Abigail

One of the genres within horror films that can be quite tricky to make interesting is horror films that includes vampires. Some of you might say there are vampires in the Twilight franchise, i wouldn´t really call them vampires. The so called vampires in the Twilight saga felt more like Sunday Bibe school versions of college horror films that were extremely boring to watch. I would argue that the vampire master Jerry Dandrige ( played by legendary actor Chris Sarandon ) in the 1985 horror vampire classic Fright Night would easily destroy every single vampire in Twilight. When i watch a vampire movie i want the film not only to be entertaining but it also needs to be respectful to the vampire genre as well. We could probably discuss what our favourite vampire horror films are but i decided to talk about one title that i actually really enjoy. A vampire horror film from the year of 2007 known as 30 Days Of Night from director David Slade ( who did direct the great horror film Dark Harvest released last year, worth checking out on Amazon Prime ). This film is based on the comic book series of the same name, written by American comic book writer Steve Niles. The film takes place in the town of Barrow, Alaska, where the people are preparing for its annual period of the winter with a month-long polar night. What the people of this town don´t know is that they are about to be invaded by a group of vampires led by their leader Marlow ( Danny Huston ). 30 Days Of Night is a vampire film that actually not only works really well as a vampire film but the location of a small town in Alaska is very interesting regarding the cold weather condition. This was one of the better Josh Hartnett performances i have seen him do as Sheriff Eben Oleson and legendary actor Danny Huston as a vampire leader turned out to be a really good match. If you have not seen 30 Days Of Night check it out on streaming or on physical media. Early spring this year i heard a vampire horror comedy called Abigail was coming out in cinemas worldwide. I was planning to watch it in cinema but that plan didn´t go too well. So instead i decided to check out Abigail on blu ray released in July in the UK to see if this would be a solid vampire release. Is this film you should watch to prepare for a cozy autumn or is it possible that Abigail is just as bad as the R&B hip hop studio album Gangsta Harmony ( an album of 18 tracks that easily could have been 9 instead ) from Mo B. Dick released in 1999 ?

Young ballet dancer Abigail ( Alisha Weir ) is abducted by 6 criminals and taken to the secluded Wilhelm Manor. Before leaving, their leader Lambert instructs them to guard Abigail for 24 hours, at which point they will recieve an equal share of 50 million U.S. dollars ransom paid by her father Kristof Lazaar ( Matthew Goode ). What should have been an easy job turns out to be a true nightmare when these 6 criminals get to see the real Abigail reveal herself.

While some vampire films tries to go in a different direction than a traditional vampire film, Abigail does try to add some extra flavors where especially her ballet scenes helps Abigail stand out in this genre. I can not remember any vampire film where i have seen anyone combine ballet and a vampire before, so for that i have to say Abigail does attempt to do something quite different than we are used to see. If we look overall of the film Abigail i would probably call this the vampire version of the 2019 horror comedy Ready Or Not with some big differences of course. While i watched this film i was also reminded of the 1999 horror film House On Haunted Hill ( a remake of the 1959 film ) where a group of people are forced to survive inside a long-abandoned hospital. In Abigail you have a group of kidnappers who tries to survive inside a mansion instead where they are locked inside. There are some funny scenes in this film and i especially appreciate to see the ballet scenes be included in certain scenes where the vampire girl Abigail attack her victims while using her dance moves. When it comes to the characters there are especially two i feel stand out in this film. First you have the young girl Abigail played by actress Alisha Weir who i feel give the strongest acting performance. To be able to play this well at her young age transforming into a vampire show this young woman is a talented actress. Actress Melissa Barerra ( who is really good in the 2021 drama film All The World Is Sleeping ) plays the tough character Joey and i feel she have such a natural way to deliver dialogue in this film. Something else i enjoyed in this film is certain scenes where Abigail attack victims in different ways. I appreciate the twist that´s revealed 1 hour into the film, definetely made things a bit more interesting regarding the plot. Anything i feel could have been done better? I would say this film could have been even more violent since this is supposed to be a horror comedy, they could have gone over the top and have more fun with some extreme brutality. Other than that i think this film looks good, have good performances in general and for a vampire film i feel this film does feel different than most modern vampire releases. I still prefer 30 Days Of Night compared to Abigail but it´s definetely worth checking out. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gilett have definetely brought us a tasteful treat with Abigail that will be appreciated by fans of vampires.

Rating: DDD