An old saying goes that “You can’t keep a good man down”. Well, despite the meager box office returns for last year’s big Dracula flicks, RENFIELD, and THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, this weekend’s new monster movie believes that “You can’t keep a good vampire down”. Really, they just keep popping up, just check out those Christopher Lee Hammer Film classics (seriously, they’re loads of frightful fun). Ha, “down for the Count”…and enough of the “groaners”. Although this new flick’s working title was “Dracula’s Daughter”, this chiller isn’t officially connected to the Bram Stoker creation. For one thing, it’s set in today’s world, so a speedy beaten van replaces the horse-drawn carriages. Oh, and it’s got elements of a crime thriller. This tale concerns a “snatch and grab” crew who get more than they bargained for when their target is ABIGAIL.
The film’s opening moments introduce us to the title character (Alisha Weir), a preteen lass indulging in her passion for dance as she performs “Swan Lake” in an empty theatre. Ah, it turns out that someone else aside from the family driver is waiting for her to head home. Six black-clad adults in an old commercial van follow her towncar through the night, past the city, and into her gated mansion. As one of the crew hacks into the estate’s security system, a trio swiftly moves in. Young Abigail believes she’s safe in her bedroom, until the invaders burst in, and one injects her with a powerful tranquilizer. She’s placed in a large duffel bag, and the trio sprints back to the van just as another vehicle with Abigail’s father shows up. The van speeds away, far out into the country, and pulls up to another gated mansion, although this one has seen better days. They’re greeted in the library by the mastermind who has put them together for the “job”, the suave Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito). He explains that they will hide out there with Abigail for 24 hours until the ransom is met (plenty of food and drink are provided along with beds). He insists that they don’t reveal their own names, deciding to bestow “code monikers”. The surly leader is “Frank” (Dan Stevens). The slightly baked driver is “Dean” (Angus Cloud). “Sammy” (Kathryn Newton) is the loopy punk-rock “hacker”. The boozy “muscle” is “Peter” (Kevin Durand). “Rickles” (as in the the insult comic king, ya’ hockey puck) is an ex-military sniper (William Catlett). And the “druggist” who put Abigail to sleep is “Joey” (Melissa Barrera), who will be the one to check on her, though Joey will be masked. Lambert departs, as most of the gang hits the bar. Joey forms a bond with the now fully awake Abigail, though the the little girl makes an odd icy threat while putting out a creepy “vibe”. This alarms Frank who visits their prey and is more rattled when she reveals the identity of her powerful papa. He tells the crew they need to split just as steel plates slide over the windows and barred gates appear over the doors with a loud “clang”. Could the kidnapping have been an elaborate “set-up” to trap them? Then panic engulfs the criminals as something lurking in the shadows begins to strike…
Though she’s not the title character, the story’s main focus is the conflicted, tragic ex-combat medic played by the soulful Barrera. We find out some of her motives in taking the “one last crime gig”, which are also the reason Joey forms an intense almost immediate bond with Abigail. Barrera’s both tender and very tough as she clashes with her cohorts when they try to “lean on the kid”. Speaking of, the ads have let the “cat” (or is it bat) out of the “bag” on the “tiny dancer” (the crew’s codename for her). Weir switches from sweet innocence to murderous menace at the flutter of her tutu. Her dance moves turn “death stalk” remind us of the pre-murder “mamba” of “last year’s demon doll” M3GAN. And somehow Weir conveys that longing well after she reveals her true form. Much like Stevens who is the all too human monster in the story, a bullying blowhard who’s always looking out for “#1”.He’s engaging even as he sounds as though he stepped out of a late 40s noir crime caper. Stevens appears to be having almost as much fun as Newton whose Sammy almost becomes the audience surrogate as she is quick to bolt when things go too weird. Her funky free spirit lightens things considerably. Newton gets almost as many laughs as Durand’s Peter, the confused lunkhead who’s not used to responding with his brain rather than his fists, which are usually clutching a bottle. Catlett is more of a mystery as the tightly-wound triggerman, while Esposito is a terrific sarcastic snob as the effete master planner Lambert. However, the film’s real breakout star may tragically be Cloud as the hustling streetwise getaway man, who passed shortly after wrapping his role.
After jumpstarting the SCREAM franchise with the last two entries, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett try to put a new spin on the old bloodsucker on the loose in a haunted house genre but mixing in a criminal team much like those bickering, but still cool RESERVOIR DOGS, and assorted other “heist” flicks. And it does indeed inject some fresh blood into the genre, while also exploring the idea of an immortal killing machine trapped forever in a child’s body that was a big part of NEAR DARK and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. Plus the filmmakers surprise us with the amount of humor generously sprinkled in (something that many newer terror tales lack). The gang can’t quite accept the supernatural, then try to recall the “rules” from pop culture (how to kill them, powers, etc.). And this movie’s take on the classic monster is interesting, especially in the look of the vamps, eschewing the twin fangs and opting for a row of jagged choppers that shred throats. Unfortunately, this becomes part of the problem with the flick, as the settings and characters are constantly drenched in the sticky crimson fluid. I kept thinking about the actors rushing to the showers after they wrapped for what must have been a looong day. This indulgence adds to the unneeded length of the film, as characters engage in double and triple-crosses when not tossing each other in the walls and antique furnishings (we get that vampires are strong…move on). And the action doesn’t even adhere to the “new rules” they have for the undead. Perhaps the plot is spinning its wheels to establish the time passage from the wee hours to dawn and back to dusk again. It’s a shame since there are lots of original flourishes on vamp lore, though the finale result isn’t nearly as engaging and graceful as the dance moves of that bloody ballerina ABIGAIL.
2.5 Out of 4
ABIGAIL is now playing in theatres everywhere
