Movies
Marketing Decisions Letdown Perfectly Enjoyable “Abigail”
I’d like to speak with the marketing team for Abigail (2024). This blog post is directed at you.
“After a group of criminals kidnaps the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Writers: Stephen Shields, Guy Busick
Cast: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, William Catlett, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito, Matthew Goode
Release Date: April 19, 2024
IMDB
I’d like to speak with the marketing team for Abigail (2024). This blog post is directed at you.
Why did we spoil the big surprise of the movie? Why did we think it was best to blabber that Abigail (Alisha Weir) is a vampire? I would personally want to know why this strategy was given the green light.
Abigail on its own is not a bad movie. The directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have made a slew of significant films together, and this latest horror comedy has its moments of pure gleefulness. Unfortunately, Abigail doesn’t bring with it the same shock value as their breakout movie, Ready Or Not (2019). But again, I don’t think it is Bettinelli-Olpin or Gillett’s fault.
Side note. Ready Or Not is one of the first movies I ever wrote about. It’s scary to go back and read it now, but my sentiments on the movie remain the same.
The premise of Abigail is straightforward. A group of criminals kidnap the young daughter of a wealthy man in the hopes of striking it rich with ransom money. All this band of merry misfits must do is stay in the house with this child for 24 hours before going on their merry way.
Every piece of promotional material tells you that this seemingly harmless, burgeoning young ballerina is a bloodsucker, a loud, boastful, evil, multi-fanged descendant of Nosferatu. Once all the vagaries are pushed to the side, Abigail’s paranoia begins eviscerating the morally corrupt characters. The blood-hungry sass-a-frass enjoys toying with her food, which makes for a few fun set pieces with a few unlucky souls.
The two main characters that Abigail does mental and physical warfare with most are Joey (Melissa Barrera) and Frank (Dan Stevens). Frank is the defacto leader of the criminal group, and Steves does a commendable job playing an asshole. There isn’t much to like about Frank, and that’s on purpose.
Joey has a moral compass, or something like it. She is the most skeptical about the kidnapping, and she has the best relationship with Abigail before she turns vampiric. There was a mutual understanding and trust, but others in the troupe took no time shaming that fragile alliance.
Abigail is the third time that Melissa Barrera has worked with Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the other two being Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023). It is surprising to read that there was more blood on the set of Abigail than in Scream VI, seeing how both final sequences aim for absurd levels of playful gore.
What I’ll say about Barrera is that her acting has drastically improved from Scream. Sam Carpenter didn’t do it for me in her first movie but come to Scream VI, the story, and Barrera found a way to make it work. Now, outside of the Ghost Face universe, Barrera continues to grow as a performer in horror projects. She works well with the staff around her while embracing the spotlight of the leading role.
STANKO RATING: B
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