Abigail (2024) Review

Plot: Six criminals kidnap a child ballerina, not knowing that she’s a vampire.

Review: The reason I keep gravitating to horror movies these days is, they’re probably the most consistent genre that continues to show a desire for ingenuity and new concepts. Winnie the Pooh and Steamboat Willie became public domain, so someone had to make a horror movie with those characters. Even movies like Smile and Last Voyage of the Demeter, neither of which I cared for, I have to tip my hat that at least they were trying something different. Amidst all the tired remakes, reboots and the like, at least there are still horror filmmakers trying to be original.

Care in point, Abigail, an engaging little tale that is part slasher, part mystery and part…endearing family story? It’s weird, but that’s what makes movies like this great. Horror pushes the envelope because it doesn’t have to adhere to one specific theme or structure. You can have the best of many worlds with a horror movie, and Abigail is one of those kinds of flicks.

In this case, it starts almost like a crime story and does a masterful job of setting up the characters. Usually, you get at least two or three less-memorable characters, and Abigail has the same, but the story is so engaging, it doesn’t matter. All of them are so visually different and the characters are so different from one another, you have a playground of interactions to enjoy. What I found remarkable was none of the characters sucked. Yeah, a couple weren’t that interesting, but I disliked no one.

You know who I loved, though? Abigail herself. Following in the steps of M3gan and Esther from Orphan, Abigail is an awesome character. She’s in turn, insidious and sympathetic – while she is undeniably a monster, you can’t root against her because all of the other characters are, in their own ways, monsters as well. It leads to be both rooting for them to get away from Abigail and for you to be simultaneously rooting for Abigail to kill them all – it’s pretty interesting.

I was impressed with Melissa Barrera, who did a solid job in the female lead role – she had way more personality than her starring turn in Scream. Dan Stevens is perfect as the self-centred, brutal leader of the gang. Angus Cloud almost steals the show as the oddball wheelman. Don’t get confused, though; this is Alisha Weir’s show, and her performance as Abigail was simply stellar.

I think one of the smartest things the filmmakers did was set all of the movie, essentially, in one location. Not only is it a fun place to explore (because what old mansion isn’t), but in that confined space, you have more time to learn about the characters (and the learning was done ingeniously), and there are plenty of weird locations inside the house for Abigail to stalk her prey. There couldn’t have been a better setting for the story.

For those who like gore, you won’t be disappointed – even though you have only a small number of characters, the body parts and the blood fly in this flick. There are some exploding bodies, and by the climax, I think every remaining character is covered in viscera of some form. By the end of the movie, any survivors have more than earned the right to walk away.

Was there anything I disliked? Well, they take some liberties with the classic vampire legend, one of which made no sense at all. Then again, who hasn’t done this by now? At least they didn’t glitter. The movie was a tad too long – seven main characters, one location; this should have been eighty minutes, not 109. Based on how some characters were meaningless, they didn’t need as much time to amount to nothing.

These are minor gripes, though, and in the overall picture, they may have knocked a star off the end product, but I was pretty happy watching this movie. While I don’t think it’s sequel-worthy (and quite frankly, haven’t we had enough of those?), I look forward to seeing what further films Radio Silence pulls out of their hats. I guarantee it will probably be damned entertaining.