Synopsis:
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.
What We Thought:
If I hadn’t seen Ready or Not I might have enjoyed Abigail more, but I think Ready or Not is one of the best hidden gems of the past five years so to me Abigail is just a retread of that film. It’s a perfectly fine film with enjoyable moments, but I wanted more from it especially early on.
That’s my biggest issue with the movie, it takes a bit to get into. Because it’s from the team behind Ready or Not I was waiting for the big reveal and wanted it sooner. I didn’t care about any of the characters nor did I need to hear any of their backstories. I wanted the film to go off the rails as soon as possible so I could sit and watch the carnage. Too much time is spent talking among the group of kidnappers and who they might be or why they are there. I don’t care, give me chaos. I don’t want plot, I want blood and violence. I don’t care if someone has a child they are trying to get back, I want heads exploding.
Once the film does go off the rails I dug it. I won’t spoil the twist if you aren’t already aware of it, but it’s a nice turn and works within the single location. Again it’s very similar to Ready or Not in that it takes place in a mansion type location with people running around and dying. I’m cool with that. One character I wanted dead immediately and they were the first to go so that was nice. The filmmaking team has no issues dropping bodies even if similar bodies exploding with blood splatter was used in their previous film.
Abigail is a film the average horror movie crowd will enjoy especially if they know nothing about the twist. The less you know the better because knowing increases your expectations. I wish I didn’t know the surprise because it would have caught me off guard. Instead I sat there waiting and over analyzing the film. One character has a penis drawn on his face and then it disappears. The same character doesn’t get much to do besides be a dumb meathead. Kathryn Newton is underused in the film playing a nerdy type yet again. The kidnapped girl being a ballerina isn’t necessary beyond one dance scene that was choreographed well. I’m sure I’ll rewatch the movie at some point later on, but I’ll probably watch Ready or Not for the third or fourth time ahead of this one. It’s good for laughs and does have some good kills, but it’s not the home run it could be unless you don’t already know what to expect.
Genre: Horror
Cast: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud and Giancarlo Esposito
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Written by: Stephen Shields, Guy Busick
Producers: William Sherak, Paul Neinstein, James Vanderbilt, Tripp Vinson, Chad Villella
Executive Producers: Ron Lynch, Macdara Kelleher
The Nerds Templar 