I’m a big fan of vampire films. Some of my favorites are the original Dracula starring Bela Lugosi from the 40s, Bram Stoker’s Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and Interview With A Vampire starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Vampire films have come in all shapes and sizes since the original Nosferatu back in 1922. There have been comedies, little indies, franchises set around these creatures of the night and so many more. The latest vampire film is Abigail from Universal Pictures. It is not quite your father’s vampire movie, but it’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination. 

Six highly skilled men and women were hired by someone they didn’t know to plan the kidnapping and implementation of a little girl from a house belonging to a rich man. They think they are going to get a nice payday, but instead get death, betrayal, and a lot of blood and guts. Oh, and the little girl turns out to be a bloodthirsty vampire who has daddy issues. That’s the plot of this movie, the latest in a long line of vampire films over the last hundred or so years. They sure are getting creative with these movies these days that’s for sure.

I’ve seen a lot of vampire films in my day, but none quite like this one. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett infuse this movie with a lot of familiar themes movie fans have seen before, but he does it in such a way that makes them very entertaining and fun to watch. The plot borrowed from Agatha Christie to The Usual Suspects and everything in between. Just when you think the story is going to zig it zags. This story is nonetheless very wild and crazy.

I’m a big fan of films that have great casts and Abigail has one of the best casts of any movie I’ve seen this year. The six strangers who are hired to do the kidnapping and keep the child until the ransom is paid are played by some fantastic character actors from film and television.  Names like Melissa Barrera, Scream 5 & 6, Giancarlo Esposito,  Breaking Bad, Angus Cloud, Euphoria,  Rest In Peace, Kathryn Newton,  Antman Quantum Mania, Kevin Durand, Fruitcake Station, Dan Stevens, Godzilla X Kong, William Catlett, A Thousand and One. They all have backstories and play fantastic roles in the film. The one that steals the movie from all of these named actors is Alisha Weir in the title role.

Alisha Weir has a couple of credits to her name, but people are going to remember her from playing Abigail. She starts out as this meek and mild little 12-year-old girl, who acts all innocent and doesn’t know what’s going on, and then transforms into a bloodthirsty beast. She’s ripping people’s throats out left and right. It’s pretty impressive to see her go to work in this role. As a vampire, she uses her ballerina skills to dance and jump around. She is not that easy to coral. Weir seems like she’s enjoying every moment she’s on screen. This is why the Academy Awards needs an under-eighteen or youth category.  She will be sorely overlooked come awards season and it’s a shame because she’s fantastic in this title role.

With any vampire movie you know you’re going to get a lot of blood, but in this film, you get blood overload. The blood is spewing from everywhere once the killing starts. Numerous scenes of blood flowing like a faucet out of throats, legs, and abdominal areas are filmed. The biggest blood and guts scenes are when characters literally explode. These scenes are sudden and come out of nowhere so they’re very shocking to witness. The blood and guts in this movie are on overload. That’s a good thing because I enjoyed every minute of it.

There is a mystery at the forefront of this film. That is a good part of the story as you watch it unfold. One of the best parts of the movie though is its humor. There are many funny sequences. It’s hard to touch on them all. There is just an awareness of vampires, vampire culture, and vampire movies the film has. It’s like it knows it’s a vampire film and winking at the audience. Saying we know what we’re doing. It’s so funny in so many ways. One particular character who is hilarious in a straight-man role is Kevin Durand. He has so many amazing lines. He was perfectly cast in this role. One funniest parts of the movie is the names that the characters are given by the Esposito character of Lambert. He Dobbs them the rat pack and gives the crew all the names of the classic 50s and 60s entertainers, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, etc. Having them be called these names was a bonus to what was an already hilarious film.

Abigail is one of the finest vampire movies I’ve seen in a long time. It’s so self-aware of itself. It’s winking at the audience saying I know I’m a stereotypical vampire movie, but I’m going to have fun with it anyway, and so are you. The stacked cast are all phenomenal and especially young Alisha Weir in the title role. This movie is surprisingly very funny with so many hilarious moments from Durand and the others. The blood and guts are flowing like a faucet and I loved all of it. The director is so on point with this movie.  He steals from a lot of great things but makes something so good it doesn’t matter. This is a fantastic gore fest! I hope everybody sees it as soon as possible. 

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen