The huge mansion where they hide looks like the devil’s house in an old Hammer film. That’s good: the kid predicts the worst torments to the kidnappers. When she drops her name daddy, it produces the same effect as that of Keyser Söze on Usual Suspects. And yet, they saw nothing. Very quickly, in the brothel, the situation takes a turn for the worse.
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The trailer and promotional photos spoil the surprise. Let’s say thatAbigailwhich had its Belgian premiere at the Brussels Fantastic Film Festival, was the perfect prom partner for the vampires of Biffers – with the right amount of second degree, black humor and gore.
The actors, not fooled by the register, find the right balance between fear in the first degree and irony in the second – without distorting the content too much (mention to Kathryn Newton). As a corrupt cop converted to a thug, Dan Stevens, far from the Downton Abbey mansion, continues his image recycling after GodzillaxKong.
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We find behind this good little B series, with no other pretension than to make a pas de deux with the codes of the genre (and to rejuvenate an old Italian encore by Renato Polselli), the producers of Wedding Nightmare And Scream VI. However, we laugh more than we shudder (not at all, in fact). The Grand-Guignol is assumed, from the attic to the cellar.
Lack of bite
In this register, the art is not to bore the viewer or to skimp on hemoglobin. Abigail does its job even if the third act, the weak point of many films, frays in its meanders.
The appearance of the little rat’s father lacks a bit of bite. It is assumed that the producers’ first choice must have been of a different stature than Matthew Goode. A Christopher Walken would have been perfect. But we quibble, like Abigail with food…
Abigail Horror Realization Matt Bettinelli-Olpin&Tyler Gillett Scenario Stephen Shields & Guy Busick With Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir,… 1h50
