Abigail

The "Dark Universe" may have been exorcised seven years ago, but Universal is still trying to bring back its legendary monsters to modern movie screens. One of its more obscure titles, 1936's Dracula's Daughter, is the starting point for Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillet's (part of the filmmaking team of Radio Silence) new feature Abigail. This isn't a remake of the early film, but a whole new creature feature. What can you expect?

Six crooks snatch aspiring ballet dancer Abigail (Alisha Weir) and take her to a secluded mansion. The crooks are tasked by the mysterious Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito) to watch her until her father (Matthew Goode) coughs up the $50 million ransom. Lambert assigns the crew code names inspired by the Rat Pack; they consist of space cadet driver Dean (Angus Cloud, who died not long into filming), stoic sniper Rickles (Will Catlett), dumb muscle Peter (Kevin Durand), bratty hacker Sammy (Kathryn Newton), crooked cop Frank (Dan Stevens), and central character Joey (Melissa Barrera), who is assigned to watch Abigail.

The crew eventually learn that Abigail's father is Kristof Lazar, an ominous and unforgiving mob boss. That's not even the worse news; it turns out Abigail is a vampire. The Rat Pack spend the rest of the movie trying to scurry their way out of the mansion before Abigail kills or vampirizes them. That's basically it.

Of course, you'd already know Abigail's secret if you've seen the trailer over these last few months. And it was trailered a lot. Her bonding with Joey is almost convincing; she seems like a scared little kid, and Joey is quite sympathetic, but we, the audience, already know what's what. It takes roughly half-way through the 109-minute film before she shows her fangs. That might test some folks, but I think it has an interesting cast to help ease its audience along. They try to find their way out as soon as they realize something's wrong. It doesn't help the first victims, but at least they're proactive.

Weir absolutely relishes playing Abigail as a gleeful little monster. She still tries the scared kid act after she reveals herself but will gladly drop it once her "captors" see right through her. Her attacking the Rat Pack as a feral monster is horrific, but her dancing Swan Lake with her first victim's headless corpse is lunacy. She especially hams it up once she turns a survivor into her vampiric puppet. She has some ethics, particularly when Daddy Dearest shows up, but they're somewhat overshadowed by her little monster persona.

What about the Rat Pack? They're a pretty good crew, for the most part, and their likability mostly doesn't diminish when Abigail divulges the survivors' real backstories. Dean's quite loopy, while Rickles is just fine. Peter is a big lug with much of the film's funniest lines. Sammy has the brightest personality of the pack, as well as the saddest fate. Frank is quite unlikable well before Abigail tells the crew about his real backstory. He gets much worst from there. Joey, as mentioned before, is sympathetic, complete with an equally sympathetic real backstory. It's quite compelling to watch her fight back against the forces of darkness. Outside of the pack, Esposito and Goode make the most of their limited screen times.

Now for the technicals. The vampiric effects, whether it's Abigail flying or vampires exploding, are pretty well done. I'm not sure whether there was CGI involved in the vampiric designs. But if there were, it's quite seamless, which makes Abigail transforming in-camera all the more impressive. The mansion created by production designer Susie Cullen personifies creepiness, while its swimming pool holds its most horrific surprise. Brian Tyler's magnificent rendition of the Swan Lake theme is accompanied by a wonderfully haunting score. How many more movies will it take before he gets an Oscar nod?

Anyway, Abigail is an impressive blend of horror and absurdity. It's not afraid to admit it's silly, but then it shows us how scary its little monster can be. It helps that it's a got a good cast of would-be victims to help its audience through the monster delay. Anyone looking for a gleeful horror film will find it here. See it soon to see what I mean. That's it for now.