Film team’s unique maximalism propels irreverent vampire flick
The filmmaking team known as Radio Silence, made up of directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and producer Chad Villella, struck black-comedy gold with their 2019 horror thriller “Ready or Not,” about a young bride (Samara Weaving) who has to battle her way out of a murderous game hosted by her wealthy soon-to-be in-laws. The film demonstrated their mastery of coupling an irreverent tone with splashy violence, and netted the team the responsibility of making the next two “Scream” movies, the first without Wes Craven behind the camera.
With a script by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick, who co-wrote “Ready or Not,” Radio Silence’s latest feature “Abigail” has delivered what is essentially a spiritual sequel to the team’s breakout hit, this time with vampires rather than superstitious old-money sadists, and starring “Scream” queen Melissa Barrera.
Once again, the setting is an old creepy mansion filled with taxidermy and firelight. Once again, our heroine is a steely, scrappy young woman who has a single vice — Weaving’s Grace had a penchant for cigarettes; Barrera’s Joey gobbles hard candy. Once again, a group has been assembled in this isolated location and given a task to be completed within a set amount of time.
In “Abigail,” the group is a band of sarcastic kidnappers, a team of strangers who have been hired to snatch and then guard Abigail (Alisha Weir), the 12-year-old daughter of a powerful man. Their boss, Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito) gives them nicknames
for anonymity, then bids goodbye to his “pack of rats.” They assume they’ll drink the night away with their hostage in the other room and collect their fee, but innocent Abigail is much more than meets the eye. She mournfully tells her keeper, Joey, that she’s sorry for what’s about to happen to them.
If you’ve seen the trailers, you already know that tiny ballerina Abigail is a terrifying vampire who starts to hunt and feast on each kidnapper. Weir, who starred in “Matilda: The Musical,” cheerfully bites into this riveting role, which requires tremendous physicality, blending ballet and brutal brawls, but she’s also quite funny. There’s a tradition of terrible little girls in horror, from “The Bad Seed” to “The Exorcist,” and we can easily add “Abigail” to that canon.
There’s a parent-child theme that doesn’t so much as simmer below the surface as it drives the plot along, both Abigail and Joey finding something in each other that they lack. There’s not much subtext; everything remains on the surface, and the wordy script relies on exposition dumps to inform the audience about rumors, twists,
deals and double-crosses.
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett have a gleefully maximalist style; blood doesn’t just spurt, it geysers, projects and splatters. Bodies burst like water balloons under pressure, goopy viscera raining from wall to wall. It’s uniquely them, but they pay homage to the greats: Kathryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark,” the leaping vampires of “Blade” and an oblique script reference to the 1936 film “Dracula’s Daughter.”
The highlight of such films from “Ready or Not” to “Scream” to “Abigail” is their ability to tap into an emotional zeitgeist via their working-class heroines, who capture the mood of the moment. Like Grace, and Barrera’s character Sam in “Scream,” Joey is world-weary and hardened, but determined to survive. She manages to find a shred of solace on this godforsaken planet, and that makes her the kind of final girl we can believe in.
MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, pervasive language and brief drug use) Running time: 1:49
How to watch: In theaters