Abigail is a confident, wildly entertaining vampire spin on the home-invasion story | The Haunted Column

Every now and then, a horror movie comes along pretending to be something it’s not. 'Abigail' starts like that: a kidnapping thriller where a bunch of mismatched criminals are hired to guard a 12-year-old girl for ransom in a sprawling mansion. You think you know where it’s going. And then it turns, quite literally, into a blood-soaked ballet.

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not, Scream), 'Abigail' is set almost entirely inside one mansion, but it never feels claustrophobic. The atmosphere is thick with unease, not the slow, psychological kind, but the sort that says “something is terribly off, and you’ll regret finding out what.” The crew soon learns that the fragile little girl they’ve tied up isn’t a victim at all. She’s the predator — an ancient vampire who’s been toying with them the whole time.

What follows is a loud, messy, and surprisingly funny descent into chaos. The film doesn’t go for quiet dread or slow-burn suspense. It’s all movement and madness — people running through chandeliers, spraying holy water, or bargaining for their lives as Abigail pirouettes through the corridors like a feral ballerina. It’s absurd in all the right ways.

Alisha Weir, who played Matilda in the musical adaptation, gives a wickedly confident performance. She’s both unsettling and weirdly charming, one moment teary-eyed and innocent, the next grinning with blood-stained teeth. Melissa Barrera, as the crew’s most grounded member, holds the emotional thread together, while Dan Stevens leans into his role with the exact amount of arrogance you want to see crushed.

There’s something interesting about the way 'Abigail' stages its violence. It isn’t just gore for gore’s sake. The directors have a sense of rhythm — you can tell they’re treating every confrontation like a dance number. Blood hits the walls in clean arcs; the camera twirls and dips. It’s theatrical but not showy, and it gives the chaos a strange kind of grace.

But underneath the spectacle, Abigail is about bad people trying and failing to stay in control. Every character thinks they’re smarter or tougher than the next, and the movie delights in proving them wrong. By the end, it’s less about survival and more about surrender.

It’s not perfect. The middle stretch gets repetitive, and a few jokes don’t land. But it’s rare to see a horror film that’s this playful without losing its bite. 'Abigail' feels like a film made by people who genuinely love the genre — not trying to elevate it or mock it, just having fun with it.

So yes, it’s gory and wild and occasionally ridiculous. But it’s also sharp, confident, and strangely beautiful to look at. 'Abigail' takes an old idea — the monster in the mansion — and spins it until you’re dizzy, grinning, and maybe just a little unnerved.