While I was watching the new vampire film Abigail, halfway through the movie I couldn't help but think, “This film has the same vibe as Ready or Not.” Well, it turns out that it had that vibe for a good reason. Like the last two Scream movies, it was also directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.

A group of second-rate criminals abducts Abigail, a twelve-year-old girl (Alisha Weir), and demands a ransom. Her father is a powerful and rich figure in the criminal world. It also appears that Abigail is not your regular 12-year-old girl – she is a vampire. Her captors turn into her victims because they get trapped in the remote mansion where they are staying with no apparent escape route.

One of the criminals in the film, Joey, has been hired by Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito). With the exception of Joey, castmates have been assigned Rat Pack monikers so as not to reveal each other’s identities: Frank (Dan Stevens), Dean (Angus Cloud), Sammy (Kathryn Newton), Rickles (Will Catlett), and Peter (Kevin Durand). Each has distinct roles: sniper, driver, computer hacker, dimwitted muscle, etc. Despite their differing skill sets, they all share one thing in common — a dire desperation for money.  

It’s as if that is their only option even considering the risks involved. Somehow, even amid the violent fights, this movie is hilarious. In my opinion, the juxtaposition between a child and a predator is what effortlessly shift scenes into pure comedic horror. There’s just something about seeing a pre-teen girl (who resembles a xenomorph from Alien) stalking a group of grown men and women that brings out laughter.

Aside from the assaulting Barrera, who acts as Melissa's lead character, everyone else on the crew is cast as archetypes. This meta approach, where joke after joke is thrown out for audiences to eat up, works alongside the narrative because the more and more mythical Abigail gets as a tormentor… makes her portrayal of prey all the more epic. Kevin Durand is particularly funny as Abigail’s dumber French-Canadian muscle. Their banter perfectly showcases their roles as the tormented, allowing members of the audience to feast on limitless laughter.

From the New York accent that he was putting on to the more drastic elements of the film, Dan Stevens was over the top in more than one way.

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Equally amusing is watching the crew try to discover what’s useful and what’s purely myth in their vampire challenges, while figuring how to escape from their own trap. Abigail playing with her food gives them more time to try, fail, but ultimately, find some things by accident. Like Ready or Not, the film has some extreme levels of gore but for this film it is mostly for comedic effect rather than horror.

Aside from the enjoyment I got from watching Abigail, there were two other things that stuck with me. One of them being Alisha Weir as a 12-year-old and her portrayal of a classic film monster, as all the adult actors in the movie were trying to fend and violently struggle with her, must have been a delight for her. Unlike other film monsters, Abigail is a ballerina and does ballet so the incorporation of balletic movement, operatic music, and the blood and gore is a refreshing shift.

The second one is that I wish I did not know ahead of time that this was a vampire film. In my opinion, it seems like the script tries very hard to build a surprise, but unfortunately, the promotion for this movie spoiled the surprise. I believe the experience would have been better had I not known what the twist was, but knew there was a twist because as a viewer, I could see all the beats that were leading up to the reveal as opposed to being surprised as to what the actual end is. Although that did not stop me from enjoying the movie, it definitely would have made the experience more impactful. 

There is a lot of talk around mind numbing action seeped in brainless entertainment and movies that are marketed as easy viewing content – and this serves to justify, in my opinion, a subpar film. Brainless though Abigail may be, it is still a hilarious horror film created by people who understand the genre, and fans of Ready or Not or any recent tongue-in-cheek horror will not be disappointed.