“Abigail” is A Decent Vampire Movie, Bitten By Marketing | Review
It happened around January, just a few months before “Abigail” hit screens worldwide. The first news about the film arrived. At the same time, we saw for the first time the poster that showed a girl in a white ballerina dress with dark spots that looked a little too much like blood and a red font that looked exactly like blood. When horror fans noticed the film was from Universal Monsters, questions about that mysterious girl began to arise. Then, several news articles mentioned that the film would deal with someone who was probably Dracula’s daughter. The sooner, the more annoying.
I’m not writing this to give spoilers, and God forbid, because you can find them easily in the poster, the name of the film, the plot description, the trailer, and almost everywhere else. The problem is that the film is not fully aware of the viewers’ prior knowledge, which has hurt its marketing campaign, the viewing experience, and probably also its box office performance, which could have been much more impressive. And it’s a shame because this is a great vampire film, which is a must for fans of the genre and bloody horror comedies.
Here is the trailer for “Abigail” movie, which you can skip if you somehow want to come to the film with as little prior knowledge as possible:
Abigail Movie: The Mystery That Wasn’t There
“Abigail” raised my expectations already when we saw who was behind it. The film comes from the Radio Silence studio, which is responsible for some of the most talked-about horror films of recent years, such as the excellent “Ready or Not,” “Scream 5” and “Scream 6”, the “V/H/S” films, and others. More specifically, the directors are Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who directed these films. The screenplay was written by Guy Busick (one of the writers of “Scream 5”, “Scream 6” and “Ready or Not”) and Stephen Shields, who wrote other and less significant films (such as “The Hole in the Ground” and “Hunted”).
“Abigail” is a home invasion film, but like many films in recent years, it also comes with a twist to the familiar story. A group of criminals who do not know each other meet for a relatively simple mission: to kidnap a ballerina girl belonging to a super wealthy man for a ransom of 50 million dollars. This girl is named Abigail (Alisha Weir, who played Matilda in the successful Netflix musical), and she looks.. um… charming.
In the opening scene, we glimpse her dancing skills, in a scene that vampire movie fans will recognize as her first connection to Dracula. The background music, which will also recur at other points in the film, is Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.” In addition to being one of the most famous classical pieces for anyone who studies dance, this mesmerizing tune was used in the opening titles of the “1931” version of Dracula. At this point, you can already understand the direction we are going in. There are plenty of hints in this film about the world of Dracula that fans of the genre will be happy to discover.
When Horror And Crime Thriller Meet
In the opening scene, we get to know the characters who will accompany us in the film, or at least try to get to know them. In a choice that corresponds in more ways than one to films like Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs,” the kidnappers are later given a name and a backstory. Joey (Melissa Barrera, “Scream,” “Your Monster,” “Bed Rest”) is the dominant kidnapper with experience as a paramedic, a history of addiction, and a child at home, a simple addition to the plot which is probably supposed to make her more sympathetic.
Frank (Dan Stevens, “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Guest”) is a former NYPD detective who manages to be sympathetic and annoying at the same time. The gang also includes a former sniper named Rickles (Will Catlett, who started as a YouTube star), a wealthy but thrill-seeking hacker named Sammy (Kathryn Newton, “Freaky” and “Lisa Frankenstein”), a robber driver named Dean (Angus Cloud of “Euphoria,” who sadly died shortly after filming wrapped of an overdose), and a funny but not very smart thug named Peter (Kevin Durand, who has appeared in a variety of films and TV series, including roles in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “Resident Evil: Retribution,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”, and more).
Very quickly, we discover that there is a mysterious story surrounding the girl’s father – you probably already figured out who he is – and several brutal murders connected to the family. We quickly discover that the girl’s father is a crime lord named Kristof Lazaar, who is assisted by a brutal hitman named Valdez. After the first murder, the gang locks themselves in the house, and then the possibility arises that Valdez is in the house. Someone also raises the possibility that one of the gang members is Valdez, which almost immediately flashes back to films like “The Usual Suspects” and the mystery surrounding the character of Keyser Söze.
But I, with my prior knowledge, already knew precisely what would happen. Unlike the characters, the innocent Abigail’s sentences take on a meaning that the average viewer understands (“I’m sorry about what’s going to happen to you”). The fact that the film’s trailer emphasized more than once the fact that the gang kidnapped a vampire (“We kidnapped a fucking vampire!”), did not add to the tension. Not in all cases is this a problem because you can look at the identity of the murderer as a “Macguffin” – a plot element that the characters move around and investigate, but it is far from being the center of the plot or the highlight of the film. Nevertheless, in our case, the film took the mystery theme seriously, and this is a problem when there is no mystery.
Under these conditions, the film’s opening seems somehow too long, and we expect the action to start. The good news is that when it does, after about a third of the film, the film gains momentum and does not look back. The criminals fight for their lives against Abigail, who turns out to be an efficient killer with a great sense of humor (“What can I say, I like playing with my food”), which is also relevant in several fantastic dance scenes, for example, her dancing with a headless body, or a scene of taking over a character while dancing that looks like it came out of the “Evil Dead” movies.
Although these dances are well-made and fit the characters’ personality, the way they were integrated into the film could have been better. In other words, I got the feeling that the film is trying to create an “iconic” and “viral” dance in a rather aggressive way, perhaps following the success of other scary dances, such as The Megan dance scene or Wednesday Addams’ dance, which we wrote about on the site not long ago.
Alisha Weir Steals The Show
The cast of “Abigail” does a great job. Melissa Barrera successfully creates an exciting character who combines toughness and a certain tenderness. Still, the attempt to create a specific identification with her on the viewer’s part is partially successful because, in my opinion, she is still a somewhat limited actress outside of her safe space.
Dan Stevens, as usual, smells of charisma from a mile away, even in the role of the detective from the past who looks like an accountant in the present, and Kathryn Newton once again demonstrates a perfect sense of comedy in a role that is a bit small for her size because, in terms of emotion, her character does not have too much to work with.
The rest of the cast also manages to impress. Still, without a doubt, Alisha Weir steals the show as Abigail, who manages to be mesmerizing with her appearance, facial expressions, and acting. In moments when she is not in the frame, the film sometimes loses momentum a bit.
One Movie, Countless References
“Abigail” is a self-aware film, in this case, in a positive way. Beyond its references to the Dracula films and a few links indicating that it takes place in the same world as “Ready or Not” and includes many references to this film, there are many references to horror films, such as “Poltergeist.”
The film includes some excellent vampire jokes around the vampire mythology that the average person is exposed to mainly through books, films, and television series (“Dracula,” “True Blood,” “Twilight,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” etc.). The characters’ names, both fictional and real, are also anything but coincidental.
It’s hard to say that “Abigail” is an overly scary film, but it has some effective jump scares, a bit of gore, a lot of humor, and a love for the genre. Its narrative structure is reminiscent of the excellent “Ready or Not,” in which the divine Samara Weaving fights for her life in a murderous game of hide-and-seek against what was supposed to be her husband’s family. We get a few scenes that make us think we’re in a different style of film, a revelation of the character’s true nature, and then a combination of references (did someone say “Scream” movies?), inside and intertextual jokes, violence, humor, and the like. It’s hard not to see the fingerprints of the directors, who are becoming auspicious names in the horror world.
The way some of the characters’ pasts connect to the story’s present is also a well-known and quite effective narrative structure, perhaps reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works (like “And Then There Were None”), but without too much mystery from the viewer’s perspective. The film is not perfect in terms of pace, characters, and scenes, and its ending is problematic, but it is still one of the more enjoyable films in the genre in recent years.
Will We See A Sequel of Abigail Movie? Let’s Hope So!
“Abigail” did not impress much at the box office, grossing about $42 million worldwide. For an enjoyable and well-made film with a budget of about $28 million, according to reports, and a fairly impressive cast, these figures are even disappointing (although, according to reports, the numbers for “Abigail” for streaming and digital are much more impressive than in the cinema).
The reason may be that audiences today are less attracted to vampire movies, as evidenced by films like “Renfield” and “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” which also failed even more with lower-than-budget revenues. Perhaps the problematic marketing campaign hurt the film because there was room to create more mystery around what was happening here (the successful example is “LongLegs,” which managed to convey the atmosphere and generate curiosity without telling what exactly will happen in the film). Or maybe it’s a film that we will only discover its significance, some would say to the level of a cult, like “Jennifer’s Body.”
“Abigail” certainly raised the potential for a sequel, with what happens to the heroines and the revelation about Abigail’s real father (again, a casting choice far from accidental). In today’s economic reality, it is not certain that such a sequel will come if we consider its limited success, but I would be happy if it did.
