Malignant (I) (2013) User Reviews

THE BLACK BUTTERFLIES

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 10 October 2018]

Allex (sic) makes friends with Jim Beam after the death of his wife. An experimental brain doctor (Brad Dourif) decides to help Allex with his drinking problem with an implant that triggers violent actions when Allex gets drunk and passes out. As dead people pile up, Allex gets a bit concerned and wants out of this experiment, he never wanted to do in the first place.

This is another control film. It has a small cast, and was done well for what it was, but lacked dark comedy entertainment value which is what make us enjoy these features. I never felt for any of the characters. We had a drunk who feels sorry for himself and an evil scientist.

"13 Sins" a slightly different type of film has a better intensity factor. I recommend it over this one.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. Brief sex scene. No nudity.

Weak Script

[shawnblackman · 4/10 · 4 February 2017]

A man goes through an ordeal of losing his wife to cancer and takes solace in a bottle. Brad Dourif plays a demented doctor who decides to help him fight his addiction using unorthodox methods. These methods involve cutting him open and planting the latest mind control equipment. His therapy is simple, if he drinks he'll blackout and wake up next to a dead body that he murdered (he's usually provided with a video of him doing it). If he doesn't drink he'll be fine of course, but that never is the case.

Dourif does a good job with the script he was given but it is a weak script. Most of it does seem far fetched but to each his own. It did remind me of Chop (2011) where the guy would wake up every morning with some body part cut off.

This film did have a couple of scenes where a punch type tool was inserted behind the eye and tapped into the brain. I did get a slight headache from that one.

Malignant is surprisingly stagnant

[movieman_kev · 3/10 · 9 October 2014]

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"

Not worth of the name "time killer".

[Patient444 · 3/10 · 22 May 2014]

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!

A Dull Protagonist

[timothygartin · 4/10 · 29 May 2022]

Sometimes, a realistic portrayal of a character just doesn't make for a compelling story. Our protagonist in this movie is an introverted, depressed man. He is realistically played as a very quiet and subdued person. I can appreciate this, but it is super boring to watch.

A treatment worse than the disease

[moviefansme · 6/10 · 23 February 2014]

Malignant (original title: "Black Butterflies") is a cautionary tale about the nature of addiction and the technology to control our behavior that is rapidly becoming reality. This story makes use of the same technology as Michael Crichton's "The Terminal Man," but here focuses on the forced relationship between the patient with the moral weakness and the Machiavellian mad scientist willing to cross ethical and legal boundaries to perform his experiments.

The lead actors are worth mentioning: Gary Cairns as Allex plays sorrow very well, making the audience feel his loss, motivating his addiction. He and the script do a nice job portraying the bewilderment of a man being forced unwillingly into an experiment and learning with horror of the consequences. Sienna Farall's character brings a couple of rare moments of joy into the story, illustrating Allex's sorrow. I'd like to see Farall in more movies. Nick Nicotera's chad is written well as a nerd's nerd and the source of technology Allex uses rather cleverly to explore his predicament, but Nicotera's portrayal was rather wooden; maybe his character needed more back story. And Brad Dourif is the star of the show as the mad scientist. When the interactions between him and Allex kick into high gear, some of Dourif's performance seems a bit forced. Maybe his character needed more motivation or maybe the budget necessitated rushing the shooting schedule.

The story flows smoothly, with the characters having motivation for what they do and the story showing those motivations to the audience. The horror is just the right amount of graphic. Kudos to one scene near the end that shows exactly the horror of what's going on; great effects. Without spoiling too much of the plot: It's a good mix of action, violence, and social commentary, well filmed and tense to watch.

'Malignant' takes control of you

[theicon87 · 8/10 · 12 July 2014]

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.

A Must Watch

[arfdawg-1 · 7/10 · 24 May 2014]

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.

And you thought Obamacare was going to be bad!

[lance-schmidt · 10/10 · 19 October 2013]

Brian Avenet-Bradley has yet another hit! As a fan of Dark Remains it comes as no surprise that Brian has done it again. First a story that breaks new ground that unfortunately science is close to breaching, the possibilities of life eventually imitating art are freakishly scary. Science is close to such break troughs as could lead to the possibilities of all sorts of nefarious possibilities. At present pacemakers can be tampered with and that is only the start, but I digress. The story is compelling and well crafted. The acting by both Gary Cairns and Nick Nicotera was superb. However, the villainous deranged man was portrayed ever so effortlessly by the incomparable Brad Douirf. Signing him to the film is as fantastic as the story is creative. With out a masterful and believable villain the film would become a comedy. I could watch Brad read the phone book and be scared if he did it in the guise of this character. Science blends with science fiction in the creepiest of ways in Malignant. Watch it before you sign up for the new insurance exchanges, equally scary!