What is it about Universal Pictures creating memorable monsters?  The famed Hollywood studio has released countless prestige pictures over the years, nabbing Oscars and raking in billions of dollars globally as it extended its reach to new markets.  Yet for all the lavish productions it greenlit, and with all the directors and legendary actors it has worked with, the studio will always be synonymous with its horde of monsters.  From as far back as 1931, when Todd Browning’s Dracula terrified moviegoers and introduced Bela Lugosi’s high bar setting Count to the world, Universal has left no dark corner of its haunted house of hits unexplored.  Though demand for these waned in the late ’50s, new classics like JAWS paired with disaster epics such as Earthquake found new ways to strike fear into viewers.

Universal’s recent collaboration with Blumhouse Productions has provided several decent chills, including last year’s surprise hit M3GAN.  I went into the new film Abigail thinking it was another title in the Blumhouse multi-picture deal but it is very much its own wickedly imaginative entity.  Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, billed here as Radio Silence, of which they are 2/3, the film pays homage to Universal’s storied history of creature features while adding a special twist of fangs, frights, and suspense.  And blood.  Lots and lots of blood.

More than just a routine nod to vintage vampire lore, Abigail is an original tale that begins heading in one direction but pivots (pirouettes?) several times to keep even seasoned viewers on their toes.  A ragtag gang of disparate amateur criminals is gathered for a simple task: kidnap the young daughter of a powerful man and hold her for 24 hours while he comes up with the 50-million-dollar ransom.  Breaking into the house and taking the girl is the easy part; getting away from her is when it gets messy.

Here’s where the studio and filmmakers hit a snag.  The trailer (which I think I’ve seen before every film recently) has spilled a critical reveal far too soon, allowing viewers to know Abigail’s true nature when entering the theater before the film can play its hand. This early revelation creates an interesting, if risky, cat-and-mouse game with the audience, as the script from Stephen Shields and Guy Busick works hard to engage us in a locked room mystery spoiled by an aggressive marketing campaign.  While the promotion department couldn’t resist spilling the beans, it’s a credit to everyone involved that Abigail is still decidedly intriguing all the same. 

In case you haven’t seen the trailers and don’t know what comes next, perhaps skip the rest of this review and come back after you’ve seen the film (and based on my rating above, clearly you should!). 

Last chance to turn back.

Seriously…spoilers (given away in the trailer) ahead!

OK – so you are here because you know that Abigail (Alisha Weir, Wicked Little Letters) is a centuries-old vampire that has lured the six-member team to her gothic hideaway for a nighttime hunt.  Far from a helpless damsel in distress, this is a vicious killer with an agenda who quickly turns the tables on her unprepared guests.  As she moves from victim to slayer, she starts to play hide-and-seek with her snacks, popping up when they least expect it.  It’s up to the crooks to put aside their foul-mouthed bickering and work together to eliminate the pint-sized predator.  Don’t think she’ll go down without a massive fight, either, because it will take more than garlic and wooden stakes to stop her.

The star of the previous two Radio Silence films, the 2022 reboot of Scream, and its 2023 sequel, Melissa Barrera (In the Heights), is all grit and grace as Joey, the reluctant leader of the group.  Anchoring the chaos even as she contends with demons from her past, Joey butts heads with the slimy Frank.  A former cop, Frank seems to know more about the situation and unknown players than he is letting on, making him untrustworthy to both sides sparring in the house. 

It’s a shame the character is portrayed by Dan Stevens (Beauty & the Beast), a British actor who demonstrates with each non-Brit role he takes that he cannot (and should not) do any other accent than his own.  His attempt at a Queens, NY snarl is hardly convincing, even if you give him extra credit for dressing like a waterbed salesman from 1984.  Having seen Stevens recently in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, my takeaway on his performances is that they remind me of an understudy performing amidst veteran actors.  Yes, he’s reading the lines and performing the action, but you sense that he’s filler for a better choice.

It’s Weir, though, who steals every scene as Abigail.  Poised and gifted with the ability to deliver a mundane line but give it a ringing zeal, Weir embodies the dual nature of her character with a maturity that goes far beyond her young age.  She has to carry some fairly physical scenes along with passages that amp up the dramatics, and she handles it all with an almost mesmerizing focus.  That keeps the character fun and frightening simultaneously, with just enough haunting sincerity so you feel like you could root for her if need be. 

Completing the main cast are Kathryn Newton (The Map of Tiny Perfect Things), Kevin Durand (Noah), Will Catlett (A Thousand and One), and the late Angus Cloud (who tragically died after filming and will be seen in the upcoming Freaky Tales).  Provided moments to stand out, they take their characters far further than what was originally on the page.  It’s not always easy to balance humor with horror, but these supporting characters, especially journeyman actor Durand, find some brilliant humor along the way. 

Although the scale and layout of the manor created on a soundstage in Ireland by production designer Susie Cullen remain a disorienting mystery (a little walkthrough from cinematographer Aaron Morton, Evil Dead, at the beginning would have been nice), it’s a great petrified playground for Radio Silence to tighten their vice grip of claustrophobic tension.  Much like they did with their breakout hit Ready or Not in 2019, the directors make good use of key set pieces and aren’t afraid to toss copious amounts of blood and gore around along the way.  Even operating well within the horror genre limits, Abigail isn’t afraid to wink at the audience often with some meta pokes at how we have come to understand the “rules” around monsterdom over the years. 

Embracing its roots in the bloodsucking genre while delivering genuine scares (most of which don’t involve the cheap jump variety), Abigail is a tart cocktail of suspense, bloody horror, and camp that’s as refreshing as it is retro.  The legacy of Universal’s Classic Monsters lives on with Abigail, a new breed of horror cinema that maintains a playful tone even as it takes us on an increasingly eerie romp through vampire tropes we’ve come to appreciate.