Ahhh yes, good old reliable Abigail. Every few months we get a movie you know everything about even before you see the poster let alone the trailer. You just hear the word Abigail and you know this is going to be a commercially quirky horror comedy where one girl kills a lot of people. Despite this obvious predictability, there are still a lot of unknowns here. Will she be possessed by an evil spirit or will she be just plain old psychopath? Will there be any creatures and, on that note, will there be supernatural elements to the story? We get these answers about halfway through the movie, after the big reveal.
And I have to admit that I did not see that big reveal coming. Mostly because I knew what type of a movie this is and I didn’t read up on it. So, here’s just a brief summary of Abigail without any spoilers: a diverse group of criminals kidnaps a girl of a shady businessman Lazaar, and holes up in a remote mansion while waiting for the ransom money. What they don’t know is that a clusterfuck of monumental proportions is in the works with the Lazaar’s infamous hitman Valdez leading the charge. And that’s all you need to know about the plot of this movie. As you can notice, the plot is quite simplistic and the same goes for the stereotypical characters.
Since this is a forgettable action/horror/comedy, all of this works in Abigail’s favor. The goal of the movie is to entertain you for ninety minutes. And if you go wow a couple of times, surprised by the special effects and goer, we’ll probably get a sequel. Although considering the movie made just $40 million against a $28 million budget, that’s still up in the air. It’s part of an ongoing effort by Universal to revive their horror franchise. As such, it falls into the same category as the 2017 reboot of The Mummy and, more recently, Renfield. Finally, you should also know there’s a new Wolfman movie in the works with Ryan Gosling starring.
Abigail is coming to us from Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the two guys who worked on Scream and Scream VI. Hence Melissa Barrera is in the lead role. Speaking of the cast, while Dan Stevens was a pleasure to watch, young Alisha Weir stole the show as Abigail. I would also like to mention Kevin Durand (Smokin’ Aces) and Angus Cloud (Euphoria) in his last role. Considering how flimsy the script is, the cast did a terrific job. This is highlighted in the first third of the movie where we “get to know these troubled characters”. All of this is so stereotypical and formulaic that they had to lean into the whole thing to make it work.
Things change dramatically once the action starts. We get a lot quicker, meaner, and ultimately, a more entertaining movie. I especially liked all the blood and there will be blood, trust me. There’ll be so much blood that the directors actually had to apologize to the actors. And that’s always a good sign. Sadly, the characters will be making the same stupid decisions they make in every other generic horror movie. So, if you’re expecting anything original or creative here you’ll be sorely disappointed. I guess that’s what Universal wanted, an updated version of their old old-school classic. And they’ve got exactly what they wanted.
When the hype dies down, I think that Abigail will be a nice addition to the genre. I can already see people twenty or thirty years from now accidentally stumbling upon it and having a great time. After all, it features Danzig’s Blood and Tears. And let’s be honest, can a movie featuring any song from his second album Lucifuge be all that bad? If you’re looking for similar movies, I recommend you check out The Haunting, a late nineties ghosts extravaganza also set in a big creepy mansion.
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Writers: Stephen Shields, Guy Busick
Cast: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, William Catlett, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand
Fun Facts: Abigail was filmed on location in Guinness Manor in Dublin, Ireland. This very real and very creepy place was a much better choice than a studio.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27489557/
