#OnTheBigScreen: Malignant, The Forever Purge and The Protégé

Malignant

Malignant is the latest creation from Conjuring universe architect James Wan, who is regarded as one of the most creative filmmakers working today.

Directing from a screenplay by Akela Cooper and story by Wan & Ingrid Bisu and Cooper, the films centres Madison, who is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.

"Malignant is very much inspired by the kind of movies that I grew up loving,” says Wan, “One that is a loving throwback to the ’80s and early ’90s style of horror-thrillers like the kinds made by the great horror-maestros Dario Argento, Brian De Palma, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg. I wanted to challenge myself to go back and do something that’s not based on any existing IPs, like I had done with “Saw”, “Dead Silence” and “Insidious.”  It was important for me to craft an original story that would allow me to play with old school special effects and makeup effects

James Wan directed the critically acclaimed The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2, and produced The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It with Peter Safran, who have collaborated on all the Conjuring Universe films. Recently, the global box office for the entire Conjuring Universe crossed $2 billion.

Read more here.

The Forever Purge

In this satirical allegory on class, racism, poverty and oppression the next chapter in Blumhouse’s infamous terror franchise, hurtles into innovative new territory as all the rules are broken when a sect of lawless marauders decides that the annual Purge does not stop at daybreak and instead should never end.

Members of an underground movement, no longer satisfied with one annual night of anarchy and murder, decide to overtake America through an unending campaign of mayhem and massacre. No one is safe.  Adela (Ana De La Reguera) and her husband Juan (Tenoch Huerta) live in Texas, where Juan is working as a ranch hand for the wealthy Tucker family. Juan impresses the Tucker patriarch, Caleb (Will Patton), but that fuels the jealous anger of Caleb’s son, Dylan (Josh Lucas). On the morning after The Purge, a masked gang of killers attacks the Tucker family to band together and fight back as the country spirals into chaos and the United States begins to disintegrate around them.

From a screenplay by franchise creator and narrative mastermind James DeMonaco, The Forever Purge is directed by Everardo Valerio Gout.

“With each year, our country seems to be growing even more divided, more exclusionary, angrier, less tolerant,” DeMonaco says. “At points, the country seems like a powder keg ready to blow over some issue—gun control, immigration, religious beliefs, etc. Immigration was the most recent issue creating a deep rift in American thought, and this is what I wanted to tackle in The Forever Purge. I wanted to ask the question, ‘Was one day enough to release all this anger?’ The answer was no.’”

Read more here.

The Protégé

This action-packed film follows Anna (Maggie Q) who’s been trained for years by her mentor and father-figure Moody (Samuel Jackson) to become one of the world’s premiere assassins. Anna and Moody working flawlessly as a team to eliminate a local drug lord in Romania. Their approach in handling the task is impeccable; they are certainly on their game. Anna runs an antique book shop in London. Moody asks Anna to find, through the hacker she works with, the whereabouts of a person by the name of Lucas Hayes.  Then, a sequence of turbulent events begins to unfold. Anna is visited by a mysterious man, Rembrandt (Michael Keaton), who shows a thorough interest in her. She gets attacked herself by two killers at the bookshop but manages to escape. Connecting the dots, it all leads back to Moody’s final request - Lucas Hayes. Determined to untangle the plot and get revenge for her mentor’s killing, Anna departs for Vietnam – the place she swore she would never return. In Vietnam Anna she crosses paths again with the man from the shadows, Rembrandt. He turns out to be an essential member of the security team for the same billionaire she has to kill. Anna will experience unimaginable torture and will risk her life numerous times, determined to complete her mission. There will be some unexpected twists along Anna’s journey and tension right until the end, when scenes from her horrific past will be revealed, and we will finally comprehend why she became who she is. And just when it all seems darker than ever, the mysterious Rembrandt will bring a touch of hope with his gentle words to Anna, prompting her to make a life-saving decision.

The film is directed by Martin Campbell, one of the most revered action directors in the world with the Bond films Golden Eye and Casino Royale, from a screenplay by Richard Wenk, best known for The Equalizer franchise.

Read more about the latest and upcoming films here.