By John Corrado

Directed by the Radio Silence duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who are on hiatus from the last two entries in the Scream franchise, Abigail is a very bloody and slightly tongue-in-cheek riff on vampire movies.

The film follows a group of criminals who end up in way over their heads when they kidnap a little girl and hold her for ransom. The girl they have kidnapped is a 12-year-old ballet dancer named Abigail (Alisha Weir), who we meet in the opening scene training for a performance of Swan Lake.

Required to be anonymous for the mission, the abductors are all given names from the Rat Pack by their leader Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito); there’s Joey (Melissa Barrera), Frank (Dan Stevens), Sammy (Kathryn Newton), Dean (the late Angus Cloud), Peter (Kevin Durand) and Rickles (Will Catlett), as in Don.

They all have a role to play on the team; i.e., Sammy’s the hacker, dimwitted Dean is the driver, and Peter is the muscle, while Joey is a military medic, Frank is a former detective, and Rickles is an ex-Marine. Their instructions are to hold the girl for 24 hours until her father – a powerful underworld crime kingpin – pays them $50 million in ransom money. But it soon becomes clear that there’s more to little Abigail than it seems.

There isn’t really much to say about Abigail, which sets itself up a gory, B-movie monster flick, and doesn’t really go beyond that. I won’t say more about the plot, but what I’m alluding to isn’t really a spoiler and has already been shown in the trailers, serving as the film’s main gimmick. The movie runs long at 110 minutes, and spends some time spinning its wheels before kicking into higher gear (the first third also plays like it would have been more effective in its buildup if the main reveal had not been, well, revealed in the advertising).

That said, if it feels like Abigail was partially made to capitalize on the viral moments from M3GAN, which also featured a dancing girl whose sweet demeanour could turn sinister, the film still has some fun moments of its own. The ensemble cast brings a playfulness to their dynamic (most apparent in an early scene where Sammy tries to guess each of their professions), and it builds to some entertaining cat-and-mouse moments as they make their way through the house trying to survive.

There is a stylish look to the film, which mostly unfolds inside the Gothic mansion where Abigail is being held. The Radio Silence guys are no strangers to this sort of thing, with Abigail harkening back to their 2019 horror-comedy breakout Ready or Not. It’s clear they have fun playing around in the horror genre, mixing elements of dark comedy in a film that never takes itself too seriously, but their previous entry into the Scream franchise also left more of a mark. It’s an okay vampire movie that is mildly entertaining to watch and delivers the buckets of blood, but not much more.

Film Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)

Bonus Features (Blu-ray):

The Blu-ray includes a pretty good selection of bonus materials. A regular DVD is also included in the package, which ships with a slipcover.

• Deleted & Extended Scenes (6 minutes, 52 seconds)

• Gag Reel (9 minutes, 41 seconds)

• Blood Bath (7 minutes, 4 seconds): A look at the buckets and buckets of fake blood used in the film, and how the production team utilized practical effects.

• Hunters to Hunted (5 minutes, 36 seconds): The cast members talk about their different characters, and how much fun they had working together on set.

• Becoming a Ballerina Vampire (4 minutes, 29 seconds): A look at working with child actress Alisha Weir, and developing her titular character’s very precise balletic movements.

• Directing Duo Matt & Tyler (5 minutes, 40 seconds): A look at the directing style of Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, and their playful approach to horror.

• Feature Commentary with Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett and Editor Michael P. Shawyer

Abigail is a Universal Pictures Home Entertainment release. It’s 110 minutes and rated 18A.

Street Date: July 9th, 2024