When it comes to absolutely solid and completely enjoyable horror that still manages to imbue genuine suspense for me; nobody is hitting it out of the park over and over again like the team over at radio silence, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, with Ready or Not, which I loved and the last two Scream entries, which I also certainly loved. Thankfully it is a joy to say that Abigail is another welcome entry into this pantheon of gory, glorious horrors. This one however has been thwarted by some shoddy marketing that in a sense I’m sure was unavoidable, but does feel at least on a first watch like a major dragging out is taken until we get to a reveal that is clearly designed by the writers at least to be a reveal within the film, not the trailer premise. Because this film is being sold as the vampire little girl movie and yet this film plots out its narrative as if that’s going to be a From Dusk Till Dawn mid-point twist.
Radio Silence have once again manged to bring to a new original project the grit, terror and dark humour that makes eery single one of their films an absolute treat for me. It’s slightly disheartening to see this one be slightly less well received and I think that is without a doubt largely down to the marketing, because for as much as this entire film is being marketed about the vampire aspect, which by the time we get to it is joyously perfect, the film itself however is almost entirely built around this being some sort of shock reveal. I can’t help but admit that although I personally gave the film the benefit of the doubt and actually felt a lot of the buildup was worth it, I can understand how movie goers may be turned off by the nature of the film they receive as opposed to the nature of the film they were advertised. I could arguably say myself that this film could have actually possibly been bettered by a slight reduction in running time of the events prior to the reveal or at least a moving around of certain deaths and dialogues. But overall I can’t play Devil’s advocate for very long because to be frank I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed Abigail and may have possibly preferred it other Radio Silence outings, if it of course were not for my die-hard Scream love.
There is just a
great level of practical craft that is brought by the team to these films that
make them all the more entertaining and all the more frightening, because for
as much as this film eventually does segue into a fun gore-fest, there are
still a series of unsettling and scary, if not terrifying, moments throughout
the film. The screenplay by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick is repeatedly
humorous and on a narrative side of things offers a series of if not entirely
unpredictable twists and turns, certainly an enjoyable ever-shifting plotting.
The ensemble however, led by Melissa Barrera, is what brings the film to vivid
life. This is by far the best Barrera has been for me in a film thus far, with
this being far more believable and effective than her Scream turns which
I have been somewhat Luke warm on. Dan Stevens and Kevin Durand both steal the
show in different ways as the film goes on, with great humour and a balance of
real threat. Agnus Cloud here in his final role is his natural and charismatic
self and a final reminder of the talent that he had. William Cattlett is solid
and uses his screen-time perfectly to make where his character goes all the
more effective. Giancarlo Esposito even appears and brings to two very short
scenes the immense gravitas that of course we have come to expect. Katheryn
Newton continues her scream queen status and is in a role here and a film here
that far better befits her than Lisa Frankenstein, which I of course did
not rate very highly. However it is Alisha Weir as the titular Abigail who
is so sensational that the praise cannot be heaped upon her enough, managing to
realistically and believably shift from innocence to pure villainy over and
over in subtle and then later effectively over the top ways. Abigail above
all else is a film that knows exactly what tone it is going for and succeeds in
delivering it.
I think another 8/10 for the Radio Silence team, with Abigail being yet another propulsive and constantly enjoyable horror ride that never lets up any of its suspense, dark humour or practical effects. This is joyfully tangible horror in the vein that we just don’t get very often of recent and its’ a film that I can already feel like has been the case with their previous three features will be in a repeated rotation as the years go by. The entire ensemble are very much game for this wild ride and pull off the shifts and turns the whole way, the standout is of course Weir however who with this and Matilda gives the knockout double punch any child actor would dream of. However although Weir is the clear standout, the entire ensemble all pull their weight in what is one of the most enjoyable horror experiences I’ve had since, well, since the last Radio Silence movie to be honest.
P.S. There are days when I don’t think about my ex and then there are days when both Dan Stevens and Mathew Goode are in the same movie and I can hear her whispering to me “they both married the same woman in Downtown”. She however hated horror, but even she I think would have enjoyed this to an extent. Abigail is after all a very, very fun film.
- Thomas Carruthers
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