"Malignant" and the Guide To Surviving a James Wan Horror Movie
The early 2000s were an abysmal time for horror movies. Save for a few notable exceptions, the new millennium summoned from the depths of hell a horde of sequels and remakes that achieved financial success, though they’ve pretty much dissipated from all cultural importance whatsoever—think Blair Witch Project 2: Book of Shadows. In 2003, a pair of Australian pals set out to shatter the paradigm and began work on something fresh, something cerebral and raw. What materialized was a low-budget puzzle movie about two men trapped in a room; a simple premise with unflinching execution.
That film was Saw, a huge commercial success and one of the most ballsy, original films of the last quarter-century. Until then, it was ludicrous to think that a movie about a man who has to carve his own limbs off would ever achieve mainstream popularity. At that moment, with the help of his screenwriting companion/co-star Leigh Whannell, James Wan threw his name in the hat as one of the most visionary horror talents in a sea of faceless filmmakers, thus becoming one of the first mainstream horror directors to emerge in the new millennium.
Fast forwarding 17 years, James Wan has transcended his mold to become a staple of blockbuster filmmaking and the driving force behind some of the most successful franchises in the history of cinema. As a director/producer, his horror films have amassed over $3.8 billion in global revenue. His latest Malignant which hit theaters and HBO Max last month is a pulpy return to form that takes his work in a fun new direction and sets the tone for this calamitous Halloween season.
As an avid horror fan (and former Cub Scout), I like to think there are some important survival tips that viewers can absorb from these blood-curdling tales. To see the end credits of his twisted nightmare scenarios, you must operate by a rigid set of principles and follow them blindly as your biggest keys to survival. So follow along, if you’ve got the stomach for it.
Writer’s Note: Many notable films have been left off this list. For convenience, I only included the horror movies that Wan directed.
If you spring awake to find yourself chained to a pipe, look out for yourself before helping others - Saw (2004)
It’s hard to fully articulate the ground-shaking impact of James Wan’s depraved inaugural feature. This pale, twisted lovechild of Cube and Seven is an unnerving horror experience that has withstood the test of time and spawned so many sequels, they give James Bond a run for his money. The film follows Adam (Leigh Whannell) and Lawrence (Cary Elwes), two strangers who’ve been chained to a pipe in an abandoned room by a killer obsessed with teaching his victims a morbid lesson.
Toward the end of the film, we reach a revelation that still incites frustration at an obvious logistic flaw on part of the co-protagonist Adam. Considering he’s fallen prey to a killer who obsesses over teaching virtue, his most important lesson is learned when he realizes the key to his own lock floated down the drain of the tub he woke up in. This clever moment is seared into the minds of horror fans worldwide and helped establish Wan’s legacy as a filmmaker who isn’t afraid of going the distance.
2. If investigating a murder case where a ventriloquist dummy is your suspect, quit your job and find a new calling - Dead Silence (2007)
Wan’s biggest box office bomb also happened to achieve retroactive cult status among horror fanatics for its cheap scares and corny thrill. Sitting at 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, his third studio feature Dead Silence was predictable, poorly acted, and fell beneath the benchmark established by Saw, but carved its own legacy of tapping into our primordial fear of possessed dolls long before Wan explored this territory with Annabelle.
Despite some inherent flaws, Wan presented his natural ability to construct sequences that induce jumpy tension through unnerving imagery. It’s not very sophisticated, but it’s pulpy and dynamic with an energy that feels nightmarish compared to the barbaric realism of Saw. Rather, Dead Silence goes for pure hellspawned terror in a world where an enchanted nursery rhyme can summon a creepy wooden puppet to sever your tongue with a pair of scissors. Sadly for protagonist Detective Jim Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg), he learns his lesson far too late.
3. If a family member starts astral traveling to a ghost dimension, disown them - Insidious (2011)
Insidious is James Wan’s first splash into sophisticated supernatural horror with a high-concept twist. This lo-fi blockbuster makes the most of its $2 million budget while taking audiences to “The Further”, an otherworldly dimension inhabited by malevolent spirits, in relentless pursuit of a human host to invade the land of the living.
Unlike his previously directed horror entries, Wan sidesteps the shock-and-awe obscenity for a more intelligent, patient PG-13 story that affixes our perspective to a family of likable, well-acted characters spearheaded by Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson. The Lambert family patriarch (Wilson) must confront the demons of his childhood when he learns that access to The Further was hereditarily passed down onto Dalton (Ty Simpkins), his 12-year-old son. Staring into the hideous face of an ancient demon, family bonds are important and all—but sometimes you just have to know when to pick your battles.
4. If your dog dies within one day of moving into a new house, burn it to the ground - The Conjuring (2014)
For non-horror fans, one of their more understandable takes against the genre is the fact that horror movie characters aren’t generally known for their smart or informed decisions. We’ve joked about it for decades and one of its most classic examples also happens to be the crown jewel in James Wan’s illustrious canon. Based on the true-life cases of paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Conjuring to this day remains one of the most important haunted house movies of all time.
Upon release, it found colossal success—the aftershocks of which carry onto the present day, having spawned two direct sequels and five spin-offs that have grossed over $2.1 billion in less than 10 years. The Conjuring shifted the landscape of horror by popularizing the idea of an interconnected universe, much to the dismay of the film’s afflicted protagonists, the Perron family. After moving into an obviously haunted farmhouse in the remote brush of Rhode Island, they choose to do nothing when their family dog Sadie is found dead the very next day. Moving might be an expensive ordeal but to stay put is pretty much asking for it.
5. If you start astral traveling and become possessed, you clearly didn’t follow the third rule - Insidious: Chapter 2 (2015)
Though the Saw franchise churned out an astounding number of Wan-produced sequels, Insidious: Chapter 2 was the first sequel that he ever actually directed—and it certainly shows. Coming back to the creative well he first sprung in the Further, this film showcased a polished refinement in his directorial instinct, with a number of stylistic flourishes that help expand the lens through which we see his world.
The premise follows patriarch Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) who can’t seem to catch a break in the Further, as this sequel finds him possessed by a vengeful spirit he encounters in the first film. This worthy follow-up breaks the “bad sequel” curse that is so regularly suffered by horror franchises and finds inventive new ways to make audiences tremble with fear. For poor Patrick Wilson, the undisputed Scream King of the extended Wan-iverse, the curse in this sequel seems much too literal.
6. Inverted crucifix means “not welcome here” - The Conjuring 2 (2018)
Unsettling religious imagery is a crystallization of what makes horror movies so exhilarating: an otherworldly occurrence that defies all hope, logic, and reason. Even for people who don’t consider themselves religious, it’s common knowledge by this point that an upside-down crucifix spells nothing but bad news. The Warrens find out the hard way in The Conjuring 2 as they venture across the pond to help out a God-fearing Enfield family who are tormented by the spirit of a wretched old man.
The success of The Conjuring universe owes a lot to its grounding in spiritualism and faith. One of the franchise’s most iconic scenes features the Hodgson family’s second-eldest daughter Janet (Madison Wolfe) trapped in a dark room littered with crucifixes. Hyperventilation kicks in as the mounted crosses start turning upside down on their own, which culminates in a terrifying jumpscare that feels rightly earned. This hair-raising moment is a snapshot of supernatural terror that helps signify the essence of what makes this franchise so definitive.
7. Gruesome visions of murder after suffering head trauma? Skip the neurologist, see a priest - Malignant (2021)
James Wan’s latest is campy and chaotic with the subtlety of a sledgehammer; in other words, it has all the ingredients of a future cult classic. It achieves a balanced measure of human intrigue and splendid carnage that proudly presents itself as a supernatural thriller with an obscene sense of self-awareness. The hard-R splatter film follows Madison (Annabelle Wallis), a young woman who starts experiencing terrifying premonitions of murder after a malicious attack leaves her dangerously vulnerable.
Tonally, Malignant feels like a homecoming for the Australian filmmaker, who for 14 years had been focused on cranking out franchise-ready entertainment that shifted horror’s landscape, though it abandoned the raw intensity that characterized much of his earlier work. Madison’s quest to uncover the secrets of her terrifying visions is a white-knuckled drag through the depths of her sanity, with a third-act twist that reminds us of James Wan’s gift as one of the most prominent (albeit macabre) storytellers of the 21st Century.
