As the horror comedy Abigail enters theatres worldwide, find out why we consider it a flawed but enjoyable horror comedy that mirrors 2019’s Ready or Not.
Abigail follows a group of criminals as they enact a plan to kidnap the daughter of a mogul (Alisha Weir) and hold her ransom for monetary gain but everything may not be as safe as it seems to be. The film features a star-studded ensemble cast of Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, William Catlett and Giancarlo Esposito.
An undoubtedly great cast commanded by a simple premise sounds alright, especially with horror veterans Radio Silence behind the camera as they follow a string of successes starting from Ready or Not and ranging to Scream VI.
Much like the plot, only some things are as happy as it looks on the surface, as the film is heavily flawed but is not without its redeeming qualities. Providing a succinct horror comedy tone, the film is not particularly scary which is to be expected with this sub-genre. The film opts for its horror to stem from the bizarre and the subsequent extreme gore resulting from the twist of the film (which was heavily marketed in the trailer).
The film does follow the premise outlined above but is allocated the curveball twist that the victim becomes the victimizer, as the eponymous Abigail is a modern-day vampire and likes to play with her food.
I believe that the twist itself is creative and interesting but the marketing failed the film as the audience is aware of factors hidden from the main cast of characters, ruining any sense of mystery proposed by the concept and spookiness of the setting (a large Scooby-Doo-esque mansion).
This problem is overcome when the characters finally become aware of the twist and then the real fun can begin, which becomes a little repetitive as the second act of the film is mostly the cast running away from our titular antagonist. And she is great, Alisha Weir brings a balance of humour, intrigue and diabolical gore horror which is highly commendable at such a young age.
That as it may be, however, I wish I could say the same for the rest of the cast. Melissa Barrera and Dan Stevens, the two other characters with the most screen time (with Barrera being the lead) are serviceable, nothing wrong with their performances and they provide a good stable foundation to root for but the four other characters are far from that.
Starting with Kathryn Newton, who often overacts in films (see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), she is comical, corny and just clumsy. Although some of this may have been intentional, it does not work for the film and is just hilarious to watch.
Kevin Durand performs well enough but often falters under the spotlight and is at his best when he shares dialogue with others, whereas character work for William Catlett’s character is almost non-existent as he is barely allocated screen time.
Most egregiously in terms of performances, is the late Angus Cloud (Euphoria) who gives one of the most comically bad performances of the film. Utilizing his signature slowed speech (caused by a childhood accident), the script allows his character to follow a stoner stereotype which isn’t great. He barely gets any plot relevance which makes his character feel useless and unlikeable.
As much as I have dunked on the film in this review, I still enjoyed it and found some good factors within its dark and sinister walls. Giancarlo Esposito was great for what short screen time he had and provided a solid guest star for a film of this calibre. The effects were great and looked very realistic outside of the hilarious blood explosions, a staple of another Radio Silence film… Ready or Not.
As expected in a film from the same directors, there are a lot of similarities between Abigail and Ready or Not but most obviously is the plot. Ready or Not follows a singular character running away from many in a mansion but Abigail is the exact opposite as it follows a character chasing an entire ensemble through the hallways of a manor. Oh… and both have blood-covered final girls!
Some cool callbacks for sure which definitely enhanced the experience on a meta-level but what I believe elevated the atmosphere of the film the most was the score by Brian Tyler. Tyler returns for his fourth collaboration with the Radio Silence crew (following 2023’s Scream VI), and his score elevates an already enjoyable film by using cues of suspense and tension as well as the always elegant “Swan Lake” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Abigail is a flawed but seriously fun film with an extravagant cast, a great atmosphere and just a fun concept. It serves as a serviceable follow-up to Radio Silence’s last film, Scream VI, and surely a good prelude for their next (which is currently titled Reunion).
Abigail stars Alisha Weir, Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, William Catlett and Giancarlo Esposito and is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence. The film is now in theatres worldwide and currently does not have a sequel in development (as of April 23, 2024).
Thank you for reading this review! If you enjoyed it, please feel free to check out some of our other articles and breakdowns here at Feature First!
