For a few years now, Universal has been slowly re-imagining their Universal Classic Monsters. After their re-imaginings of The Invisible Man (2020), last year's Renfield (which is more inspired by characters from the Dracula novel) and The Last Voyage of the Demeter (which I haven't seen yet)., the studio moved on to a new take of the 1936 film Dracula's Daughter.
Universal even brought in directing duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka Radio Silence) to bring this horror re-imagining onto the big screen. This directing duo brought Ready or Not (highly recommended) and the recent Scream sequels, and they really did a great job with Abigail.
After a group of would be criminals kidnap the 12 year old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight.
In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.
Abigail is a really awesome horror flick that delivers a lot of creepy fun and LOTS of blood. Yea, the posters and trailers does spoil the fact that the little girl is a vampire. And, honestly, despite knowing this before watching the movie, Abigail is still a real good bloody time on the big screen! There are also a few scenes where she tries to control a couple of the captors and those moments are really entertaining!
All of the characters (especially Abigail) are really memorable and actor Kevin Durand steals the show in a few scenes as the very dim-witted tough guy. There are also some really good scares and seeing Abigail get the captors one by one helps get the tension going.
Abigail does also have a few other surprises that you don't see coming. The scares are decent and this vampire flick is a must see for horror fans!
SOME FUN TIDBITS ABOUT ABIGAIL!!!
Angus Cloud's final role before his passing in July 2023. Although production wasn't completed until months after his death due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Cloud still managed to film all of his scenes before production was shut down.
The directors were so impressed by Alisha Weir's dancing that they added more dance sequences to the film.
Calling the frightened, kidnapped child version of her character "Abby," and the alpha predator "Abigail," helped Alisha Weir approach the character as two entirely separate people. For scenes where she plays Abigail, she even altered her voice to sound more like a confident adult.
The music in the opening titles is the main theme from Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, which was also used in the opening titles of Dracula (1931).
Sharp eyed viewers might notice a crest visible in a few shots (such as on the library floor, or the security gates over the front entrance) which heavily resembles the Dracula crest from some of the old Universal movies.
A loose remake of Dracula's Daughter (1936).
This is the third of four Universal Pictures based on Bram Stoker's Dracula to be released in two years. The others being Renfield (2023), The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), and Nosferatu (2024).
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