Malignant: New Clip Teases James Wan Film’s Early ’90s Horror Influence

Filmmaker James Wan returns to the horror genre with his new original film, Malignant, but even with Wan going back to his horror roots, fans expecting something in the same vein as his previous works, such as The Conjuring, may be a bit surprised. The film is a bit of a departure for Wan — star Annabelle Wallis has previously called it “genre-bending” and unlike anything she’s read before — and according to Wan himself, it’s a bit of a tribute to the back shelf horror movies in the video store back in the 1990s. Now, in a new clip from the film, fans can see for themselves how some of those aesthetics and influences factor into Malignant, as Madison (Wallis) races through her darkened house for safety from an unseen threat. You can check the clip out for yourself in the video player above.

During a recent press event attended by ComicBook.com, Wan spoke about how he sees Malignant, talking about how he sees the film as an elevated take on those late ’80s, early ’90s horror films in video stores.

“When people ask me, ‘how would you describe Malignant?’ And I would say, I would describe it best as it’s the kind of movie, if we were living in the ’80s or early ’90s, we would go to the local video store, go down to the back, to the very end, where the horror section or the science-fiction would be. And we would go even deeper into the very back shelves. And we would pick up some movie we would have never heard of before, but it would have the coolest poster art on it. It’d be like Evil 9-9-9, or 6-6-6. And then that was the movie that you can go, ‘Oh, this is cool. Let me take you back and see what this is,’” Wan said. “And that’s how I kind of describe Malignant as being, if it came out in the late ’80s or early ’90s. But of course, I would want to kind of try and elevate it beyond the sort of exploitation, lurid level of those films and actually, and try and class it up a bit.”

He added, “Again, I love those movies. Those films to me, those movies on the back of the shelves that are not famous at all, that are unpopular were the films that really, I would say, inspire me the most growing up. And those were the films that really fired my imagination the most. And so in a lot of ways, it really is a tribute to those back shelf movies you find in the horror section at your local video stores, but doing it at the level that I’ve been making my movies at really.”

In Malignant, Madison (Annabelle Wallis) is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, but her torment worsens as she comes to discover that the horrifying waking dreams are, in fact, terrifying realities. You can check out the new trailer for yourself in the video above. In addition to Wallis, Malignant stars Maddie Hasson (Mr. Mercedes), George Young (Containment), Michole Briana White (Dead to Me), Jacqueline McKenzie (Palm Beach), Jake Abel (Supernatural), McKenna Grace (Captain Marvel), and Ingrid Bisu (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It). Bisu co-wrote and executive produced the film with Wan, and other producers include Wan’s Atomic Monster partner Michael Clear.

Malignant opens in theaters and streams on HBO Max on September 10th.