Abigail

Exploding vampires are all well and good, but Abigail needs a little bit more support on the writing and directing fronts to keep from being a rickety theme park ride with a few memorable moments.

Playing a group of anonymous criminals tasked with kidnapping and holding the titular tween ballerina (Alisha Weir, Matilda: The Musical) ransom for a big payday, such reliable B/C-listers as Dan Stevens (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), Melissa Barrera (In the Heights), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), and Kevin Durand (Lost) commit to the assignment but deserve a better outlet for their efforts.

Perhaps moviegoers who blindly walk into Abigail will get caught up in its mystery and be genuinely shocked when its big secret is unveiled. But anyone who’s encountered one of its trailers is unfortunately not privy to such ignorance.

Instead, the vampire twist is central to the film’s marketing campaign and suggests that Universal Pictures lacks faith in audiences showing up for a new thriller from the makers of the last two Scream installments, and/or thinks they’ll only be present if it’s clearly a horror film. Regardless, the decision spoils the movie’s big reveal and leaves informed viewers with minimal thrills beyond the aforementioned dispatching of a bloodsucker or two.

The no-escape setting, predator/prey dynamic, and reasonably competent filmmaking overlaps with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin’s and Tyler Gillett’s overrated Ready or Not and likewise makes Abigail an occasionally compelling thriller. But in re-teaming with Guy Busick, who’s co-written their four most recent features, the directing duo isn’t given much support in terms of substance, which in turn rams a stake through the heart of this project’s potential.

Grade: C. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Universal Pictures)