Anthony DeBlasi (director)
(studio)
18 (certificate)
93 (length)
26 April 2024 (released)
1 min
The story is basically that rookie cop Jessica (Jessica Sula) has asked to take on the responsibility of looking after a closing police station. Her colleagues are surprised as a year earlier Jessica’s cop father Will (Eric Olson) was being feted as a hero having saved three women from a cult, only for him to shoot two of his colleagues and then turn the gun on himself.
Despite the setback, the cult is still very much a going concern – their leader John Malum (Chaney Morrow) is seen in recordings chained under interrogation with blood on his hands merrily chuntering away to the cops – and causing problems around the city, stretching resources.
Which means that when, alone in the station, crank calls and drunks taunt Jessica, there’s no instant response just a hard-nosed patronising and misogynistic responses.
It won’t take the viewer long to work out that they are in Carpenter country with its superficial resemblance to Assault on Precinct 13 and Prince of Darkness.
That said Malum does trundle off on its own with a series of backstories about dad, Malum, Jessica’s mother Diane (Candice Coke) all with a final purpose quite definitely in mind.
Getting there is a bloody romp around the station with Jessica swept around never knowing what is real, conjured or just her imagination going into overdrive as the station’s secrets sluice out of the walls.
Whatever the motive for this film (and I’m going to check out the original) DiBlasi, and co-writer Scott Poiley, have come up with the goods. A rock-solid horror film that ticks the boxes of gore, tension, and scares with some style.
Malum will be released in UK cinemas from 26 April 2024 followed by a digital/physical home-entertainment release on 27 May 2024
