Starring - Joshua Winch (Bermuda Island, Hillbilly Frankenstein from Hell), Shanon Snedden (Mold, Lake Fear 3), and Rosie Dubeau (On American Soil, The Legend of El Chupacabra)
Release Date - 2024
Genre - Horror
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
Back at the beginning of my October horror binge I was contacted by writer and producer Gerald Crum to review a couple films he had worked on with Michael Crum. I was unfamiliar with the films and agreed to add them to my binge. I started my marathon with The Cursed Tapes and was a bit disappointed in it. I followed that one up with People in the Walls and was once again disappointed in the feature film I had just watched. I had one more film left to check out and it just happened to be the one I was the most excited to see. I want to thank Gerald for reaching out and allowing Horror Society and myself the opportunity to watch his film Malice!
The film follows two beautiful young ladies who go to an old rural house to get some work done on it. A small group of renovators meet them there and start working on the home when they uncover a bloody woman tied to the bed. They attack the two women and tie them up thinking they killed the woman before they arrived. However, the woman in that room is possessed by an evil and when they let her out of her confinement she begins infecting others.
I hate writing negative reviews for films sent my way. A takes a lot of people working endless hours to make a film and I hate shitting on their hard work. However, not every film I watch is a hit nor am I the target. While The Cursed Tapes and People in the Walls were films that I didn't care for, Malice was right up my alley. I really enjoyed it but I couldn't help but find similarities to classics like Evil Dead and Night of the Demons. The acting in this one left a lot of room for improvement but it was still very enjoyable. The film features a fairly small cast and they all are fully dedicated to their roles. However, it does get a bit awkward at time and some of the dialogue feels like it's being read aloud and not acted out. With that being said, I really enjoyed the character of Joshua Winch. I liked the backstory and the personality he gave the character. Honestly, I'd love to see more of this character and how he was confined to that home with the woman for all those years. The story for this one has a similar premise as Evil Dead and Night of the Demons. We follow a group of people in a seemingly abandoned home/building and accidentally unleashing a long forgotten evil. While it follows films like that, it does try to change it up with the guy who has been feeding her for all these years. It works for the most part but several of the scenes feel like they were shot on the fly or improvised resulting in some story issues or scenes not making sense at all. Some editing could fix this but it's still enjoyable as it is. Finally, the film has a lot of blood and some wild ideas that is reminiscent of the 2013 Evil Dead film. The effects are fairly straight forward but they work very well for the film. While I would have loved some serious gore with this story, I'm content with what we do have. Overall, Malice does struggle to find it's footing but the film itself is very enjoyable especially if you like cabin in the woods type films. Check this one out.
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