Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Abigail 

This is one of the surprise hits of the year that totally flew under the radar! Now this film is something I heard the filmmakers of Scream 5 and 6 were working on and didn’t know much about it only the creative involvement that was brought to the film I didn’t even know the full cast of actors that were involved. So to say I went into it blind is the best way to describe me knowing anything about this film and it only made the experience better as I went to watch the full length trailer when I finished watching it and the trailers made for this film gave so much away so the best way to enjoy this film is to go into it knowing very little to nothing if you really wanna get immersed into it. As this film has so many twists and turns that are brilliantly done while also having a murderous ballet little girl who also is a vampire running after a bunch of criminals and shady characters it is such a wild concept but incredibly unique that it really left a fantastic impression on me. This year has been a truly outstanding year in terms of horror films and Abagail joins that list of one of the years best horror films that truly goes out of it’s way to try something very different and they pull it off greatly in this blood soaked at times funny horror film that will have you engaged the whole way through its wild ride it takes you on. 

Firstly, The narrative for this film is so freaking wild! You have a plot that is very reminiscent of don’t breath with the beginning of how this film plays out as it’s a bunch of shady individuals breaking into someone’s house only to learn they never had the upper hand in the situation. The film is able to respect the traditions of vampires and work it into a modern day story without it disrespecting the lore of the blood sucking vampires. I loved that as so many films and shows have shown interest in the vampire genre ever since twilight in 2007 and ever since that film came out the trend of making vampires sexy 20 year olds that focus more on their psychical aspect and totally disregard the lore really upsets me as it wants to take the style of vampires but not respect its lore. As then their was True Blood, Vampire Academy so to get a old fashioned Dracula like horror film seems like those days are far behind us which is unfortunate as that kind of storytelling is the best representation of vampires or at least ones that embrace its rules. Now seeing Abigail find a way to keep the traditions of classic horror rules while bringing it into modern day that never disrespects the lore but just surrounds it in modern day in such a way that never felt out of place was genius. It perfectly balances old school horror traditions with modern style scares in a perfect blend that really made the film stand out in such a terrific way. The writing is great as it’s a single setting film that also takes place in a single night and we see the slow build up of tension between the characters happen as they realize what serious danger their dealing with. The film has a perfect way of setting up its characters where we learn about them little by little as they don’t show what their backstories are or how their damaged until later on which keeps the audience in a constant feeling of always learning new things about the characters as the film evolves into new situations. So the way they wrote all these characters and made each one of them unique and just really smart writing in terms of character depth was fantastic as they never felt like throw away characters which is so easy to do when it comes to horror films. They are able to get you emotionally invested into all of them on top of the great contribution by the actors to really make them shine in their moments they have onscreen. Then for the style of it you really don’t know where the film will go as it has comedic elements but more in a black comedy kind of way like how Scream does it but more subtle. As the film incorporates the fear of the situation and sheer terror of the horror and melds it with the comedy resulting in a fantastic even balance of them both. It is able to veer into old fashioned horror aspects without it also feeling like it’s falling into horror tropes we have seen a million times before. Abagail also tackles the theme of emotional weight and what these characters carry with themselves and why their so damaged in their own way which is fantastically woven into the narrative and the sense of doing things that may seem questionable in order to deal with ones trauma. Abagail perfectly explores those themes in a very touching and emotional way that will tug at your heart. Overall the style and sheer way the story is structured is greatly done. 

Secondly, The performances from the whole cast are so fun! Now the entire cast all give solid performances and letting each one of their characters stand out in their own way that truly makes them memorable. That being said I will say their are three standouts in this film the first being Melissa Barrera who gives once again another fantastic leading horror performance of the only girl on the team with the skills to keep herself ahead of the others but also has the most amount of trauma she deals with and does her best to keep it to herself as it is to painful to even talk about it. Melissa is able to both have great moments of action star quality in this horror film while also having great moments of vulnerability and showing a side of such sadness to her where she gets to really explore aspects of this character that don’t leave her being one dimensional. She does a terrific job at really knowing exactly what to bring to this character to make her stand out. Then you have Dan Stevens who plays this shady and morally complicated individual who you have no idea what to make of him as he is constantly swaying between bad and good constantly which gives Dan a lot of area to play around and really get to play both sides of that coin in many ways which results in a performance that I would go as far as saying is one of his best I have seen from him. Then you have the adorable vampire dancer herself Alisha Weir who just has this cute and innocent part to her but then a truly dark and sinister part to her personality she taps into so well and can switch within the same scene. She gives such a strong performance that is both engaging with the psychical acton she had to do but also gets to chew the scenery with her fantastic moments of dialogue where she goes toe to toe with all the other actors in the cast. She gives a fantastic performance that I hope does not go unnoticed. The rest of the cast is great and yes Kathryn Newton gives another fun performance as the witty side character who steals your heart with her greatly timed humour everyone all does a tremendous job but it is the work of those three actors that really steal the film in terms of performance. 

Lastly, Abagail is one of the best horror films of the year with its perfect balance of scares and comedy having a great even mix of both one never outweighing the other. Abagail delivers with staying faithful to the lore of vampires while showing it in modern times and both traditional and modern themes fit the story perfectly to truly let the horror aspect of the film effectively scare audiences. It is amazingly well written with solid characters you’ll fall in love with in minutes and enough bloodshed to rival the Evil Dead films and it is just a blast. I can see this becoming a halloween film people turn on every October Abagail is a truly fun film that you’ll want to rewatch the moment it is over I recommend everyone go see this film it is truly so fun. 

After a plan to steal someone for ransom money goes terribly wrong they learn that the person they have hostage is something they never expected. 

Rated R : Gore|Brief Drug Use|Pervasive Language|Strong Bloody Violence

Alisha Weir : Alisha delivers a phenomenal breakout performance that very much reminded me of Linda Blair in the exorcist. Yes that is a massive compliment but she draws so Many comparison to her brilliant performance in that film as both are girls that have a sinister thing in their body but yet have a innocent and playful creepiness about them both. Now what Alisha does that really impressed me is her ability to draw you in with her kind nature and total emotional distress which makes you feel bad for her she seems on the outside like a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time but she slowly just Turns the tables on everyone in the house in the most smooth way. She is able to manipulate them with the whole victim playing card but then switches it up and takes total charge of the situation by using her powers and physicality to overtake them as since she is younger she uses that to her advantage to take them down as their much older and since she is younger and smaller she can move around corners of the house and run after them quicker. Alisha is able to channel that intimidation through her strength but also can rip them down verbally too which she has a great monologue at that had my jaw on the floor. As she can have this really twisted fun in tormenting these people as payback for thinking they had the upper hand on her when she just wanted them to fall into a false sense of confidence and then just destroy them for hurting her. She has such a creepy presence if its through her psychical nature or the way she verbally can draw you in if its for the adorable charm or her twisted sense of fun she really is having such fun onscreen you can tell as she also brilliantly knows when to draw which side of the character that best suits the scene in order for the audience to get the full understanding of why she is the way she is. Her emotional trauma she goes through is the estranged relationship with her dad which a character calls her out on and that’s the only way to her heart to really get to her. Alisha truly gives a solid performance that explores the full scope of this character in a way that will scare the crap out of you at times but also she reaches into her heart for you to feel for her and why she is a murdering machine. It’s a performance that easily could of been very boring but she brought such great qualities to the character that made her role one of the more recent horror characters I have seen in quite some time Alisha Weir does a tremendous job! 

Dan Stevens : Stevens plays this deviously devious character that is such a morally grey character. Now I have seen Dan Stevens in so many films but I will say his work in this film I think is among some of his best work. He plays this New York cop turned assigned criminal that has had a lot of things happen to him to why he is in the position he is currently in. Now when we meet him it seems like he could be the one other character aside from Melissa’s character we could trust and really see him having her back despite his sarcastic nature. He plays the character in such a smart way that you have no idea where he stands morally that is as he is doing something terrible but also wants to survive and will do what he has to in order to get out of the house that being said some of the things he says and things he does is very questionable. Stevens plays into that mystery aspect of the character of moral greyness and he relishes in it as he has this queen’s  sounding accent while also having such a darkness to him that makes him also at times very stand offish while also having you so intrigued into what this guy’s motive is and he also lays into each one of the people at the house as he at the end of the day is only looking out for one person and that is himself. Steven’s has never played such a morally unreadable character like this before where you don’t know how he is going to go by the end of the film which is exciting as we get to see Dan in a whole new light we have never seen him before. He gets to channel so many emotional sides of himself he has yet to put to the screen which gives one of his most strongest performances of his career. As the character is already very interesting but what Dan brings to the character with his emotional toughness and shady qualities only made him more memorable. It is a performance that you can tell he enjoyed doing something unlike what he usually does and finding new areas to challenge himself as an actor. Dan Stevens plays this cop that is very complicated and complex and truly Knocks it out of the park with his take on this role. 

Matt Bettinelli - Olpin & Tyler Gillett : Matt and Tyler did a great job with their take on the vampire genre with this film! Now these filmmakers I am very familiar with as I loved Ready Or Not and their recent contribution to the scream franchise. So I knew that whatever this film was going to be I would at most enjoy it as they have a great eye for the genre of horror and they know how to bring audiences into a world of scares and thrills with well rounded characters. How they crafted Abigail was great as I mentioned already they actually respect the rules of vampires while intertwining it into a modern setting which is how it should be done and then they thrust the characters into a situation where emotions are high and their lives are on the line with a murderous ballet dancer vampire on the loose. On paper it sounds wild but when they paint the frame with this incredibly well written original concept you get locked into the story within minutes not only is the story engaging but the characters they wrote also are fantastically well fleshed out. As their are so many horror films I have seen where the whole cast with the exception of the final girl are all throw away characters but to have the entire cast all play characters that you invested in emotionally that is so rare as that usually never happens. So the way they wrote each character was awesome as they made each of their personalities also fit the actor that was behind the role. They also kept the characters evolving so you never knew what direction they were going in. Then when it came to scares the film at times leans into som horror tropes as a way of being cheeky I find and then it will legitimately scare you in ways you don’t see coming. It also deals with themes of trauma and how one deals with it by trying to numb themselves to not reopen that wound that Hurt them so badly and Matt and Tyler go into that area of emotional depth without it feely cheesy but it works for the narrative having a emotional backbone also brought depth to it and made the characters more complex as well. It is also so funny at times and also terrifying and mixing those two tones was great and Matt and Tyler have brought to audiences a tip of the hat to vampire films in a old school way of showcasing it while thrust in a modern setting and it really impressed me. I cannot wait to see what they do next as they keep one using themselves when it comes to horror and their work on this film is truly solid.