Malum

Malum is an independent film that seems to have a tiny budget. It definitely shows, but it still manages to pull off a cool horror flick.

It's relatively slow but I wasn't bored. The director got what he needed out of his cast, including one really good performance by a prostitute. The dialogue is pretty good.

But the real question is, how is the horror? It's pretty good for most of the movie, then really awesome later in the movie. There are a bunch of super creepy scenes. They do a phenomenal job with the practical effects.

A couple things brought the movie down in quality in my eyes. The first is some really bad editing throughout. The second is the sound design. So many things should have been way louder, like the guns. It felt like it was missing an impact.

One example, a door is about to slam shut. She tries to stop it. The editing goes from door swinging shut to her banging on the shut door. No shot of the door slamming shut. No sound either.

Even with it's flaws, I had a pretty good time with this movie. The payoff during the climax is worth the buildup. Malum is definitely not for everyone. But for a horror fan/movie fiend like me, it satisfied the craving. (1 viewing, opening Thursday 3/30/2023)