ABIGAIL REVIEW: Is this ballerina vampire the new Dracula's Daughter?
Today, we’re talking about Abigail! If you saw my original video announcing the Dracula’s Daughter remake, you know I was not too excited about it. I was excited at the idea of a Dracula’s Daughter remake, but when I read about it, I was envisioning it much more like Renfield or an action film. I was not excited about that. Then I watched the trailer. I realized that more than anything this movie was going to be similar to Ready or Not and I love Ready or Not, it’s absolutely one of my favorite modern horror films. I saw Alisha Weir and Melissa Barrera and all of these people who I love, and I realized that this was a movie to get excited about.
There really is no link to the original Dracula’s Daughter in this movie. This is not a Dracula’s Daughter remake, this is simply a movie based on the idea of a daughter of Dracula. She’s a vampire ballerina. I do love that the movie opens with Swan Lake (the trailer did as well), that feels like a really nice nod to the classic monster movies. Other than that, there’s not much of a connection. In this movie the premise is that this band of kidnappers kidnap this little girl. They take her to a mansion and they’re waiting for all of the ransom negotiations to work out and as they start getting picked off one by one, they realize that they have not kidnapped a normal little girl. They have kidnapped vampire ballerina.
Alisha Weir was fantastic in Abigail and delivered an awesome performance of a vampire ballerina.
©Universal; Retrieved from New York Times
This movie is by Radio Silence, the team behind the Scream remake and Ready or Not. It was directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. This movie reminded me so much of Ready or Not. It wasn’t a direct copy and paste, there are obviously big differences. However, it felt like it was from the same family in a way that really helped me love it again. The movie takes place in one location, the whole movie you are in this mansion and I think that helped contain a lot of what could have turned this into a movie that I didn’t love.
The cast in this movie is so good. I think it was impeccably cast and the characters were really great. I’ll start with Alisha Weir, who I love. I thought she was great in Matilda, which is really my anchor point for her. She was spectacular in this movie. In my opinion, she is by far the stand-out and she was a fantastic vampire ballerina. She was so scary; she really had the edge that you want of a vampire ballerina and the scariness. She delivered the lines really well in a way that didn’t feel childish. On the other side, there are times when she’s playing this very innocent child where she is scared and she is hurt and all of these things, and she did that so well too. She could balance playing the innocence and playing the scary. I’m so excited to see where her career goes, especially after seeing this movie. I believe her career is going to go great places as long as that’s what she wants.
If you want blood, comedy, horror, fun, and some good jump scares, then I think this movie has you covered! | ©Universal
Melissa Barrera was also really good, along with Dan Stevens and Kathryn Newton. I will say that Kathryn Newton, in this role, played a very similar role to Lisa Frankenstein. I loved it in Lisa Frankenstein, and I really liked it here. I’m wondering if she’s going to start getting a little boxed into this, but for this movie it really worked. This was also Angus Cloud’s very last role. I thought he was wonderful. This cast is already very accomplished and have done a lot of great work. I think in 10 years from now, everybody’s career will have leveled up, we are going to look back on this movie and say “wow, can you believe all those actors were in that one movie?”.
At the beginning of the movie, you have everybody meeting each other for the very first time, they all had their parts in the heist and now they’re all in the house together. You have the rules to include no names, no back stories, nobody is allowed to find out anything about anyone. It felt very classic heist, it felt very Casa de Papel to me. One thing that was very fun for me, was at the beginning of the movie when Alisha Weir’s character is still in her innocent kidnapped kid mode. It was really fun for me to watch this with the idea of her seeming so innocent but knowing that she wasn’t because the trailer gave part of this away. I found myself wondering if I could see it in her acting, maybe I was simply putting it there, but I felt as though I could get these glimpses and these little things. She was really fun to watch even in that respect.
Alisha Weir did many of her own stunts and those were really fun to watch. | ©Universal; Retrieved from Yahoo.com
I want to assuage anyone’s fears, the trailer did not give everything away. There are a lot of twists and turns and one gripe that I might have, is that towards the end I felt like it got a little twisty and turn-y. I felt some things were outside of the realm of real believability, but it still made for a fun movie. I would still watch this movie again, even if I don’t necessarily love every choice that was made.
The other thing that pulled me out at times was how much everybody was drinking, smoking, hanging out, and flirting while they’re confined in this mansion where they’ve kidnapped somebody, and they’re working on hostage and ransom negotiations. Now, I guess I understand that their jobs are supposed to be done and they’re simply waiting around for their money, but I still feel that if I had gone through this whole experience, I would be serious, on it, concerned, and not ready to party. Maybe I am weird that this pulled me out, I want to know in the comments if this felt normal for anybody else.
This cast is already so accomplished, and they have achieved quite a bit. I’m excited to look back in 10 years and see how far they go in their careers. | Photo retrieved from: BeautifulBallad.org
It’s funny because the trailer for this movie was very action packed and it still didn’t show all of the action. There is so much that happens in this movie and so many fun moments. This movie is so action-packed, there’s always something happened. This is not an action movie, merely action packed. There is so much blood in this movie, I think some of the actors said they’ve never worked with so much blood before. It’s a really good time. Another shout out to Alisha Weir because I read somewhere that she did many of her own stunts and those were really fun to watch as well.
Overall, my review is if you’re looking for an actual class Dracula’s Daughter remake or if you want a slow burn horror film, this movie is not going to be for you. However, if you want blood, comedy, horror, fun, and some good jump scares, then I think this movie has you covered. If you can see it in a theater, then go see it in a theater especially because the mansion set is really fantastic and reminiscent of Ready or Not. I will be excited to play this movie a few more times. I’m sure I’m going to catch way more stuff that I didn’t the first time around. That’s always a regret when I’m doing reviews. I wish that I could watch the movie repeatedly to catch more and give you a more complete story. Anyway, now I watched it and came home and what is in my head is what is coming out to you now.
Tell me in the comments what you thought of Abigail. I’m really excited to see if everyonr else is on the same train as me.