A film which delivers on its promises and gives you everything you want from the trailer and from a vampire movie
In Abigail, a group of kidnappers are hired to watch over the 12-year-old daughter of a feared criminal underworld figure. As they wait for the ransom money to be delivered, they get more than they bargained for when it turns out that (and if you are fortunate enough to have not seen the trailer, read no further) Abigail is a vampire!
What follows is a pretty entertaining vampire flick, thanks mostly to Alisha Weir who plays the eponymous ballerina blood-sucker. The audience’s enjoyment of Abigail is largely predicated on Weir’s performance and she absolutely carries this movie, flitting between scared, innocent girl and horrifying vampire that will rip your face off (throw in some ballet moves and you’ve got a little horror icon). The rest of the cast do well in their human roles, providing unique personalities and making the kidnappers somewhat likeable, but watching them be terrorised by little Abigail is what you come to this movie for.
With a basic hook like this, little else is needed to engage viewers. There’s a good mother-daughter theme between Abigail and Melissa Barrera’s character which adds heart and could have provided the depth that perhaps the writers wanted, but unfortunately the film focuses more on some needlessly complicated plot points. There are a lot of faceless names and contextless backstories here that make the film harder than it should be to follow at times.
It may be more complex than was necessary, but Abigail delivers on its promises and gives you everything you want from the trailer and from a vampire movie. It’s a bloody good time.
Rating: 7/10