James Wan‘s wild new horror movie Malignant just made its way onto 4K Ultra HD this week, bringing one of last year’s best home in a higher quality than previously available.

In advance of the 4K release, Bloody Disgusting’s Boo Crew Podcast got a chance to sit down with James Wan and talk shop, discussing everything from working with Akela Cooper on the script for Malignant to working with practical effects to bring Gabriel to life. Wan also discusses the film’s insane final act mayhem, as well as why he made the film in the first place.

Another notable aspect of Malignant is the score from frequent Wan collaborator Joseph Bishara (The Conjuring, Insidious), which Wan says was inspired by classic Italian Giallo films.

“You know, I think a lot of that has to do with just the spirit of wanting to do a Giallo movie. Giallo films have visuals that go one way and a soundtrack that goes completely the opposite way,” Wan laughs. “I remember watching, early on in my youth, a classic Argento movie and going, ‘Wow, I’m watching a really scary, creepy moment, but he’s blasting this rock score from the right of screen.’ And it makes this… almost sort of alienating effect… it made it really cool. And so, I guess, in the spirit of wanting to do something similar like that, I think Joe really embraced it. So I really pushed him down that path. To go electronica and to not be afraid to be as bombastic as we want it to be. Because everything about Malignant is very in your face.”

“Visually and sonically, I felt we could have fun with it,” Wan adds. “And go nuts.”

“Go nuts,” at the end of the day, seems to have been the main driving force behind Wan making Malignant, which came along in the direct wake of Wan directing Aquaman for DC.

“After Aquaman, I knew that I didn’t want to jump back into another big budget movie… I wanted to go back and play in the horror genre,” Wan explains. “I didn’t really want to remake an existing IP or go do a sequel to any of the movies I’ve created in the past. I knew I wanted to do something original. Something that was different. Something that allows me to hark back to all the movies I grew up loving. My love of ’80s horror films… whether they’re from America or from Italy or from Asia… and I also knew that I wanted to play with prosthetic effects.”

You can listen to the Boo Crew’s full chat with James Wan below.

And grab your copy of Malignant on 4K Ultra HD today!

In the film, “Paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, Madison’s (Annabelle Wallis) torment worsens as she discovers that her waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.”