tries to help Allex in unconventional ways, that only makes things worse for wear.After being approached by The Man, Allex wakes up to a nasty gash on his left pectoral muscle that's both sore, and already stitched up. The Man tells him that it's treatment, and that he better not drink again. Defying what he's told by the mysterious man, Allex drinks, and wakes up to a video on his computer of himself murdering someone. The Man calls him, and warns him that if he drinks again, someone else will be killed. At first he doesn't know if it's real or not, and relies on the opinion of his friend's opinion who tells him that it's fake.So, Allex drinks some more, and wakes up to another video. This time it's a woman he's killed, and the bloody crowbar used in the video is in his tub, covered in blood. Though he doesn't know how he's killing these people, he knows he doesn't want to do it again, so he pours out all of his liquor. By this point, it's been established that somehow he's being controlled and watched. And after being fired for not coming into work, his next victim is his boss. While he still has no memory, or answers as to why he committed the murder, he runs away and camps out in the desert, and even there, he still kills someone.While I don't have any major complaints about the movie, I'd be lying if I said that Gary Cairns performance isn't lackluster at parts. I feel there was room for more vast emotional acting, that if strong enough could have really pulled you into some scenes that are a letdown as is. Shortly after his victim in the desert, Allex cuts open his pectoral muscle and removes a disc, the little piece of high-tech machinery that was allowing him to be controlled to kill people by The Man.We come to find out that he's The Man's second experiment attempt at this, and is given a lobotomy through his eye socket, after a bit of shock treatment. There's some good makeup effects to be shown, especially towards the end. We also get some understanding of The Man, and learn of his backstory, which is tragic. There's a sudden turn of events as Allex gets the upper hand on The Man, and there's a plot twist of deception involving where The Man gets his high-grade technology apparel. In the end, 'Malignant' fails to be scary or very suspenseful, but it still pulls you in, if only to find out answers as to what's going on with Allex being controlled and killing people. Definitely a unique piece of cinema, but it doesn't stand out. If Dourif's name wasn't attached, I think this one might have slipped by people's radar. But I did like it, I just wasn't blown away.

After the death of his wife, a grieving man becomes the victim of a horrific experiment to cure his addiction.I don't give super reviews willy nilly.I noted that this movie got one great review, one good review and one bad review.It definitely deserves a good review.Yes, there are some silly parts, but it kept my attention and I was interested in how it turned out.Some scenes defy logic but it's a movie. And for that matter, a movie with a $2 mil budget.What does Brad Doriff get? $200k? So he gets 10% of the funds?It does a lot with a minuscule amount of money. The original title was way better. The ending is anti-climatic so it gets a 7.

Maybe the idea was good but surely the execution failed on many levels. Few good things I could say about this one, it's a little better than "Brainjacked", has an iconic horror actor and the acting was that of a acceptable B movie. So that's why I rated it a 3, cause in rest, everything is plain ol' forgettable. Overall I say this one is a bad example of low budget horror, that tries a tad bit more than those usual zombie/found footage films, but nothing memorable whatsoever. I would never recommend such a piece, except if you are looking for something to put you to sleep, then it might do the trick.Do try "13 sins", I really enjoyed that one. Is kinda on the same level, so you won't feel too deserted. Cheers!