To say that 2024 was a shockingly good year for horror movies would be like that The Mouse Trap was a bad movie no duh. As we had a shockingly high amount of actually good if not great horror films come out in that year and heck even the sequel to Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey was a shockingly decent film and one of the more entertaining films that came out in that year is also the film that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today and so then join me as I review the film that proves that children can be little monster with the film in question being called simply just "Abigail" enjoy.
The plot of this film is when a group of strangers kidnap a twelve year old girl and take her to a mansion where they have to stay with her over night in order to collect the ransom by her father the group discover that there is something sinister lurking in the house and that the girl has a secret of her own. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films plot being a shockingly original idea that works really well as this films plot is one that keeps you hooked all the way through it and while it could be argued that the idea of having the characters that would typically be seen as the bad guys turn out to be the good guys and the ones that are typically seen as the good guys guys be the bad guys is an idea that's stolen from Don't Breathe here the film does breathe life into that idea by not only making the characters that your meant to really route for be really unlikable at times it also does so by giving us a genuinely good plot and a character that your meant to really hate come across as being quite likable at times as well with the plot of this film being one that's genuinely really well written as well with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Scream 2022 and Scream VI star Melissa Barrera as Joey and Beauty And The Beast 2017 star Dan Stevens as Frank. Also starring in this film is Matilda The Musical star Alisha Weir as Abigail , Will Catlett as Rickles , Freaky star Kathryn Newton as Sammy , Kevin Durand as Peter , Angus Cloud as Dean , Matthew Goode as Father / Kristof Lazaar and The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito as Lambert.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. Which considering not only who is starring in this film but also who is directing this film is not a big surprise at all as alot of this films actors are a bunch of really good actors in there own right and this films directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett really do know how to geta really good performance out there actors something that they've proven time and time again with the true standout in this film not being any of the more established actors but rather it's Alisha Weir as Abigail who is just a joy to watch in this film and while all of the more established actors do indeed turn in some really good performances in this film it's Alisha who is just down right fun to watch in this film and if you watch her in both this film and in Matilda The Musical it would be like night and day and it's clear as day that this young girl really does have a really bright future ahead of her should she of course continue to want to do acting with the acting that's in this film also being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance really will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Doing the CGI for this film is ReDefine , the legends and the greats that are currently over at Crafty Apes and Nexodus. No then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in al honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad as they mainly only used CGI when a characters bursts open which is really a great way to use CGI that's not something that can be done practically or if it is done practically then it usually doesn't look as good as it could've done where as here as they mainly used practical effects it means that when they do switch over to CGI it looks really good as it's something that does look like that it was done practically and while they may or may not have been some CGI blood which usually would be seen as being a negative aspect of the film here it is something that might work as after all your not going to expose a little kid to gallons upon gallons of fake blood but if it was real then it did look really good with this film being a good case of practical effects and CGI effects blending together pretty seamlessly as it was hard to tell at points what was practical and what was done in a computer and that is how it should always be as if you an tell what was faked in a computer then it takes you out of the film where here because of the fact that the two where blended together so well it means that you can remain invested in the film.
For some rather odd reason 2024 seemed to be the year of the vampire movie with both this film and Nosferatu killing it at the box office. With this film itself starting out life as a remake of the film Dracula's Daughter and yet somewhere along the line it transformed into this film and that was something that does work well for this film as if this film did indeed remain as a remake of Dracula's Daughter then it would have fans of that film complaining that this film is two different from the original source material and yet because of the fact that it is so different from the original source material it was allowed to be it's own unique thing whilst Nosferatu on the other hand is a straight up remake of the original film of the same name and because of the fact that it has a really talented cast and crew making the film it's getting alot of praise from both critics and fans alike and it's both of these films alone that proves that if done well then vampire films can reign supreme at the box office heck even Renfield went someway to proving that point and now that Hollywood has a few hit vampire films under there belt they might now start to really consider doing a take on vampires that we haven't seen before and that can be allowed to be it's own unique thing instead of just being this film but with a new coat of paint on it as that's something that people will spot quite quickly and rather easily as well and would harm the film rather then help it.
What does let this film somewhat down is the fact between Abigail and Joey is one that really isn't fully developed. As outside of the fact that we audience find out that Joey is a mother we don't really get to see any scene with the two of them forming even a very loose bond let alone something that would get to the point where Abigail would only allow herself to be seen by Joey something which is crucial to the films plot with this this being something that could have been fixed if the film did show the two of them just sitting on the bed talking to one another yes you could still keep the menace that Abigail does bring and have that still be there but it would also show that the characters are forming a bond with each other something that would then be bother shattered and repaired when it's revealed that Abigail is a vampire and when she stands up to her father and demands that Joey to let free but as it is that bond really doesn't exist in the film and heck the kidnapper characters don't get alot of time to just bond with other either which in that case is something that does make sense as there never going to see each other again after the night is through but it is something that would help to make them seem more likable then what they actually are and given that this film is all about subverting expectations it is something that really would have worked well enough in the films favor as well but as things stand the key bond between Abigail and Joey just doesn't exist which means that when Abigail does stand up to her father and demand that Joey to let go whilst it doesn't seem out of place given what happens in the final act if the film it doesn't have that much of an emotional impact something that it would have done if they did have even a very loose bond in the film.
As with alot of Radio Silence films this film does also have a comedy element to it which is something that does work in this film. As the film has alot of really good and funny jokes in it and while it would be very easy to have the jokes in this film undercut the more serious moments in this film like what they do with alot of Marvel Cinematic Universe films here the jokes feel like that they are in service to the characters and do at times feel like that there very character driven with it oddly making sense to make this film as horror comedy as Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett really do both joke around not only when there making a movie but also when there out promoting it as well and as a result is the fact that it would make sense to make this film a horror comedy as more then likely would have had the cast improvise alot of the films more funnier moments to make them better fit there characters alot more with the best joke in the whole film being when the group is trying to come up with a plan Joey is the only one who is really talking sense and yet the group just ignore her and so she just stays downstairs because of the fact that she knows that there plan is going to backfire and when it does one of them just straight up says to Joey "don't you dare say I told you so" which was a really funny joke as you could very easily picture both characters saying something like that to each other and it's just one example of just how good the jokes in this film really can be as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty nine minuets and thirty one seconds. Which is a really solid running time for this film to have as while this film does have more then there interms of plot to really cover that amount of running time it's also a film that really doesn't need to be any longer then what it already is but at the same time tho it really would help this film out a little bit if the film was even just five or ten minuets longer as that would then allow for the makers of this film fully develop it's plot as well as fully develop it's characters and the relationship between Abigail and Joey both of which do get a little bit short changed in the final cut of the film but at the same time tho if this film was even five or ten minuets longer then those extra scenes would feel like padding as they would add nothing to the overall plot of the film and would only be there to pad out the films running time when the film really doesn't need to be padded out in the first place with this film being a perfect example of less equals more as the film can say alot more with it's characters and storyline by including alot less which is something that really does work to this films advantage quite a bit with the film even taking as full advantage of it's running time by giving us characters that are both likable and that you hate both at the exact same time but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a horror film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt tag the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this film having some wonderfully over the top and gory kills in it and while yes this films gore won't even come close to matching the amount of gore seen in just Terrifer 2 alone but that doesn't mean that this film doesn't have alot of gore in it as it really does heck we straight up see not one but two vampire burst open at the end of the film which is just so wonderfully over the top in a goofy kind of way that it does really work for this film with the same thing also being true for this film as all of this films kills have a slight goofiness to them which work well for the tone of the film and match with the fact that this film is also meant to be a comedy with the best kill in the whole entire film quite easily being Sammy's kill as it's one that's built up nice and well over a good few minuets that it is a kill that your happy actually happens and while yes granted her kill is the least gory kill in the film it again goes back to less equals more which is something that this film really does quite well and to some really good affect as well with it making the films kills standout because of it as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall out of the two vampire films that came out in 2024 Nosferatu is quite easily the better of the two films but this film is one that's really fun to watch on it's own right as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images really simply because Google Images actually really has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and really plus pretty much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images really were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we really do end this review as we really always do with really our one and really true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.