Abigail - a glowing review of the killer horror comedy

Seeing Abigail in theaters has given me a lot of hope for the future of Universal monster movies. I initially thought that the trailer had given everything away, but I was dead wrong. Abigail subverts expectations as more than a simple vampire movie and remains fresh and interesting throughout.

Radio Silence's Abigail is fun from the very start. It jumps straight into the plot with its snappy introduction of each character that we get to spend the next hour and forty-nine minutes with. It's not easy to make each criminal in a group of six stand out, but they did, and I loved them all.

What would a ballerina vampire be without Tchaikovsky's Black Swan?

The acting was fantastic, and each actor made the character their own. I have to give a special kudos to the young Alisha Weir who played the titular character. It's tough to be the creepy little girl in a horror movie because everyone is tired of the trope and it can come off a little cringe. Weir, however, played Abigail perfectly - a scared little girl for the first half, and a deranged, complex vampire the second. This was Angus Cloud's final role before his untimely death. His character got the most laughs in the theater I was in, which isn't surprising - he truly brightened the movie with his comedy and sincerity.

When the gore enters the story, it enters hard. The effects are realistic and truly disgusting in the best way. Radio Silence wasn't kidding when they said this was their bloodiest project yet! The violence mixed with effortless humor makes Abigail a fun and easy watch. My only gripe is the runtime. Although there weren't any scenes I found completely unnecessary, I just felt that it was dragging at times. But hey, maybe it was because I really had to go to the bathroom...

Spoiler alert! You have been warned.

The moment when Kathryn Newton fell into the sea of mushy, decomposing bodies, I gagged and held my nose just in case the smell seeped through the screen. The gore was visceral, but not too heavy for consumption because of its interweaving with humor (very similar to Ready or Not in that sense). Another stand-out scene was when Abigail took over Sammy's body and they performed the Black Swan dance in parallel.

I was bummed that Giancarlo Esposito didn't have a lot of screen time, but when I got to see him as a vampire at the end, it made it all better. I found it somewhat hasty when his character proposed his plan to Frank, turned Frank into a vampire, and was then instantly killed. Perhaps I just felt as though Esposito's character was too rushed. I loved Frank being turned into a vampire - it is so much fun to see a power-hungry character suddenly get all that power they crave. Side note: I've watched several movies and shows with Dan Stevens in them, and only now did I discover that he's hot.

"Do you know who her father is?" - the slight nod to Abigail's loose inspiration, Dracula's Daughter (1936). I thought that would be the closest we'd get to Dracula himself, but just when you think the movie's over, Abigail's father confronts our final girl. He certainly looks like he could be Dracula and he delivers the exciting line "I've gone by many names." So, yeah, Matthew Goode is Dracula if you ask me. The ending seems to set up the character for future projects. Another Dracula movie? Yes, please!

Catch Abigail in theaters while you still can!