TheResident Evilfranchise is an odd duck in the grand scheme of pop culture. Behind every successful game or innovative idea lies a trail of poor choices and chaotic implementation. Yet, despite all of its missteps, the franchise delivers a mix of elements that simply can’t be found anywhere else. Some projects capture some of the fun, like the recent horror filmMalum.
Anthony DiBlasi is one of the mostunderrated directors working in the horrorscene today. His debut feature,Dread, came at the tail end of the torture horror craze and delivered one of its smarter outings. His breakout film wasLast Shift, which was released in 2014 to modest success and critical praise.Malum, his latest project, is a reimagining ofLast Shift.
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What isMalumAbout?
Narratively,Malumis extremely similar toLast Shift. Jessica Sula stars as Jessica Loren, a rookie cop on her first shift. Jessica volunteers for the graveyard shift at a police station that’s closing its doors for good. Jessica takes the job with an ulterior motive. She’ll be spending the night investigating the untimely death of her father. Her father previously worked out of the same station, but his demise has ties to a mysterious cult. Jessica dives into her family’s dark history with the evils of the area. As she looks for answers, she’s confronted by a nightmarish wave ofparanormal occurrences and deadly monsters. While the premise closely matches that ofLast Shift, the presentation couldn’t be more different.Last Shiftwas an atmospheric, minimalist horror film, whileMalusthrows everything against the wall until the audience is gasping for air. Both have their appeal.
How isMalumSimilar toResident Evil 2?
There are a lot of superficial similarities between these two stories. Both are fast-paced horror/action experiences set in a police station.Leon Kennedy and JessicaLoren are both new police officers having the worst imaginable first day. They both come to a new station for the first time seeking answers. Both of their fathers gave them the guidance that led them to police work. The matched settings provide for a host of similar scenes, even though the monsters aren’t identical. Like mostResident Evilgames, Leon is up against hundreds of zombies and some dangerous bioweapons. Jessica’s enemiesare less corporeal andmore demonic. The biggest difference between the two works is the appearance of normalcy. There’s a mystery present inMalum. The events ofResident Evil 2are often crystal clear.
Jessica Loren’s circumstances could be entirely in her own head. Thefilm plays with perceptionin some pretty cruel ways. Jessica’s dad was believed to have died by his own hand after shooting several of his fellow officers in the police department. That gruesome detail leaves her father with an atrocious reputation, making Jessica persona non grata at her new temporary place of work. The other officers either hate her for who her father was or talk down to her because she’s a woman. She doesn’t have any allies. Beyond the walls of the station, she’s getting constant prank calls threatening her life. The film doesn’t show much of the town, as cultists cause chaos and keep the other cops busy. Leon often seems alone in his battle with the undead hoard, but at least he can be sure that his problems are really there. There’s an inherent dissonance to everything that happens inMalum. The cult leader talking like Charles Manson, the faintly satanic score humming nonsense in the background, the backstory about betrayal and madness. It all comes together to keep the audience guessing.Resident Evil2doesn’t needplayers to guess. It needs them to fight.
Though there are some substantial differences betweenMalumandResident Evil, the action elements play well together. There are a few scenes inMalumthat are shot like a first-person shooter. It’s hacky to point out at this juncture, butMalumis certainly abetterResident Evilfilm than any already on the market. The cinematography captures a bit of28 Days Laterand a little bit of old-fashioned Giallo while it’s chopping across absurd scenes of violence. It’s something to behold, especially when compared toLast Shift. The film demonstrates how different two executions of the same idea can be. That element mirrors the largerResident Evilfranchise in its expansion.
Malumdid premiere in theaters, but it’s enjoying a very limited run. It dropped simultaneously onto video-on-demand services including Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, and Amazon Prime Video.Fans ofResident Evil, gory horror/action films, orLast Shiftshould seek it out. It’s not the most original film ever made, but it is a wall-to-wall thrill ride with some brilliant creative work in its execution. Though the world may have seen a rookie cop take on a deadly police station before, they’ve never seen it quite like this.
