Abigail (not to be confused with the 2019, Russian, steampunk adventure) is a killer-child/monster-kid, Universal Studios thriller, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (both responsible for The Devil's Due/Scream V & VI) and written by Guy (Stan Against Evil/Castle Rock) Busick and Stephen (The Hole in the Ground/Zombie Bashers) Shields, which presents the pulse-pounding potency of M3GAN, Twixt, and The Godsend.
As to the plot, criminals are hired to kidnap a gangster's darling daughter, portrayed with both beguiling sweetness and ferocity by Alisha (Matilda the Musical) Weir. They are to receive a substantial sum for their efforts, but must keep the child secluded in an old, dark house for twenty-four hours. The catch: Cutie-pie Abigail is a ravenous vampire and the abode, the perfect playground for hunting.
The desperate, Rat Pack-nicknamed kidnappers keep the situation moving at an aggressive snap and consist of Melissa (Scream V & VI) Barrera's Joey (our persistent protagonist); Dan (Vamps/The Guest) Stevens' Frank, Kevin (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes/Wolverine/Robin Hood 2010) Durand's Peter; the late Angus (Euphoria) Cloud's Dean; William (Constellation) Catlett's Rickles; and (straight from the current, cult hit, Lisa Frankenstein) the captivating Kathryn Newton's Sammy. Giancarlo (Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul/The Boys) Esposito is Lambert, the host who helps arrange the frenzy, performing at the outset much like Vincent Price's polished Frederick Loren of House on Haunted Hill.
Though the characters comprise an unethical disposition (after all, kidnapping isn't some minor offense), their criminality is but a chink in their mortal armor. They're realistic and therefore identifiable where it counts, enough for viewers to hope they survive, but ah, will they? In any horror flick, there's gotta be casualties, and it's no spoiler to say that the titular, darling daughter does kill and kill again, but then considering Abigail's dad, well, now that would be a spoiler ... or would it? (He's poised as an Anton Lavey-leaning magnate named Kristof Lazar, played by Watchmen's Matthew Goode, but one needn't be Columbo to unravel his true identity.)
The blood splatters high once the story progresses, but seeing ballerina Abigail spring across a room, performing her spellbinding pirouettes, can be funny, and there's no doubt that the filmmakers intended such to be. However, that doesn't make the movie an all-out laugh-fest. The seesawing between gory horror and wry humor is just enough to make the merger work (rather like Evil Dead II and Dead Alive), rendering Abigail an effective, rollercoaster ride: not too profound at heart yet frightful and fun on all other levels. In other words, this one's worth a shot.
Say, how about a sequel? Maybe an Abigail Meets M3GAN crossover? Think of the camaraderie, the competition ... the carnage!
I keep hearing (reading) that ABIGAIL is a remake of DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, or at least a modified play upon the 1936 plot. I don't see that at all. DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is about seduction, with the Count's full-grown daughter (Gloria Holden) entrancing a young woman named Lili (Nan Grey). The aim is much different in ABIGAIL, which serves an all-out, vampire assault on hoodwinked criminals.
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