I’ve been a fan of the directing team known as Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett) for sometime. I remember first seeing their bit in the first V/H/S film, and subsequently found their YouTube channel, which I thought was a real hoot and a half. Ready or Not was a crapload of fun, and after they successfully resurrected the once thought dead Scream franchise, I consider myself to be on board for just about anything they do moving forward. Add to that the stellar cast and seeing Abigail becomes a no brainer.
A lot of hay has been made about the promotion of Abigail. The trailers give away what many consider to be the biggest twist of the film, which is the fact that the titular character is actually a vampire looking to feed. Folks online have hawed about how the movie was ruined because they let the vamp out of the bag before ever getting to see it. Personally, I never had a problem with this. I don’t exactly know how you can promote this movie effectively without revealing it, and still get people to want to go see it. It’s clearly a horror movie, characters are dying, and little Abby is involved throughout. After having seen the movie, I would also argue that Abby being a vampire isn’t the biggest twist. So if you’re hesitant to see the movie, because you think you’ve seen everything, rest easy knowing you haven’t.
I’ve always loved movies featuring an interesting group of characters coming from a variety of backgrounds, all forced to work together out of necessity. As each character meets their end, viewers get to play the game of who will be next? Who is going to survive? While this can be obvious for most given the amount of screen time we get with various characters, clearly lining them up to be our true main characters, it’s still fun to see if there will be any surprises along the way.
Melissa Barrera does a terrific job playing Joey, the mother-hen of the group charged with looking after Abigail while in their care. Joey’s motivations for taking the job make sense, and while she does agree to kidnap a child, her moral dubiousness is not without cause. She’s simply a desperate woman looking for a way out of her current situation. Dan Stevens as Frank, on the other hand, is a complete and utter scumbag. He comes across as the sort of guy who would happily put a bullet in his own mother’s head if it means it would bring him more money and power. He’s the antithesis of Joey, and someone you love to root against.
The rest of the cast is made up of colorful characters with their own unique skills and personality quirks. Kevin Durand as Peter is a simple brute with a decent heart, but willing to hurt people if that’s what it takes, even if he doesn’t really want to. Kathryn Newton as Sammy is a happy hacker who does what she does for the thrills. Angus Cloud as Dean is a great wheelman, but a bit of a self-serving lowlife, and is the least mature of the group. William Catlett as Rickles is the most stoic of the bunch. He reveals very little of himself, yet seems to be the most levelheaded if not the smartest, as he’s willing to leave as soon as he sees that things aren’t right.
The real breakout star here though is Alisha Weir as Abigail. She does a tremendous job playing the terrified youngster, only to then turn on a dime and become a believably vicious blood sucking beast. Her performance reminded me a bit of Ed Norton’s breakout role in Primal Fear. While her turn is given away in the trailers, it’s still no less impressive to see, especially given her young age.
The first half of the film allows us to get to know each character fairly well, so that when crap starts getting out of control, you become engaged enough to want to see your favorite character survive. And when they don’t, it hurts. The deaths are suitably gorey, and some of the revisions made to the way vampires operate is also refreshing. The film moves at a decent pace, and at an hour and forty-nine minutes, it wraps itself up nicely and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
If you dig a solid standalone horror film, colorful and well written characters, and some solid twists, I’d highly recommend giving this one a shot.
If you’re still reading this, thank you! I’m J. Kern Radtke, the Reformed Movie Geek letting you know that if you’re asked to do something illegal that sounds too good to be true, there’s probably a vampire on the other end of it, so just say no.
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