Abigail : This Vampire Flick Has Some Real Bite

MOVIE INFO

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.

REVIEW:

I like vampire films, like Abigail, that are offshoots of the Universal Studios Monsterverse. Horror is their filmic legacy- and like their other classics, Abigail does the maximum with the minimum ingredients of the genre. Take a ballerina vampire child, mix with one savvy fixer (Giancarlo Esposito) and six criminals with various levels of competence and horror intelligence. Mix further with well-done practical scare effects (rats, creaky floorboards, spooky shadows). Let it boil over and splatter in a finale that pulls out all the stops.

The writers- Stephen Shields and Guy Busick– and the directors- Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett– have given us a haunted house thriller in the ten little Indians style– set them up and knock them off one by one. The set design has both a classic horror look (bearskin rugs, suits of armor and even the creepy coffin tucked in among all the wood paneling) with odd inconsistencies that no self-respecting hundreds of year old vampire would have in their gothic mansion (satchels of garlic, large draped windows that allow way too much light, a billiard’s room with pool sticks that can easily be whittled to stakes).

The plot involves kidnapping the aforementioned title vampire ballerina child (Alisha Weir) and holding her in a spooky mansion until the $50 million ransom is paid off or all of them become vampire kittle. The unsuspecting victims include the actors Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, and the recently passed on Angus Cloud. They fulfill their stereotypes, manage some interesting thespian bits, and die in their plot appointed turn.

If you are looking for the original Monsterverse echo go no further than Dracula’s Daughter of 1936. That hidden classic had Gloria Holden as a countess who preys on men and women alike all while begging a doctor to help her with her indelicate condition. The movie is known for its cheeky lesbian subtext that managed to sneak bye the censors. The title idea is the only thing transferred over in Abigail. Paired with Abigail, the two would make a tasty double feature.