REVIEW: ABIGAIL (2024)

ABIGAIL (2024)

New horror from the directors that brought us Scream V and Scream VI has a team of unscrupulous individuals, Frank (Dan Stevens), Joey (Melissa Barerra), Sammy (Kathryn Newton), Peter (Kevin Durand), Rickles (Will Catlett) and Dean (the late Angus Cloud) gathered by a man named Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito) to kidnap 12-year-old Abigail (Alisha Weir). The girl’s father is apparently wealthy and powerful, and the plan is to extort $50 million from him for her return. They soon discover the situation however is not what they think and find themselves locked inside an old mansion. Now trapped they also find to their horror that Abigail isn’t what she seems either.

Horror with a dark sense of humor is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet from a script by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick and is a fun and delightfully gory flick as our six kidnappers find out that the hunters are now the hunted. It’s no secret that Abigail is a monster and not just in levels of being a brat. The flick gets deliriously gruesome at times as the little fiend hunts and attacks for her amusement when she’s not manipulating her captors to turn against each other. It’s a fun time and there are some really enjoyable action sequences when the adorable little creature turns badasses into bloody messes. It’s not perfect. Not all the characters click, nor do some of the dialogue exchanges and sometimes the momentum stops when things really start to get going. And after a bit of a slow burn first act to get to know our six kidnappers, things do get going. It is a bloody good time despite its flaws and one with some legit scary scenes and a very solid cast.

A kidnapping is about to go awry in Abigail.

Melissa Barerra is our lead and makes a formidable heroine as Joey. Joey is a former Army medic and ex-addict who yearns to get the big payday so she can reunite with and take care of her son. She’s tough and smart and resilient and making her sympathetic at first to Abagail and a mom, helps keep one from seeing her as a bad guy. Dan Stevens is fun as the ex-cop turned hoodlum and seems to be having a good time, especially in the last act when he gets to go over the top. Kathryn Newton is also fun as Sammy, a computer hacker who seems to be onboard more for kicks. She’s cute and sarcastic and also gets to have some over the top fun. Kevin Durand is the likeable musclehead Peter and makes his character more of a likable lug than a thug. Will Catlett is solid as ex-soldier and sniper Rickles, while the late Angus Cloud is also amusing as punk getaway driver Dean. As our creature of the night, Alisha Weir steals the show as the vicious Abigail. A true monster that is centuries old yet still stalks and kills her prey with the amusement of a child. Weir is simply a blast to watch as she goes from the frightened kidnap victim to a savage monster that “likes to play with her food”. Rounding out is Giancarlo Esposito who gives his Lambert a sense of both nobility and lethality in his brief appearances. A great cast even if the dialogue doesn’t always completely support them.

In conclusion Abigail is a bit flawed but still a bloody fun flick. There characters are basically likable though not all of them click as well as our leads. Melissa Barerra proves again a solid heroine while young Alisha Weir steals the show as the fiend in a child’s body Abigail. There are some fun twists, some gruesome action and a dark sense of humor throughout. Some of the dialogue sequences are a little flat and sometimes the film stops its momentum when things were starting to really move. Go in with expectations turned down a notch or two and the flick can be a lot of fun, just not the total blast one went in hoping for.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) fangs.

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NEW HORROR “ABIGAIL” FROM SCREAM V and VI DUO GETS A POSTER AND TRAILER

NEW HORROR “ABIGAIL” FROM SCREAM V and VI DUO GETS A POSTER AND TRAILER

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From the official press release…

“Children can be such monsters.

After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl. From Radio Silence—the directing team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett behind the terrifying modern horror hits Ready or Not, 2022’s Scream and last year’s Scream VI—comes a brash, blood-thirsty new vision of the vampire flick, written by Stephen Shields (The Hole in the Ground, Zombie Bashers) and Guy Busick (Scream franchise, Ready or Not). Abigail stars Melissa Barrera (Scream franchise, In the Heights), Dan Stevens (Gaslit, Legion), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Freaky), William Catlett (Black Lightning, True Story), Kevin Durand (Resident Evil: Retribution, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Angus Cloud (Euphoria, North Hollywood) as the kidnappers and Alisha Weir (Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, Darklands) as Abigail. The film produced by William Sherak (Scream franchise, Ready or Not), Paul Neinstein (Scream franchise; executive producer, The Night Agent) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Scream franchise) for Project X Entertainment, by Tripp Vinson (Ready or Not, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) and by Radio Silence’s Chad Vilella (executive producer Ready or Not and Scream franchise). The executive producers are Ron Lynch and Macdara Kelleher.”

Only In Theaters April 19

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-MonsterZero NJ

Source: Universal Pictures

HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: SOUTHBOUND (2015)

SOUTHBOUND (2015)

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to other reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

Spooky flick is a strange anthology that starts out with two men fleeing mysterious creatures down a stretch of remote desert highway. Their tale leads into the next and so on, each tale leading directly into the one that follows, till the last story returns us to where we started, as if these stories are occurring in an infinite loop with each person reliving the events over and over. We get a sense that each person has a dark secret or sin to hide and the film never quite spills all the beans, remaining unsettlingly ambiguous, save for some interesting comments from a radio DJ (Larry Fessenden) everyone appears to be listening to on this desolate stretch of road.

The Way In and The Way Out are the opening and closing segments that keep the tales connected in it’s loop are directed by Radio Silence (Devil’s Due) and written by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. They are quite spooky and effective tales that opens mysteriously and only let’s us know what it’s blood-covered characters (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Chad Villella) have been up to when we reach the anthology’s end. Creepy and very effective and starts the flick off on a disturbing note and ends it chillingly.

Siren tells the story of an all-girl band (Nathalie Love, Fabianne Therese and Hannah Marks) who break down on the same road and meet an interesting fate. There is some vague talk about the death of a fourth band member and where the blame might lie and a seemingly nice couple (co-writer Burke and Davey Johnson), that come to their aid, who are not what they appear. Another spooky and off-putting segment written and directed by Roxanne Benjamin, who co-wrote with Susan Burke.

Third segment is called The Accident and has the surviving band member from Siren getting hit on that same highway by a man named Lucas (Mather Zickel), who tries to do the right thing and get her help. His efforts become a living nightmare as he happens upon a hospital that is more a house of horrors with empty halls and blood spattered walls. Another very effective segment written and directed by David Bruckner.

Jailbreak is the weakest segment, which features a brother (David Yow) trying to rescue his sister (Tipper Newton) from a strange town the mysterious highway runs through and were Lucas found the hospital in the last segment. This sequence simply doesn’t quite have the same impact as the others and while it delivers the gore and blood, as they all do, it doesn’t resonate as well. It is written and directed by Patrick Horvath, who co-wrote with Dallas Hallam.

We then come to the previously mentioned The Way Out, where we segue back to the characters from the opening while telling the story of a young girl (Hassie Harrison) who is spending time with her parents (Gerald Downey and Kate Beahan) for the weekend before going off to school. The house they are renting comes under attack from some masked individuals, but the story doesn’t go where you expect and successfully brings us back to the films opening.

All the segments are well performed by it’s cast of relative unknowns (indie icon Larry Fessenden’s vocal performance aside) and not only provides some definite chills and thrills, but quite a lot of creepy imagery and blood-spattering gore.

Overall, I liked this flick. It’s disturbing and unsettling and doesn’t spoon-feed you all the answers…though pay attention and there are subtle clues to what might be going on and fun ways the stories connect. It’s no secret we are possibly watching a form of Hell were those inside are doomed to repeat their sins or suffer the consequences over and over, though there is indication one might free themselves from this unearthly loop by making the right choice. Either way, it’s a creepy, blood-soaked ride down an unnamed highway of horrors.

-MonsterZero NJ

3 highway signs on a road to nowhere.