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‘Malignant’: Has James Wan Created Yet Another Horror Icon With Gabriel?

Published

5 years ago

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What makes a memorable horror icon? Since the legendary slashers sliced through pop culture at the end of the 20th century, filmmakers and studios alike have constantly tried to capture audiences with new horror icons, hoping to kickstart a franchise of films starring their beloved creations.

The most recent nightmarish characters to be admitted into the horror hall of fame seem to be Bill Skarsgard’s menacing Pennywise, Leigh Whannell’s twisted Billy the Puppet, James Wan’s haunting Annabelle, and Michael Doughetry’s loveable Sam from Trick ‘r Treat.

With Wan back on the horror scene with the jaw-dropping Malignant, could Gabriel be the next modern Horror icon? 

James Wan has a pretty great track record when it comes to creating modern icons. Being responsible for some of the 21st century’s most iconic horror franchises, Wan is a master at his craft. Starting with 2004’s Saw, the iconic director shocked moviegoers with this twisted survival horror. With Saw came the memorable introduction of Billy the Puppet – the only creepy doll to truly give Chucky a run for his money. Next up, Wan brought horror fans the terrifying Mary Shaw with the highly underrated Dead Silence. Using an arsenal of horrifying ventriloquist dolls, this spectral ventriloquist doesn’t get enough love. Moving on from the horror of puppetry, Insidious conjured the absolutely terrifying lipstick demon. Everything from his signature “Tulips” music track to his blood-red face pattern made this creature extremely notable.

Next up came The Conjuring, where Wan gave audiences his twisted interpretation of the real-life Annabelle doll. Said doll has gone on to star in three stand-alone spin-offs. Annabelle’s harrowing porcelain face has become a staple of modern horror. As if Annabelle wasn’t enough, Wan went on to bring audiences the haunting Nun character with The Conjuring 2. Her terrifyingly pale makeup combined with Bonnie Aarons’ menacing performance inducted her in the horror cinema hall of fame. After The Conjuring 2, Wan took a vacation to the depths of the ocean with Aquaman before returning to the horror scene with the instantly memorable Malignant. 

To understand what seems to lead to the acceptance of a new horror icon, we need to look back at when it hasn’t worked. Films like The Gallows repeatedly tried to market their slasher Charlie in comparison with the greats of Krueger and Voorhees. Immediately pushing audiences to expect a horror character to be in line with the classics is a death wish. Jason and Freddy weren’t created with anticipation of being legends, they grew into that status. 

The Malignant marketing was quite infamous amongst the horror community, barely showing anything regarding the third act of the film and even hiding many of the slasher elements. As more and more viewers experienced Wan’s newest scarefest, it became very clear why the secrets were kept at bay…

*Spoilers for Malignant will follow*

Malignant’s greatest kept secret is that it actually is a bonkers, all-out slasher featuring a backwards-walking, acrobatic, disfigured, dagger-wielding creature that literally lives on the back of protagonist Madison’s head, dubbed “Gabriel.” Many of Gabriel’s introductory kills are shrouded in shadow, hiding the true extent of his nightmarish appearance. As Wan unwraps the mysteries behind his newest horror character, Gabriel truly shines in all his twisted glory. 

Let’s run through the horror icon checklist…

SHOCKING STYLE

All horror icons are instantly recognizable by appearance. Green and red sweaters immediately scream Freddy Krueger. Hockey mask means Voorhees. William Shatner mask means Myers. Let’s take a look at Gabriel. 

  • Creepy cloak 
  • Absolutely disgusting face
  • Signature dagger weapon
  • Extremely unique movement
  • Twisted connection to final girl
  • Long dark hair
  • Iconic movement 

Actress Ingrid Bisu, who plays Winnie in the film, explained that creating Gabriel’s iconic movement was a combination between several actors, one being well-known horror actor “Twisty” Troy James (Channel Zero, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), the other the talented Marina Mazepa (The Unholy) . “It was a combo of two of them. We met them, and they started demonstrating things in the office. It blew my mind. They really brought it. I feel like they made our vision come to life because we can only imagine so much of that movement, but neither of us can do it. Both of them are absolutely incredible.” You can read more behind the scenes insight about Gabriel’s physicality in Meagan Navarro’s piece on the film.

TERRIFYING TUNES

From John Carpenter’s absolutely iconic “Theme from Halloween,” to the razor-sharp symphony of the Psycho shower sequence, each of these memorable characters has been accompanied by a fantastic signature score. In Malignant, Gabriel is accompanied by a wonderfully moody score from Joseph Bishara and a hellish remix of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind.” Much like US’s “I Got 5 On It” and Insidious‘ “Tip-Toe Through the Tulips,” Wan’s newest film turns a relatively normal song into a nightmarish symphony. 

POP CULTURE POWER

Last but not least, all horror icons seem to be swept away by various lanes of pop culture. Due to the universal appreciation and knowledge of these legendary characters, memes, products, and parodies are spun out like clockwork. In Gabriel’s case, his legacy has already fallen into the hands of the meme-creators of Twitter:

Fans of the character have also started producing fan-art, a tell-tale sign that a horror character is resonating with audiences. 

Only time will tell if Gabriel from Malignant will live on in horror infamy. I expect Halloween and future comic conventions to hopefully be filled with creative attempts at dressing as the double-faced killer. With an iconic look, killer score, and already influential pop culture impact, it’s safe to say James Wan may have gifted us yet another entry into Horror’s Hall of Fame. 

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Editorials

André Øvredal’s ‘Troll Hunter’ Remains One of the Best Found Footage Movies

Published

2 days ago

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June 19, 2026

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André Øvredal's Troll Hunter

In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.

It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.

For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.

troll hunter

Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.

The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.

As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?

Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.

Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.

Troll Hunter

Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.

There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.

In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.

Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.

Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.

troll hunter

A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.

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