A group of would-be criminals kidnaps the 12-year-old daughter of a powerful underworld figure. Holding her for ransom in an isolated mansion, their plan starts to unravel when they discover their young captive is actually a bloodthirsty vampire.
If we could briefly describe this Abigail review I’d say it was a gore-fest with some comedic chops. Abigail is a surprising 2024 horror movie that we’d highly reccommend.
A kidnap goes wrong when a group of criminals realise they’ve kidnapped not just a little girl, but a vampire and the victim quickly turns into the predator as this gang of misfits find themselves pray inside an orchestrated set-up.
Abigail is packed full of one liners, helmed by Scream VI directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett there’s a real Scream charm and wit that oozes throughout the production but it’s endearing.
Kevin Durand for me is the embodiment of an all-round actor and he’s so endearing, funny and welcoming in Abigail that I’m on his side no matter what, no matter how much bad stuff he’s done. He has me hook, line and sinker straight from the off.
Coupled with Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens and Kathryn Newton this is a solid line-up that grasps my attention straight from the off as we’re immediately thrown into the action and the film doesn’t relent from start to finish.
The unknown is what makes Abigail so captivating. We have a group of misfits who don’t even know each others real names (there are rules) kidnapping a young girl who’s background is unknown all at the orders of their boss (a suave Giancarlo Esposito).
It’s all very hush hush and that’s what leaves the film open to endless twists and turns as they don’t know each other and suddenly now they have to band together against an unlikely enemy, a young ballerina vampire named Abigail (Alisha Weir).
There’s a love interest angle that is quickly chewed down to size with not much room to be explored and after that it’s just all out carnage but it never feels repetitive there’s always a motive, always a goal and there’s always a reason to keep fixated on the screen.
We don’t need a backstory, we just need eyes and a good appreciation for horror and the filmmakers know that and by keeping things simply they have expertly delivered something rather special.
Abigail is the last onscreen role for the late Angus Young who plays a character called Dean, a getaway driver but sadly his character is not really utilised much like Rickles (played by William Catlett).
Dan Stevens (still flying high from his recent starring role in Godzilla x Kong) takes the lead as the film draws to its conclusion but it’s a solid all-rounder for our cast as this crowd-pleaser was certainly not on my 2024 best horror movies list after viewing the trailer.
Unfortunately for the trailer it gives away the plot of the movie, something that can be said about a lot of the movie trailers coming out lately but thankfully this oversharing teaser didn’t deter away from the overall picture nor did it spoil too much in terms of other surprises that lay in store for us.
The actors gel this one together with humour and solid chemistry. Over the top gore keeps the horror hounds happy and whilst I’m not the biggest Melissa Barrera fan, she holds her own despite being overshadowed by the majority of her co-stars.
I felt as though she wasn’t right for the Scream franchise and seeing her on her own two feet she looked more comfortable in this role ready to kick ass on the many more films she’s likely to be cast in.
Abigail is well worth a watch, one of 2024’s best horror movies to date!
