Malum Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Malum Blu-ray Movie Review

It's Latin for "evil," as you're no doubt wondering.

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown March 23, 2024

A rookie cop (Jessica Sula), desperate to impress her superiors, mans the phone during the night shift at a police station that might not look so sinister if the sun was up. But within the shadows lurks an evil seemingly awakened by a cult leader (Chaney Morrow) and his followers. By night's end, Jessica will face terrors she could never imagine, coming face to face with an entity determined to drag her into the depths of a waking hell. The 2023 chiller also stars Eric Olson, Candice Coke, Britt George, Clarke Wolfe, Morgan Lennon, Danielle Coyne, Kevin Wayne, Natalie Victoria, Sam Brooks, Christopher Matthew Spencer, Monroe Cline and Valerie Loo. Sound like your cup of tea? Writer/director Anthony DiBlasi's... reimagining? Reboot? Remake? Requel? Um, redo of his 2014 grindhouse indie, Last Shift, retains its independent horror roots while delivering something arguably more polished and eerie. Necessary? Not quite, nor is it so resoundingly scary as to warrant a revisit. That's Sam Raimi Evil Dead territory. Most horror flicks don't deserve a second go, much less a do-over. But there's enough here to appease gore hounds and supernatural beastie fans, as well as a series of solid performances that make it that much easier to overlook Malum's lesser qualities.

Click here to read Neil Lumbard's more glowing review of DiBlasi's Malum, which he calls "an entertaining and thrilling bump-in-the-night horror film." Adding that he believes it to be "a solidly crafted horror film, and one that remembers to highlight the slow-dread (in almost Japanese-horror-esque style) rather than simply relying on jump scares or whatever creepy-crawly scene one might expect. Malum is an underrated and worthwhile horror film. Certainly one well worth seeing."

Malum Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Though Terror Vision's excellent 4K release of Malum is definitely the way to go if you have the gear to accommodate, Cinedigm's 1080p/AVC-encoded standard Blu-ray edition is no slouch, offering a presentation that almost, almost could be mistaken for its 4K counterpart. The film's palette isn't backed by HDR but primaries nevertheless punch through the monochromatic pale greens of the police station interior to create an array of dazzling palette shifts. Reds are particularly powerful, whether by way of light near the station's entrance or the blood that covers Jessica's face by film's end. There's also a sense of real beauty, despite the at-times hyper-digital aesthetic of the photography. Black levels are nice and rich, without sacrificing intended shadow detail or crushing, and contrast is quite vibrant, lending impact to key shots that are meant to hit with force. Likewise, detail is exceptional, second only to the 4K release's precision. Edges are razor sharp without suffering from anomalies (e.g. halos), fine textures are wonderfully resolved, and only a handful of FX shots and prosthetics struggle to impress under such high definition scrutiny. It only helps that banding and macroblocking are completely absent -- for comparison's sake, scan Amazon's problematic lower bitrate streaming presentation and note how often the flat colored walls of the police station, shadowy rooms and long hallways look as if digitized Legos are a part of the production design -- and little else threatens the proficiency of the encode. It may not be 4K, but this is 1080p done flawlessly.

Malum Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Malum's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track nails all the horror must-haves, from hair-raising noises in the distance to whispers in the dark, sinister forces swirling round the listener, and enough soundfield know-how to drop you right in the middle of a not-so-deserted police station whose ghosts and demons all sound a bit too convincing. Dialogue is clear and intelligible at all times, dynamics are terrific and every last subtlety is in place as it should be. Rear speaker activity is frightening and involving, crafting genuine suspense and dread as Jessica slowly moves down corridors and explores dark rooms that beckon her with strange creaks, groans and scraping. The soundfield is perfectly immersive -- a necessity for any good horror mix -- and rarely does it disappoint. Directionality is precise, pans are so smooth they sneak right up on you, and even "less" is more... until "more" makes you jump, that is. LFE output adds the right top-off to the proceedings too, lending weight and presence to evil entities that are there one minute and gone the next.

Malum Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - Writer/director Anthony DiBlasi is joined by lead actress Jessica Sula for an informative rundown of all things Malum. Front and center is his reasoning for remaking his own movie, followed by a series of production details and anecdotes that dissect matters scene by scene. Of particular interest is some of the baked-in lore that isn't so obvious, as well as the particulars of the film's practical effects and creature designs.

• Creature Feature B-Roll (HD, 19 minutes) - The FX of Malum's beasties that go bump in the night.

• Behind the Scenes with the Cast (HD, 1 minute) - A short glimpse of the cast on set.

• Introduction to the Film (HD, 2 minutes) - Courtesy of DiBlasi.

• Reimagining Last Shift (HD, 2 minutes) - A much too short look at what goes into a remake.

• B-Roll (HD, 117 minutes) - Fly on the wall B-roll footage en masse.

• Texas Frightmare (HD, 62 minutes) - From May 2023, a Texas Frightmare Weekend Q&A featuring DiBlasi, Sam Brooks, Britt George, Kevin Wayne and Christopher Spencer.

• Outtake Reel (HD, 4 minutes)

• Extended and Deleted Scenes (HD, 8 minutes)

• Photo Gallery (HD)

• Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

Malum Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Malum offers plenty of old-school horror delights and a healthy dose of hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck fun. Is it the next great indie horror offering? No, though a third redux in another ten years may finally give DiBlasi the budget, cast and polish he needs to pull off what has to be a story that haunts his waking dreams. You could certainly do worse, but that's selling Malum too short. As low-budget indie horror flicks go, it's better than I expected and has quite a few things going for it. One of those things is, without a doubt, Cinedigm's Blu-ray release, which boasts perfect video, excellent lossless audio, and a lengthy supplemental package. This one is pretty easy to recommend, despite the fact that the previously released 4K edition is the disc to buy if you have a 4K setup.