A satisfyingly bloody ballet recital.
I’m pretty sure the man sitting in front of me at the “Abigail” screening has seen “Ready or Not,” because he was making arm movements when he say certain moments that are recycled from that movie. I was pretty much in agreement with him on that subject, even though we haven’t met. And both movies were made by the brilliant horror duo known as Radio Silence.
But “Abigail” has a lot of big laughs and a lot of bloody energy to make this movie a fun ride. And it can also satirize the vampire genre with some Anne Rice and “Twilight” appeals without being so obvious. It’s just cheeky the way it kids them.
The movie features a group of thieves who can’t share with each other their names or back stories, but they must collaborate to kidnap the ballerina daughter of a wealthy man, whose occupation they’re trying to figure out. Could he be a tech guy or just a generic billionaire with the suits and business meetings? He has to be very somebody important if they’re going to kidnap his little girl.
I’m only going to tell you their fake names, but this team consists of the former junkie Joey (Melissa Barrera, who’s currently working with Radio Silence on the “Scream” sequels), the serious and smart aleck Frank (Dan Stevens), the muscle Peter (Kevin Durand), the sniper Rickles (William Catlett from “A Thousand and One”), the hacker Sammy (Kathryn Newton), and the getaway driver Dean (the late Angus Cloud). Their boss is Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito). And their ballerina target is Abigail (Alisha Weir, whom I just informed you was from “Matilda: The Musical” and “Wicked Little Letters”). Lambert leaves them all to spend the night in whosever’s mansion for 24 hours, until the father (Matthew Goode) pays up.
The night turns out to be a lot more than they bargained for, as the little girl happens to be a vampire, whose tagline would be: “What can I say? I like playing with my food.” And for the record, I didn’t spoil anything. That would be the trailer. But there’s also a lot more to the story that we didn’t really expect, especially with the kidnappers and their bargaining chip. Their immortal bargaining chip to be exact.
“Abigail” should cut back on certain familiarities, but it also choses to be a vampire horror comedy with a similar appeal as last year’s “Renfield,” which I’m surprised didn’t connect with audiences. I liked that film for what it was, and I liked this movie for what it is. It’s a great-looking movie with a terrific production design of the mansion, and some creepily choreographed ballerina recitals. And you also have Barrera continuing her timing and attitude, Stevens being wickedly funny, Weir proving herself to be a natural child actress, and Newton in some sharp scenes. One of them involves a jump scare while she’s watching the Woody Woodpecker cartoon “Panic Pantry” and the other involves a recital or two.
Before you accuse me of being too positive of a film critic who saw past the bodily functions in “Sasquatch Sunset” and the cliches of “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” just remember I don’t praise every movie. I’m just optimistic to see the strengths of “Abigail,” which are more than enough to keep audiences going. And even if I did see some “Ready or Not” throwbacks, I still was tickled. Radio Silence is a Hell of a movie team.