MALIGNANT

(A.k.a. BLACK BUTTERFLIES)

We first meet Allex (Gary Cairns) as he sits sobbing at the side of his wife's hospital bed. She's just lost her fight with cancer.

Fast-forward seven months, and Allex is a functioning alcoholic. He's haunted by memories of his lost love everywhere: the photo on his desk at work; the screensaver on his 'phone, etc. The drink helps him to cope.

One night while boozing in his backyard, Allex is visited by a mysterious figure in black known only as The Man (Brad Dourif). "I want to help you stop drinking", he purrs. Allex passes out; the next time he wakes he's in his bed and he has a cut on his chest which someone has stitched up.

The next night Allex receives a call from The Man, who insists his help has been welcomed by the drunkard. The treatment has begun, he informs him, and warns him not to drink ... otherwise, "they die". Who will die? Allex soon starts to realise the horrifying answer when he next drinks. He blacks out, as The Man told him he would, and wakes later with blood covering him. He soon discovers a file on his laptop containing a video of him smashing a stranger's head in with a crowbar.

"It's your choice - stop drinking, and no-one else dies" warns The Man in his next 'phone call. He warns Allex to stay away from the authorities. It seems that Allex really is at the mercy of The Man's batty, bloodthirsty "treatment" as the drinking, and killing-on-command continue...

Though clearly a relatively low budget endeavour (reportedly $2 million), MALIGNANT has a great deal going for it.

First, there are the performances. Cairns is in every scene and is a wonderful choice as lead. He's confused, vulnerable, scared - but never pathetic. His sorrow is believable, his habitual drinking easy to empathise with. Dourif has the lesser role - effectively the "Jigsaw" on the other end of the line - but still emerges as a formidable, ruthlessly cool madman.

Writer-director Brian Avenet-Bradley paces his film well, ensures each scene is great to look at, and develops a script that works as much on an intellectual level as it does as a thriller. He explores concepts of grief, addiction and culpability (is Allex, technically, responsible for the murders he's being programmed to commit?) in a refreshingly sober manner.

Fair enough, Avenet-Bradley's research into lobotomy surgery results in some heavy-handed dialogue in the film's latter half, and Allex's slacker mate Chad (Nick Nicotera) seems to have gate-crashed from some lame Hollywood film. But, by and large, this is impressively well thought-out fare.

If Cronenberg went back to making low budget horror films in this day and age, he'd most likely produce something like MALIGNANT. Even its score has that brooding Howard Shore menace to it.

MVD Visual's DVD presents MALIGNANT uncut and in its original 16x9 ratio. The picture quality is good, boasting fine detail and strong contrast.

English audio comes in choices of 2.0 and 5.1 mixes. Both are viable options, proffering evenly balanced channels and a welcome lack of ungainly noise.

Bonus features begin with a 37-minute featurette entitled "Surgery for the Soul". This takes a look at the making of MALIGNANT, tendering a mix of on-set footage and retrospective interviews with key players. Avenet-Bradley sips wine while being questioned by his wife Laurence (she's also the film's cinematographer and co-producer).

What comes across in this is the total belief everyone had while making the film. Cairns and Dourif offer intelligent summations of their characters, despite being unable to agree what genre the film belongs in (Cairns says it's a "romantic thriller"; Dourif insists it's a horror).

We also get the film's original 75-second trailer.

MALIGNANT is a good little film. It's well-shot, benefits from great performances and the script seldom puts a foot wrong. The first 40 minutes are admittedly more intriguing that the remaining 40, but it's still well worth seeking out.

By Stuart Willis