Abigail is a movie that has been on our radar for a while so the other day I popped into Cineworld to check out this new movie that intrigued me with its 18 rating!
After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.
Abigail is directed by the team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett who were behind the modern horror hits Ready or Not, 2022’s Scream and last year’s Scream VI, with that in mind I was hoping for some blood-thirsty scenes in this new vampire flick which has been written by Stephen Shields (The Hole in the Ground, Zombie Bashers) and Guy Busick (Scream franchise, Ready or Not).
I knew going in that Abigail was going to be one of those movies that would be something that would be fun to watch and that was just from the trailer, but I wasn’t expecting to be blown away so much with the latter part of the movie, but more on that later.
Abigail stars Melissa Barrera (Scream franchise, In the Heights), Dan Stevens (Gaslit, Legion), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Freaky), William Catlett (Black Lightning, True Story), Kevin Durand (Resident Evil: Retribution, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Angus Cloud (Euphoria, North Hollywood) as the kidnappers and Alisha Weir (Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, Darklands) as Abigail.
The cast works well together and despite the movie’s rather slowish start, the kidnapping of the young girl in what seems to be an attempt to extort money from her rich father starts to go wrong as the crew have no idea what they have got themselves into at first.
There is so much more to the characters than first meets the eye and as they finally find out who and what Abigail is, this is where the movie takes on the 18 certificate that it has been given and as the movie moves along as the slaughtering of the kidnappers intensifies with some gruesome ways to finally getting some blood soaking moments that not only shock you but have you strangely laughing in the way it is done, but damn it’s done so well.
I enjoyed the performances of the cast, but I have to say that Alisha Weir in the titular role stills the scenes that she is in, as we learn more about her character she builds the character more and more to the point of the vampire that is having so much fun that she doesn’t want to stop. The role is such a massive move from the likes of Matilda and you’ll never watch that movie again the same way after seeing this one.
If you love vampire movies with some blood and guts then this is certainly for you, despite the slow start once it gets going it’s going to have you wincing, laughing and then being shocked in a short space of time. Forget the Twilight vampires and think more of the Blade ones. Be warned the last part of the movie goes all out with the blood, so if you have a weak stomach then make sure you have finished all your cinema snacks.
The film is produced by William Sherak (Scream franchise, Ready or Not), Paul Neinstein (Scream franchise; executive producer, The Night Agent) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Scream franchise) for Project X Entertainment, by Tripp Vinson (Ready or Not, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) and by Radio Silence’s Chad Vilella (executive producer Ready or Not and Scream franchise). The executive producers are Ron Lynch and Macdara Kelleher.
Abigail is surprising gore-fest
Movie title: Abigail (2024)
Movie description: After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.
Date published: April 21, 2024
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 49m
Director(s): Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Actor(s): Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Summary
Alisha Weir is a joy to watch as Abigail, the movie will please most horror fans with the twists and gore that work so well for the content.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
