Move over M3GAN. And time to chuck out Chucky. A new horror icon is born! Radio Silence, the duo behind the classic, Ready or Not, is back with another masterpiece: Abigail!
Everyone knows that the best sort of horror films are scary, a bit funny, a bit crazy, and drenched in buckets and gallons of blood! And Abigail brings all these elements to the table, along with an ensemble cast of terrific character actors and horror veterans that take a simple bottle premise and fill that bottle with viscera and blood. However, there’s more to it than that. There’s some terrific twists, some interesting character beats and relationships, and the best original horror villain to come in years!
Abigail tells the story of a group of hired criminals – each with a specific professional skill — who kidnap a 12-year old ballerina for a $50M ransom, then transport her to an abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere. They discover they’re locked in the mansion over night, and begin to discover further truths about one another, just as it’s revealed there’s more to their would-be captive than meets the eye. Turns out, their victim, Abigail, is actually a vicious, bloodthirsty vampire! Now they must find a way to either kill her or escape the mansion before she picks them off one by one.
The sharpest thing about the film is the witty script. This is a funny, and clever screenplay that takes joy in revealing and building on everything it sets up from the first frame of the movie to the final frame. The characters are well fleshed out, as the situation progresses. And in that respect it reminds me a lot of films like The Hateful Eight but with a vampiric twist. And that’s actually pretty respectable for a movie that could have coasted off the gore. It sets up its own rules about vampirism as well, allowing for pretty decent subversion of popular lore elements, like what things will kill a vampire, how a vampire is created, what their powers are, etc. Much like Ready or Not, it also incorporates some seriously funny moments, driven by the shortcomings of these characters. And that makes it delightful to watch, driving a lot of the comedy that makes the movie feel lively.
There’s also a really nice story about regrets and second chances, particularly when it comes to prioritizing family and children. The film takes the time to draw parallels between two of its characters that actually leads to a fair amount of believable heart. And that’s something I didn’t expect it to do. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a touching Hallmark film, per se. But the characters’ motivations and struggles, and the evolving relationships they have with one another, actually create decent stakes within the film.
This is, in some ways, a reverse Ready or Not. Instead of a group of morons hunting down a savvy survivor, the would-be victim is hunting the group of morons down. And that means the star of the show is the wonderful breakthrough performance from young Alisha Weir, who plays the titular character. Weir single handedly dances away with the movie, straight into our hearts in a devilishly, devious, dynamic performance! I haven’t seen a young breakout performance like this in horror since Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense. She absolutely goes for broke playing up the pitiful victim card one moment, and then flipping the tables relishing in the sadistic game she’s playing with these outmatched fools. She has a charisma inside her that allows her to perform some amazing dance sequences, but also amazing action sequences, helping you to believe she can physically go toe to toe with opponents bigger than her. It’s marvelous to watch on-screen.
The rest of the ensemble is also a joy. Dan Stevens is two for two in terms of brilliant scene-stealing performances this year, after his joyous turn as Trapper in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Here he’s such a bastard, and terrific as the worst and possibly most dangerous of the kidnapping crew, Frank. To get you to believe this debonair charmer is a slime ball piece of garbage is no small feat, but Stevens absolutely gets you to hate him from the very first lines he speaks. He relishes in the terribleness of this character, and has a bunch of fun chewing up the scenery as he does it.
Melissa Barrera is also wonderful in her role as Joey, the most sympathetic member of the team. Barrera is so great in this performance and is really establishing herself as a true successor to actresses like Neve Campbell or Jamie Lee Curtis in terms of her legendary final girl status. From Scream to now this, she’s willing to get as bloody and as badass as it takes to give us a great show and a good character. And we, as the audience, are all the more lucky to see her do so. There’s a really great character-driven moment where she reveals to us the backstories of every character. And that in turn reveals a lot more to us, the audience, about her character. It’s a perfect marriage of writing and performance, with Barrera controlling every moment of the scene with her character in an unflinching and savvy performance, that instantly gets us to connect with her character.
The rest of the ensemble is great. I don’t think the film gives a lot for the terrific Will Catlett or the late Angus Cloud to do. But they make the most of their parts, even if they’re minimal. However, Kevin Durand is so innocent and hilarious! As is Kathryn Newton, who is crushing it this year! Newton — with a simple change of the expressions on her face — can go from hilarious to creepy in moments, and I’m completely here for it! She and Durand have some really tender moments, with Durand playing the sweet, gentle giant. His moments of slowness provide so much of the terrific humor in the movie. It was a pleasure seeing these two work together!
One of the things I really enjoyed seeing in the film was the terrific production design! I don’t think this movie, or horror films in general, get the attention they deserve for sets and set dressing. But Abigail’s mansion is incredible! It’s a character in unto itself. From the entry way to the library, to a very “special” pool, each room and setting in this movie is a feast for the eyes, in a creepy and elaborately over-the-top manner. And I loved it! When you’re confined to a single setting for a film, you have to keep things interesting. And the production designers for Abigail have given all of the film’s various locations within this mansion their own look and feel, inherently tied to the character of Abigail and what we hear about her family.
I’ll say that as much as I love Abigail, it’s not as good or as clever as Ready or Not. It’s a terrific and fun movie, but I’ll say the premise isn’t as original overall, and it’s actually spoiled by the film’s trailer. I’d like to say that the less you know about Abigail, the better the movie will be. And that’s true, but the premise is out in the open, so it’s almost unavoidable to not know what the movie is about before seeing it. And the mystery and the twists would have made the film a lot smarter overall. But that being said, the movie didn’t have to be the next Ready or Not. It stands on its own as a terrific vampire film, with so much blood and humor.
It’s easy to pronounce Abigail as the best horror film of the year at this juncture. Considering the slim pickings we’ve had this year, that was almost a given. What I didn’t expect was that I’d have so much fun watching this movie, that it would actually become one of my favorites of the year so far. Granted it’s only April and there’s so many other offerings to go. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this quirky little crazy horror charmer finds its way into my top 10 before the year is up. With a terrific ensemble, a new iconic horror villain that we can’t get enough of, and a clever and fun script, there’s no way I can stay “Radio Silent” about my high praise for the duo that brought us Ready or Not or young Alisha Weir, and the character of Abigail. If you love vampires, horror comedy, and buckets of blood, look no further than into the eyes of Abigail!
Overall Score: A-
