Streaming Horrors: Director James Wan Is the Master of Generation Z’s Nightmares

Your weekly film queue.

Malignant MALIGNANT, from left: Maddie Hasson, Annabelle Wallis, 2021. © Warner Bros. /Courtesy Everett Collection (Warner Bros/Everett Collection/©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett C)
By Alex Barr

SPOOKY PICK 1:

If you expect elevated social commentary and realistic plot lines from your scary movies, go ahead and skip James Wan’s Malignant (2021). If, however, you’re willing to suspend your disbelief enough to witness a horror virtuoso alchemize timeless genre tropes while simultaneously creating an entirely unique (albeit kitschy) monster, Malignant deserves a spot on your watchlist. Avoid even the briefest synopsis—the less you know, the better. HBO Max.

SPOOKY PICK 2:

Before Malignant, James Wan cemented his image as the mastermind behind Generation Z’s nightmares with The Conjuring (2013), which follows real-life couple Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) as they investigate the haunting of the Perron family home. This movie is the perfect studio scream: It scares in all the right moments, surprising with jabs when you least expect it. Also, if you want to see the film on the big screen, it’s playing at the Academy Theater through Thursday, Oct. 27. HBO Max.

SPOOKY PICK 3:

You can’t keep your eyes off the slow-motion train wreck that is Kevin Lewis’ Willy’s Wonderland (2021). Nicolas Cage stars as a brooding vagabond (credited as “The Janitor”) who travels to a podunk town with an unexplained mission to decimate the haunted Chuck E. Cheese-like animatronics who prey on unknowing passersby. This film makes outrageously bold choices (Cage’s character remains completely silent throughout the entire 88-minute runtime), all while doing absolutely nothing to explain or justify them. Needless to say, you’ll never see another horror movie like it again. Hulu.

SPOOKY PICK 4:

Adam Robitel’s first feature-length film, The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014), is a contemporary mockumentary that checks all the right boxes. Michelle Ang stars as Mia, a Ph.D. student documenting the daily life of an Alzheimer’s patient, Deborah (Jill Larson), and her daughter and caretaker, Sarah (Anne Ramsay). After observing Deborah’s behavior for several days, it quickly becomes clear to Mia that something sinister is at play. Amazon Prime, Tubi, Vudu.

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