Abigail

 

Abigail

2024

Director- Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Cast- Alisha Weir, Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito, Matthew Goode

            A group of criminals, each with a specific skillset, is hired for a kidnapping job. Their target is the young daughter of some billionaire. Their goal is to ransom the girl back for 50 million dollars. Unbeknownst to them, the little girl is a vampire who quickly turns the tables on her would be abductors.

            It’s an interesting premise, but the film doesn’t rely on that one novel idea. Its much more creative than you’d expect from a medium budget Hollywood film. The directors have some horror bona fides, having directed Ready or Not and installments in the VHS and Scream franchises. You get your moneys worth with an hour and fifty-minute run time, but the movie never bogs down or gets boring. It starts at a quick pace and holds it up through most of the film.

            Probably the biggest contributing factor to the film’s enjoyability is its good cast, several of whom have experience in genre and horror films. The film’s protagonist, Melissa Barrera, has appeared in the last two Scream films and stars in the upcoming Your Monster.

Dan Stevens, who plays the leader of the motley crew, stared in the folk horror film, The Apostle, and is pulling double duty in the theatres right now, also appearing in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. This is also not his first vampire film, having appeared in Vamps with Alicia Silverstone way back in 2012.  

Kevin Durand, who plays the crews muscle, will definitely be a familiar face having starred in multiple episodes of the TV shows Stargate SG-1, Swamp Thing, The Strain and Dark Angel. He’s also pulling double duty in the theatres, starring in the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Giancarlo Esposito needs no introduction. He’s one of the best villains in Hollywood right now. The most familiar face to fans of new horror will be Kathryn Newton, who is carving out her own niche in Scream Queen fandom, having just starred in Lisa Frankenstein earlier this year.

            The film apparently started as a reimagining of Universal’s Dracula’s Daughter. If so, that concept went out the window pretty quick. Dracula’s Daughter is a serious lesbian vampire film exploring some pretty heavy themes. Abigial is a fun horror movie that isn’t as much a horror comedy as much as light hearted gore with haunted house trappings. Besides the cast, the film also has a good score and pretty good make up and FX with buckets and buckets of blood.

            If you are expecting a serious, fear inducing horror film, this isn’t it. On the other hand, if you want something entertaining with some actual surprises without cheap jump scares, check out Abigail.