There’s a new, fabulous little monster in town, and her name is Abigail. Written by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick and directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, this brash vampire flick is a welcomed entry to the genre.
The story follows a group of would-be criminals made up of Joey (Melissa Barrera), Frank (Dan Stevens), Rickles (William Catlett), Sammy (Kathryn Newton), Peter (Kevin Durand), and Dean (Angus Cloud). Their task is to kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure and hold her for a $50 million ransom for 24 hours. At an isolated location in a beautiful mansion, the team sets the ground rules and operations for their mission. But overnight, their plan begins to dwindle. They soon learn that they’re trapped with no normal little girl.
It almost goes without saying, but Abigail, by its synopsis alone, sounds like a horror comedy that could potentially opt for silly moments over an epic entry into the genre. Even the film’s tagline, “children can be such monsters,” feels a bit too campy for its own good. Additionally, the trailer is like tonal mayhem with no clear direction on whether we are to take it seriously as a horror film. However, to my surprise, the team behind this feature managed to create a fun film that manages to balance its humor with the right amount of horror to suck you in for a bloody surprise.
Abigail balances its fun blend of genres to prepare you for the mayhem to come.
In the first act, Busick and Shields adequately set up the suspense by borrowing tropes and strategies from heist thrillers in a creative way. The group establishes the rules, using fake names only, and they barely share much about each other until a fun guessing game reveals more about their characters. Through this single encounter, the personalities come out to play and fan favorites quickly emerge. This strategy also establishes the film as a fun blend of genres early on and prepares us for the mayhem to come.
As the film progresses, strange occurrences begin to happen, which forces the group to mistrust one another. They are all criminals, after all. But when an individual turns up dead, they begin pointing fingers, only to have it revealed later that they kidnapped a vampire. After this reveal, Abigail soars to such a fun experience that it’s almost difficult to explain. It has the perfect amount of humor, a superfluous amount of blood, and great jump scares to keep you fully engaged.
The directors get creative to put on an entertaining horror showcase.
As a single location story, directors Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett get creative with their set pieces and cameras to usher in a vibrant watching experience. Even the use of ballet techniques in the fight choreography led to some cool sequences that have yet to be achieved onscreen. Perhaps the biggest achievement outside of this is Shields and Busick’s ability to craft a script that seemingly honors the vampire genre while simultaneously poking fun at it in respectful ways. My theater appreciated these moments far and wide and seemed to have really gravitated towards them.
Abigail has the perfect amount of humor, a superfluous amount of blood, and enough jump scares to keep you fully engaged from beginning to end.
Aside from the achievements with both the technical elements and the script, Abigail is great because of this stellar cast. The chemistry displayed throughout is pure film entertainment. A group of misfit criminals, at the very least, sounds entertaining enough. However, Barrera, Stevens, Catlett, Newton, Durand, and Cloud came with their A games and seemed to have really enjoyed their time on set (as indicated by their performances). Above all, though, this is Alisha Weir’s film through and through. From her lovely performance as Matilda to her fierce and scary one as Abigail, Weir is a talent to be reckoned with. I cannot wait to see what she does next.
Check out the trailer for Abigail below, and see it in theaters beginning April 19th:
