Abigail – Review
This movie has appealed to me since the first time I couldn’t avoid watching the trailer. I love me a good horror-comedy (see Sting), and this looked right up my alley.
**NOTE: Read Mark’s review below, then use the links to listen or watch as he and Ryan discuss the film in more depth. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
109 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Synopsis:
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
As a bonus, Abigail is the second horror-comedy I’ve seen this year starring Melissa Barrera, having caught her in Your Monster during Sundance in January.
That one was 100% great, as were most of the films I saw there this year… most, but not all.
Anyway, Abigail is supposedly a remake of Dracula’s Daughter, but frankly, based on what I’ve read about that film, it’s BARELY a remake, so let’s just look at this film objectively, shall we?
A crew of six hardened (and not-so-hardened) criminals kidnap the titular little girl and find themself up the proverbial creek without a canoe, much less a paddle.
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way, though; the marketing on this film sucks. They absolutely should NOT have given away the secret of Abigail. This film plays 100x better if you don’t know that going in.
Which is sad, because otherwise, this film is absolutely an incredible, bloody romp. A bit of crime drama a la Reservoir Dogs (in which real names and backstories are off-limits), to character archetypes we’ve seen a hundred times (cop gone bad, stoner, rich-kid playing at villainy, the “dumb muscle,” etc.), segueing into some of the bloodiest horror you’ll find, and you’ve got a recipe for some good old-fashioned pop-corn munching fun.
But man, you’ve got to wonder what the marketing department was thinking; there is absolutely a way to put out a trailer that doesn’t spoil the biggest part of the film.
I was kind of concerned that Abigail would be a miss on its mix of comedy and horror, which is a delicate balance. I felt like this was going to be more comedic than horrific, but was pleased to be wrong. Make no mistake, Abigail has its funny moments, but it more than balances that equation out, making this more akin to Evil Dead 2 than Army of Darkness.
If you know my love of Evil Dead, then you know there’s a huge difference between those two films. Not as much as between The Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, but still.
The cast of characters is great, each bringing their own unique flavor to their roles. Barrera kills it once again (though I wonder how many chances she’s going to get to show off if she continues to poke the socio-political bear, so to speak…?), with Dan Stevens driving through every seen with his American accent that is both spot on and conspicuous in its ridiculousness. Kevin Durand will always be “Tree” Lane from Mystery, Alaska to me, and Kathryn Newton…
Kathryn Newton… Loved her in Freaky. Loved her. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things was underrated, and Detective Pikachu was, well, Detective Pikachu.
Then we got her Cassie Lang in Quantumania. Ugh.
She pushes the line here for me, but doesn’t quite step over it. But she’s close.
Giancarlo Esposito is always a sterling villain, and his (limited) role here doesn’t disappoint.
Overall, if you’re willing to just have some fun with a movie, and don’t mind more than a little blood, then you should enjoy Abigail. Sure, the creepy little dancing girl will draw comparisons to M3GAN, but those are superficial, at best. It’s not on that level, by any measure, but it can still be a good time.
Abigail hits theaters April 19 and stars Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito, and Matthew Goode.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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