THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Ever since we were introduced to Dracula, the idea of vampires have taught us monsters can come in all shapes and sizes. That includes taking the innocent forms of a child.
PLOT
Abigail follows the titular ballet child who gets abducted by six criminals who hold her for $50million ransom they wish to collect from their mysterious father. The group is instructed by their ringleader Lambert to stay in an abandoned manor for 24 hours with the child until the ransom is paid. Sworn to not share real names in order to be secretive as possible, they are given names in homage to the Rat Pack: a former marine sniper is dubbed Don Rickles, the sociopathic getaway driver is called Dean, former army medic Ana Lucia Cruz gets called Joey, former detective Adam Barrett gets called Frank, the hacker Jessica Hurney gets called Sammy and mob enforcer Terrence Lecroix gets called Peter. Due to being unaware in advance that their hostage would be a child, Joey chooses to be sympathetic towards Abigail and swears to protect her. The child admits her father doesn’t care about her and won’t pay the ransom, therefore apologizing in advance for what will happen to them all. When Frank chooses to confront her, she reveals her father is a powerful crime lord known as Kristof Lazaar. Things then take a drastic course when Dean is found decapitated in the basement, leading to the group suspecting they’re being attacked by Lazaar’s enforcer Valdez. They try to escape through the front door, but the house is sealed by a security system that prevents them from escaping. When looking for another way out, Rickles is found mutilated. Just before the remaining group consider turning on each other, Abigail reveals herself to be a centuries old vampire and attacks them. The remaining four are able to regroup when Frank shoots her. Accepting the truth, they plan to stop her with common folkloric weapons used to stop vampires. Crucifixes and garlic don’t work, but Abigail uses a stake on Frank’s leg before he could use it on her. Joey is able to tranquilize the vampire, but not before she bites Sammy. When she later wakes up from tranquilization, Abigail admits she arranged the abduction through Lambert and planned to kill them all as they’ve each wronged her father, proving her to be Valdez all along as she has done this for centuries. While the reasons towards Dean and Rickles aren’t specified, the other four are exposited: Ana is a recovering morphine addict who abandoned her son Caleb & is wanted for nicking the artery of someone close to Lazar while high. Adam is a target for arresting Lazar’s lieutenants, and both Jessica & Terrence separately stole from Lazar’s subsidiaries. When Abigail breaks free, she tries to kill Frank until Joey exposes her arm to sunlight which causes it to explode. The remaining group take cover in the library where sunlight is present. There, Joey confesses regret in abandoning her son and hoped to return to him after collecting her ransom cut she thought she would get. After recovering, Abigail makes a thrall out of Sammy to kill Peter. When she targets Joey & Frank, they overpower her by exposing her to sunlight, which causes her to explode. Lambert lures them to the security room in which he reveals to be a vampire as well. He explains she turned him for helping Frank avoid her dad’s wrath and offers him to turn as well in order to kill the other vampires together. He takes the deal only to kill him for leading him to the trap. When Abigail attacks, he drains most of her blood which gives Joey a chance to make a break for it. Frank does catch up to her and bites her to turn her to a thrall. Instead, she and Abigail team up to kill him with a stake in which he explodes. This act undoes Joey being cursed and out of respect, Abigail encourages her to reunite with her son. Lazaar would then arrive in shock of all the carnage but for the sake of his daughter, the film ends with him deciding to let Ana go with her life.
THOUGHTS
With Radio Silence well managing multiple realms of horror through Ready or Not and two Scream movies, it was clear they can make any setting their own and they do it with ease once again. Directors Matt Bertinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, writers Guy Busick & Stephen Shields, and producers James Vanderbilt, William Sherak, Tripp Vinson, Paul Neinstein & Chad Villella once again make a hella good time. The suspense was rattling at any given moment which made all the right sense because a child vampire is never an easy image to digest no matter how many times it’s been done before. And because of that mindset, the violence indeed turns up to 11. Ready or Not did prepare me for body explosions, yet they feel louder here due to how far the blood goes. You have every right to be afraid of the titular antagonist because for the most part, Alisha Weir nails it in going from deceptive to manipulative in the blink of an eye. What surprises us is how her trail of blood comes from neglect she’s felt from her own dad, who was also terrifyingly portrayed by Matthew Goode who I refuse to theorize is Dracula the way others have. She seeks connection/affection and hates how Kristof won’t give her that unless she does him a favor. And the worst part, not even that is enough and it only angers her more to where she enjoys stalking her prey the way she does. Little did she think she would bond with one who has remorse compared to everyone else she killed before. Melissa Barrera was incredible as Ana/Joey because she hates herself for her mistakes and doesn’t believe she deserves to be forgiven to the point she felt her son would be better without her. If she wasn’t going through this personal crisis or even have a child, she would’ve not bonded with Abigail the way she did. They end up getting on the same page because the latter is admired that she gives some form of compassion without even knowing who she really is in advance. And that is what saves her in the end where she feels good enough to reconnect with her son as she leaves in the end. Since she is the only one with a conscience she is able to organize, it’s not a surprise that the body count is made up of people who don’t really have regret the way she does. Dan Stevens was quite compelling as Adam/Frank because he’s not a guy that looks back compared to Ana. He is all about wanting more and more power no matter the risk and couldn’t help the temptation when it came to being a vampire, thinking he can stop an experienced one like Abigail. Kevin Durand wants to make Terrence/Peter a gentle giant as he acts the most dim witted, but has his own selfishness he’s too cowardly to admit. Kathryn Newton even brings a similar vibe as Jessica/Sammy because she tries to bring thrills in her boring life, but chooses to do it from afar rather than take action. Deep down, the only time she truly felt alive was when she got possessed and that says a lot. William Catlett made Rickles somewhat grounded because like Joey, he chooses to not overthink things. Off of that, he thought that was enough to flirt with her. Surprisingly, he takes it well when she rejects him which says a lot because he was far more accepting with reality. As for the late Angus Cloud, he showed Dean as a guy who backed up his talent, but just didn’t bother with the idea of being professional which made it easy to sympathize for him the least when he is first to bite the dust. Last but not least, Giancarlo Esposito was a treat as Lambert because he came off well organized only to discover he was messy in thinking he can overcome something far more powerful than him. The bigger mistake he made though is recruiting one he crossed because he should’ve known better that grudges are just far too common to hold. Seeing the dynamics of all these characters taught me an important lesson that you can achieve your goals, but you have to want it more than you think you do. That is exactly the case for Joey because she earned it when she killed a rogue vampire to return to her son. The fact she did makes you hopeful she’ll not waste her second chance. This movie was an overall blast, but there were still a few things I was scratching my head about. From the top, it was one thing to point out Joey could’ve told the group she removed the blind fold, but it was totally on Frank to not tell her where he was going. Had he told her what he was gonna do, she could’ve told him what was vital to know. Also, who the hell opened the basement door for Dean? If Abigail is telekinetic as well, that should’ve been exposited as well. And why was the front gate so quiet? Since the doors leading to the bar were open, they should’ve heard it close way before Rickles tried to leave. Speaking of which, why would he leave his gun in his room after Dean died? Abigail could’ve taken it if she wanted to and that totally would’ve been on him. Lastly, I feel like Abigail should’ve bit Joey right after biting Sammy because the opportunity was there for the taking before getting tranquilized. Other than that, this movie is still hella fun. In short, Abigail is a hellacious horror film for knowing exactly when to let loose with its concept. If you got an interest in vampires, this one is up your alley for sure.
Comments