Review - Abigail

 Abigail (2024)

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Writer: Stephen Shields, Guy Busick

Stars: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, William Catlett, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud (RIP)

How to Watch: PVOD

Synopsis: A group of criminals kidnap the daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

Thoughts: There’s a certain quality in Radio Silence director duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s films these days. They pop, like bubblegum, bright and juicy with a hint of something nostalgic. Everything is horror-beautiful - the cast, the outfits, the set design - it’s all grungy but gorgeous, gothic but fresh. Perhaps it’s because they tend to keep bringing back their creative teams as well as their scream queens - Melissa Barrera and Samara Weaving - in all their recent movies, or maybe it’s because their movies end in absolute bloodbaths, but everything they do recently feels like somehow it’s in the same universe. 

All of this to say, Abigail was an absolute delight. It had the mansion cat & mouse game and the exploding bodies of Ready or Not. It had the dry humor and surprising twists and bloodsoaked brutal violence of the two recent Scream movies. But it was also solidly its very own creation. I mean, you had me at ‘ballerina vampire’. 

And I am loving Kathryn Newton recently. I haven’t always loved her work but with Lisa Frankenstein, and now Abigail, she’s proving to be quite the talented comedic horror star. Her Miley Cyrus meets M3GAN dance as she’s being puppeteered by Abigail is a thing of grotesque beauty. But the whole cast was phenomenal, everyone playing their role with a wink and a smile and a bloodcurdling scream.  Alisha Weir’s child vampire who is “several centuries” old switches effortlessly between childhood innocence, sly predator, and wise monster. Kevin Durand as ‘the muscle’ - the lovable doofus with his bizarre deep accent that at one point sounded like he was doing his best Ludo from Labyrinth impression. And Dan Stevens channeling a Brooklyn Jack Torrance. This is exactly the kind of summer blockbuster horror movie I want to see, and unsurprisingly it has proven itself to be a favorite of the year so far.

5 out of 5 💀s