Studio: Universal Pictures
Release Date: 7/9/2024
Rating: R
Film Grade: B
The Story: A ragtag strike team has been assembled to kidnap Abigail, a talented young ballerina, who happens to be the daughter of a rich and influential man. The team is split in two halves, one handling surveillance, the other positioned to snatch the little girl as she returns home after a rehearsal.
Things go as planned without any major complications, with the team hustling to the getaway van just before her father returns to the house. A quick ride to the outskirts of the city and they arrive at the predetermined destination - an old mansion far away from prying eyes. They’re greeted by Lambert, the mastermind behind the kidnapping plan. Now, all they need to do is guard Abigail for the next 24 hours, while Lambert arranges for the 50-million-dollar ransom.
Sounds simple enough. The mansion is fully stocked with food and drink to enjoy during their short stay. But soon suspicions arise around this diverse group of strangers, and whisps of paranoia set in. Exactly who is Abigail’s father, anyway?
My Take: This genre-mashing movie is a load of fun. I don’t want to give too much away, so as to leave you with the joy of discovery, but let’s just say it’s a blend of heist, mystery, horror, and dark humor that rises above the typical fare.
It can get shockingly bloody, but it also features a good amount of wicked humor to balance things out. Tonally, it’s reminiscent of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Chucky (the first one), M3GAN, and The Voices, with the laughs coming from a combination of abundant absurdity, character interaction, and playfulness with the tropes typically found in the blended genres.
The movie is a collaboration between the two directors of Scream 2022 and one of its writers. While that movie didn’t work for me, the team does wonders with this one. Unleashed from the restrictions of an established franchise property, this one feels fresh and lively, with snarky dialog and quirky characters. There are twists and turns in the plot, but they’re not just plucked from out of nowhere; they make sense in this world’s story. It’s not a major theme of the movie, but if you’ve watched any reality TV, you’ll recognize how quickly the characters settle into their own subgroups as the story begins to shift.
The cast is small and has great natural chemistry on screen. It looks like they had an absolute blast making the movie, which is confirmed in the extras. Dan Stevens plays the leader of the makeshift group, with a commanding presence and always looking for an advantage. Melissa Barrera is the insightful medic, who reads people with uncanny accuracy. Well, most of them, anyway. William Catlett is an ex-military man with no trust in the others. Kevin Durand plays a big, stupid lug, but with a soft heart. Kathryn Newton comes across as a ditz but also happens to be a savvy hacker mixed with a bit of nativity. In one of his final roles, Angus Could is the unstable, dopy getaway driver. Alisha Weir, as the titular Abigail, plays the role with both a mixture of innocence and unexpected maturity. Her performance is particularly noteworthy.
Production values are top-notch, from the sets to the practical effects. The mansion setting is perfectly crafted from the layouts to the fading paint and tattered wallpaper. Special effects are often over-the-top and shockingly effective.
Video: This was cinematographer Aaron Morton’s first chance to use the Alexa 35, and he’s created a great looking film with it. Many of the sets are lit with warm, glowing light, often contrasted with beautifully deep blacks. The picture really makes the most of the set pieces mentioned above, and craftsmanship really shines. While the Blu-ray looks great, I hope that they release a 4K disc version of this movie at some point.
Audio: The disc features a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix that doesn’t really meet the standards of the video. The mansion setting offers tons of opportunity for the creaking, popping, groaning sounds of a constantly settling house, but there isn’t much of that. The musical score is involving, with a mixture of orchestral work, including Swan Lake, and a variety of songs, each enhancing the mood of the scenes. It’s not bad, just a bit on the lackluster side. Dialog is well reproduced and understandable throughout.
Special Features: There’s a nice mix of shorts here. I’m a little surprised that they didn’t use the longer ending shown in the deleted scenes. I think it added a little more depth to one of the characters and is more effective than what they ended up using. I’ve edited some of the feature titles so as to preserve much of the movie’s mystery.
- Deleted & Extended Scenes
- Gag Reel
- Blood Bath
- Hu***** to Hu****
- Becoming a Ballerina *******
- Directing Duo Matt & Tyler
- Feature Commentary with Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett and Editor Michael P. Shawyer
Final Verdict: Mixing horror and humor can be a tough sell; too much of one will often come at the expense of the other. Abigail is a good mixture of the two, with it pulling up to the edge of silliness at times, but without plunging into camp. It revels in playfulness, and never gets bogged down. There’s no heavy-handed deep messaging here; it’s just a genuinely fun romp filled with unexpected thrills. My wife doesn’t care much for horror movies, but she liked this almost as much as I did.
This is an easy recommendation for horror fans, especially ones that enjoy a good dose of black humor in an offbeat movie that is far from typical. It would be especially fun to spring on an unknowing group of like-minded enthusiasts.
I will warn that if you’re interested in it, try to avoid other synopses. I’ve kept the details to a minimum to preserve as much of the surprises as possible. I had read very little about it before hand but still knew more than I should have, and ended up focusing too much on what was about to happen rather than just let it play out. It was still a blast, but I can’t help but feel it would have been even better with little to no prior knowledge.
Fun Quote: There are so, so many to choose from, unfortunately almost all of them involve expletives. I’ll just pick this censored one, “Sammy, those are f****** onions.”
I’ve included the trailer here, but be forewarned:
It contains crude language, and gives away much of the plot. If you have any intention of watching the movie, please don’t watch more than the first minute, which really only sets up what is to come. Beyond that point, spoilers come quickly.
My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Oppo BDP-93
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
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