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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MonsterZero NJ's Movie Madhouse 