I'll keep the spoiler tags, just in case, as I'll go into some details: Spoiler I did think of Basket Case but didn't mention it because Belial isn't really used as a plot twist in the same way. Whereas, EDT runs for about 2/3 of its run time as a straight-up giallo inspired slasher before the evil mutant twin is revealed. And the film gets quite bonkers after than point. So, the structure is very similar. And, if I remember correctly, the "host" twin is also unaware of the "mutant" twin killing people. Also, if you want to use spoiler tags you write the word "spoiler" in between [ ] brackets at the beginning and "/spoiler" in between [ ] brackets at the end.
Just got back from seeing it and I had a good time. Aside from Basket Case and Evil Dead Trap I saw a bit of influence from The Night Strangler between the police sketch and the Seattle Underground environment.
I think this movie sucks swamp a$$. The whole time I kept thinking of movies it reminded me of (The Dark Half, Basket Case, The Ring) and never found anything remotely original to enjoy. There's a lot of screaming and a lot of characters reacting to things seen a billion times as though they've never happened before. IMHO: Junk.
I caught Malignant last night with a friend who came home for a visit. This was actually my first theater visit since the pandemic began... so it's been way over a year. There were only a few other people in the theater, but it was a late show on a Sunday night. We were both pleasantly entertained, and liked it quite a bit. It reminded me of a mix of Basket Case and Session 9 with a helping of The Matrix (action scenes) thrown in for good measure. James Wan has never really disappointed me, and I'd definitely watch this one again. 2 heads up.
You're such an avid film fan that I always figured you saw films in the theater. Was it the pandemic that stopped you or do you prefer at home viewing?
Yes, it was the pandemic that stopped me from going. The Marcus theater here was closed down for over a year, and really just fully re-opened a few months ago. They had recently revamped the entire multiplex just a few years go from bottom to top, so it's a very nice theater to attend. It even has a couple of restaurants, a full bar, etc... I had seen a few new "theatrical" movies during that downtime when my friend simply bought them on demand at home.
