Abigail – Film Review
by Fran Winston

Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Starring: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir, Giancarlo Esposito

This is ostensibly a reboot of the 1936 Universal creature feature Dracula’s Daughter. I am a huge fan of those early monster movies and as such I am familiar with the original work but it is unlikely anyone outside of the horror buffs who love these flicks will have it on their radar. Hence the filmmakers had a lot of leeway to do what they wanted with the character.

As such this is a seismic shift. The original daughter of the OG vampire was a grown woman. Here she is a 12-year-old girl (Weir). It should be pointed out that the 1936 film also bore little resemblance to its source material but that is a whole other review. Instead, I will just refer to the fact that the 1936 film saw the woman attempting to kill Dracula to be free of his influence. Here the “child” seems desperate to garner his love and attention.

Indeed that is the basic premise as she sets up a game of cat and mouse to impress her father. Looking like any other ballet-obsessed little girl, who is known as the daughter of a powerful underworld figure, she is kidnapped by six individuals who plan to split a $ 50 million ransom.

Unfortunately for them, they don’t realise just how “underworld” her father is. Abigail is, of course, a vampire and the spawn of Dracula. She has actually orchestrated the kidnapping so that she can hunt them down.

By the time they realise what is going on several of them are dead and none of the typical vampire tropes seem to work on the centuries-old child. Trapped in the house with her, the seasoned criminals have to try and trust each other and work together to survive.

This benefits from being based on one of the lesser characters in Dracula lore as there aren’t the expectations attached to the likes of Frankenstein or even the legendary vampire himself. While we all have images of them ingrained in our minds thanks to the original Universal Monsterverse this character comes with pretty much a clean slate.

It is halfway through the movie before we really see any vampire action. Prior to that, it feels more like a kidnapping drama with the six disparate characters bickering amongst themselves as they hold a “child” hostage.

The tension is built by the fear of the unknown – the house locking down suddenly, the creak of a door, the scuttle of a mouse across floorboards. However, when the gore starts it doesn’t stop and this is extremely bloody and not for the squeamish. They used oceans of fake blood in the making of this. Although they obviously took advantage of some CGI this does all feel very old school in its execution.

Weir is suitably creepy as the twisted childlike creature. She manages to veer between innocent and sinister seamlessly. Meanwhile, the six actors playing her prey all do a great job. Dan Stevens is fantastic and has definitely shrugged off his Downton Abbey ‘Matthew Crawley’ clean-cut image. This film is also notable for being the last movie Angus Cloud made before his death and although his screen time is brief overall, it is memorable.

This is somewhat overbearing in the way it pushes its message about parental responsibility. The young vampire references the fact her father doesn’t care about her so many times it would appear she needs a good therapist rather than fresh blood.

However, that is one of my only complaints with it. Overall it manages to put a fresh spin on the well-worn vampire trope. It is a lot of fun and, much like Abigail after all her kills, leaves you feeling strangely satisfied.