Movie Review: “Abigail,” starring, Melissa Barrera, Alisha Weir

​The latest horror feature from creative team Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (the duo behind 2019’s Ready or Not and the last two Scream entries,) dances into theaters this weekend. Abigail sees a group of unnamed kidnappers as they abduct a young girl, named Abigail, with the intent of holding her captive for a ransom of 50 million dollars. The team is made up of strangers, anonymous to each other only with the sole purpose of completing the snatch and grab. The team is comprised of Melissa Barrera, arguably our main character aside from the titular Abigail played by Alisha Weir, and rounding out the remaining spots on the roster are Dan Stevens, William Catlett, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, and the late Angus Cloud.

​Once the girl is abducted, the team is held up in what seems to be an old unkept mansion in the middle of nowhere. With the instructions to watch the girl until the ransom is paid, they are left to their duties. But, it isn’t a young, helpless Abigail who is being held captive. The team soon finds themselves trapped inside the house, and they are being hunted down one by one. It turns out Abigail is a vampire (a ballerina vampire to be specific.) An apex predator who likes “playing with her food,” the young bloodthirsty girl begins tearing through the team at an alarming rate, and leaving behind what I imagine took buckets and buckets of fake blood. 

​Much like Ready or Not, the film has a balance of witty writing and elements of horror that complement each other well. Perhaps classified as a “horror-comedy,” the film is equal parts creepy and funny. The kicker, in my opinion, is that Abigal is hunting her human captors while dressed as a ballerina, and alsodancing while ripping them apart. It’s as if the filmmakers looked at the outrageous viral moment from M3GAN and said, “oh yeah, lets add this, but crank the volume all the way up.” This feature easily could have failed if it wasn’t for the comedic elements of the film, which made the nonsensical ballet throughout the killing spree, seem…enjoyable? Aside from the dancing, there is a lot of blood. Violence, violence, and more violence is the catalyst in what drives this story of predator and prey to its odd conclusion.

​To keep a spoiler-free review of the film, I will say the ending seemed a little messy, and it wasn’t because of all the bloodshed. It didn’t follow the same tone as the rest of the film, and seemed forced to present some big crescendo of a finale that wasn’t necessary. It was still enjoyable, it just seemed the breaks came to a full stop before the big finish that, although I didn’t see coming, simply didn’t make much sense. Overall, the performances were great. The titular young carnivorous Abigail was absolutely fantastic. And, Kathryn Newton was the epitome of humor that felt like it was breathing life into the storyline. If you enjoyed the “explosive” ending in the directors’ film Ready or Not, you will definitely find enjoyment in Abigail. It’s a bloody good time, and an interesting take on the modern vampire genre.

Abigal earns a C+.