Madison Mitchell’s (Annabelle Wallis) experiences life-changing scares in “Malignant.” (photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

What did I just watch? Again – and I can’t stress the importance of this question enough – what did I just watch? I expect James Wan, the horror master behind franchises like “Saw,” “The Conjuring” and “Insidious,” to scare the previous meal out of me, but the splat pack auteur’s latest fright fest “Malignant” carves out its own corner of madness.

I don’t dare call it amazing, a work of art or the year’s best – not even close. The performers of this wonky brain teaser sport two left feet, tripping over anything resembling a sincere moment. (I don’t have the heart to single anyone out.)

But this B-movie with a bit of a budget is bold, bizarre and a bona fide original bouncing across the bloody horror bible. It’s sci-fi, supernatural, slasher and surrealist all stuffed into 111 gory minutes for audiences streaming HBO Max at home or braving the in-person experience.

A bonkers intro, “Malignant” sets expectations high with a hospital throwback scene gushing with familiar tropes: a patient goes off the rails, kills staffers, declares murderous intent via static radio comms – face askew until the third act.

The mystery now set, we skip ahead almost three decades to Madison (Annabelle Wallis), whose life forever changes in the course of a few hours, attacked first by her husband (Jake Abel) and then something else. Officers Shaw (George Young) and Moss (Michole Briana White) respond to plenty of homicides around Seattle, but nothing is quite like this case and its peculiar connection to a series of murders.

It all starts like an average ghost story, plenty of revenge killings abound. And if you know anything about Wan’s films, his ghosts are a touch more aggressive. In lieu of slammed doors, thermostat manipulation or sheet pulling for 45 minutes, a gruesome murder kicks things off. The first act is actually unrelenting during those anxious witching-hour sequences, several in row.

Then it switches gears, introducing a villain whose sartorial choices nod to Craven’s many “Nightmares” and “Screams.” What happens next is hard to explain, but the payoff only works if you catch the vide established in the opening scene. This is a throwback – an homage to those ridiculous horror films that crave bombastic resolution.

A “Family Guy” cutaway gag explains the dilemma quite well: Stephen King pitches his next novel. “For my 307th book, this couple is attacked by … a lamp monster,” a King caricature says to a disinterested publisher, who claims he’s “not even trying” anymore. Funny, sure, but hardly an honest assessment of a genre.

The notion of horror as a shameless money grab is tired at this point. Wan might seem an easy target after helming seven horror flicks and producing 20, not including future projects. But if you love what you do, you never truly work, right?

Some critics already call “Malignant” shameless, mediocre thanks to that acting. I concur. It certainly hurts the experience, but I can’t help but love the ride for all its visceral delights and genre-honoring absurdities.

One particularly delightful element: the music. Joseph Bishara’s (all the “Conjuring,” “Insidious” films, including spinoffs) score saturates various sequences, setting tense moods that, like the story itself, rely on nostalgia.

The star of the show, however, is the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” I’ll forever remember when this song decorated the airwaves during the rise of a post-capitalist future in “Fight Club,” but an electronic, sans lyrics cover plays over kills and revelations alike.

That iconic song and a remix of Celldweller’s “When Your Walls Fall” set the aesthetic tone on several occasions, perhaps outshining the original score, but these unique versions of each song don’t actually appear on the official film soundtrack, so delving in is the only way to know more.

“Aquaman” proved Wan works well with light content – I’ll never forget the drumming octopus – but “Malignant” serves as a hybrid, the calumniation of his greatest hits: hyper violent, jump scares, thrilling chases and even full-blown action sequences. All that wrapped in a polished campy package. It might not work for everyone, but I can’t get it out of my head.