The supposed character in the horror “Abigail” is more than just creepy as a daughter is a supernatural killing machine of Papa Dracula.
Played by Alisha Weir (star of Netflix’s charming “Matilda the Musical” from 2022), Abigail, is an accomplished ballet dancer and daughter to a powerful crime boss. Six criminals kidnap the girl with instructions to take her to a mansion.
The task seems simple: Hold the girl for 24 hours and score a huge payday.
Unfortunately for the kidnappers, Abigail is not a normal 12-year-old girl. With grim humor set near the onset, “Abigail” quickly becomes a gory exercise in schadenfreude. Kidnap a kid and you’ll probably get beheaded.
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, otherwise known as the directing team Radio Silence, “Abigail” pays for its lack of thrills with a constant helping of goofball characters and innovative fight sequences. Abigail’s dance skills factor heavily into how she hunts her unlucky victims.
Even with hyper-Dracula powers, Weir isn’t just an imposing presence in “Abigail,” so the film’s success rests mostly with the vampire’s prey, led by Dan Stevens as a former cop and Melissa Barrera as a recovering addict.
Other welcome performances include Kathyrn Newton (“Lisa Frankenstein”) as a disinterested hacker and Kevin Durand as the gang’s dim-witted muscle. Giancarlo Esposito pops in for an expanded cameo as well.
Once it becomes “Vampire v. Goons,” “Abigail” delivers one entertainingly bloody sequence after another, and the darkly comic script by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick leans into the ridiculousness of its assumption.
Just when it appears like it’s repeating itself, “Abigail” discloses a new shock that carries into the next, even more ridiculous fight sequence.
As a genre exercise, “Abigail” delivers practical effects, solid performances, and a tone that boosts audiences to revel in the characters’ terrible misfortune.
