“Malum” Movie Review

 

“Malum”

Movie Review

 

The film 'Malum,' written and directed by Jeremy Michael Pereira and starring Richard, Amanda Lopez, and John Urbaniec, is about a man's past, a girlfriend's nightmare, and a villain's revenge. Malum depicts the story of a supervillain who comes to life. A terrifying encounter with the man who had wronged him in the past. A fast-paced thriller adventure. A comic book and a visual novel come to life. This one is for all of you villain aficionados out there.

Officer Will Loren, played by Eric Olson, saves three girls from a homicidal cult in the film's plot. He then went on a spree, shooting up the station before killing himself. Jessica, played by Jessica Sula, is set to start her first shift as a cop. And she'll be alone, working the final shift in the now-decommissioned station where her father's life came to an end.

Her day is already going south before she even gets to the station. A visit to her father's grave leads to an argument with her estranged mother, played by Candice Coke. When she encounters cult members on her way to the station and receives a rude response from the officer she relieves, things begin to get bizarre. Jessica chose this job to learn more about her father, but she's about to learn a lot more than she bargained for.

Malum's first hour is fast-paced, with several good jumps interspersed among more odd sights and noises. Things start off with a street person hunting for his kid and an insane hooker named Marigold, performed by Natalie Victoria, reprising her role from the original. But it's the data on a jump drive discovered in her father's locker that drives Jessica down the rabbit hole.

Thank you to cinematographer Sean McDaniel, production designer Nicole Balzarini, and art director Kyle Michael Wilson for transforming an actually abandoned jail into an excellent background for DiBlasi and the film's actions.

Dark and ominous, it's the ideal setting for any kind of threat you can think of, and the film takes full use of this by having Jessica regularly dash from one end of the building to the other. Malum has built up a lot of suspense at the hour mark, thanks to the increasingly frightening footage of the cult's leader John and some of the other members on the trip.

Malum's final act is actually the best part of the picture, in the opposite direction of Last Shift's evolution. Even if you haven't seen Last Shift, you'll be able to figure out the film's huge reveal. The unrelenting speed of the picture, as well as Trevor Thompson's frightening gore and disturbing-looking creatures, including Malum himself, more than compensate for it.

DiBlasi and Poiley have achieved their purpose, whether you call it a remake or a reinvention. Malum is a better, more consistent film than the first, and it should appeal to both new and returning fans.

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