“What can I say? I like playing with my food.”
I have to say, I was expecting more blood. When the cast speaks out and calls the film “the bloodiest thing they’ve ever worked on in terms of volume,” or “the most traumatic experiences,” and the director describes it as “just a bloodbath,” I guess I was just expecting it be pouring down from the walls. However, that was not really the case. In truth, I barely noticed a difference between this and your typical horror film. Granted, other horror films have less exploding vampires, which I assume was the reason for the film earning its gory reputation. I suppose that is to the film’s credit, the ability to use close to 30,000 liters of fake blood, yet I was no more disturbed than watching any other traditional vampire films. Aside from that surprise, I have no complaints about Abigail, a reimagining of the Universal horror classic, Dracula’s Daughter, starring Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, and Giancarlo Esposito. For Angus Cloud, this serves as his final role due to his passing in July 2023. Also noteworthy was that production wasn’t completed until months after his death due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. However, Cloud managed to film all of his scenes before production was shut down.
Six would-be criminals (Barrera, Stevens, Newton, Catlett, Durand, Cloud) kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure for an eight-figure ransom. All they have to do to collect is watch over the girl overnight in an isolated mansion. Using codenames, the group of strangers attempt to make the best of their circumstances, with Joey (Barrera) tasked with ensuring the victim’s safety and care. However, an ambiguous warning from the girl sets Joey on edge and suspicious that the job is not as initially advertised as the captors start to dwindle one by one, and they discover, to their growing horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.
Despite the horror element of the film premise, there is also an inherent comedy to the movie that I greatly appreciated. As the aforementioned quote indicates, Alisha Weir’s Abigail really is just playing with group, who are literally no match for the child vampire. This is best displayed after the vampire reveal when the group of would-be criminals imagine themselves wannabe Van Helsings and try their hand vampire slaying armed with no more knowledge than the basic myths of crucifixes and garlic. Weir balances the juxtaposition of her role like an acting veteran despite this being her fourth theatrical role. Like her kidnappers, she lures us in with her displays of innocence and then does a metamorphosis into a sadistic immortal killer, taunting and manipulating her victims.
Her turning of the tables was quite layered and clever. First, she created dissent among the group by dangling bits of information designed to play on the group’s mistrust in one another. Next, she thinned the herd a bit before ultimately revealing herself. Additionally, another layer of depth is added to the character as it is revealed that it is not by chance that criminal group were selected despite them all being strangers to one another. The inclusion of the vampire’s larger motivations kept the character from being a stereotypical bloodthirsty killer.
While Weir is the clear breakout star of the film, with such a cast of talented practitioners of their craft, theothers can’t be discounted either. Behind Weir, Melissa Barrera is my next clear favorite. Her character is the film’s heart, as her character is capable of huge amounts of empathy, indicated through the bond she formed with Abigail (prior to the vampire reveal), as well as her compassionate acts to several of her criminal compatriots despite not fully trusting or liking any of them. Angus Cloud provides unique comic relief; Dan Stevens is just that guy that you love to hate, while Kevin Durand somehow makes be an affable moron almost endearing. For Kathryn Newton, I can see exactly why she described her role as the most physical role she’d undertaken, which was interesting given that her character archetype was not of that nature. Not to mention, as a member of the MCU you’d expect that would have been more physically taxing. However, once you see the circumstances that her character was thrust into, you’ll fully understand what she means.
“What are we talking about, like an Anne Rice or a True Blood? You know, Twilight? Very different kind of vampires.”
While I enjoyed each character individually, I enjoyed them very much as an ensemble. They played off each other so well, especially in the above quote. This exchange, in which the characters attempt to strategize how to face their new threat and pool their knowledge. It is quite possible my favorite scene as the characters involved in the exchange complemented one another so well.
The film did somewhat diverge from its initial premise, courtesy of a twist in the latter portion of the film intended to set up an unlikely alliance. While this idea was not unwelcome, it required some adjusting to. Overall, I suppose it ensured a cathartic conclusion for the film and a measure of redemption for more than one character. Simply put, Abigail was a good time that I fully encourage seeing. Don’t let the blood deter; like I said, it’s handled tastefully, and I barely noticed a difference.
