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       lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
       
       
       ARTICLE VIEW: 
       
       ‘Abigail’ extracts clever horror from a plot to kidnap the wrong
       little girl
       
       Review by Brian Lowry, CNN
       
       Updated: 
       
       6:29 PM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
       
       Source: CNN
       
       A dual attempt to breathe life into the vampire and haunted-house
       genres, “Abigail” could have been called “Don’t Tell Mom the
       Kid I’m Babysitting’s Dead.” The simple premise, however, turns
       into an effective little , a bit strained toward the end, but until
       then a clever and inventive take on six people literally just trying to
       make it through the night.
       
       Of course, the child vampire has a well-established history, including
       the creepy Swedish film “Let the Right One In” and an American
       remake, “Let Me In.” Universal has also sought to continue wringing
       fresh blood out of its monster properties, giving rise to a mixed bag
       that includes and 
       
       “Abigail” owes perhaps a more pertinent debt to the “Scream”
       franchise, which happens to be under the creative stewardship of the
       directing team behind this movie, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler
       Gillett, here working from a screenplay by Stephen Shields and Guy
       Busick. In addition, they’re reunited with “Scream” star Melissa
       Barrera, whose political comments prompted her , heading a cast that
       includes , the late actor best known for “Euphoria.”
       
       Barrera and Cloud are joined by Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Kevin
       Durand and William Catlett as the team of nameless crooks thrown
       together to kidnap a 12-year-old girl, a ballerina given the code name
       Tiny Dancer, a.k.a. Abigail (Alisha Weir, who played another unusual
       kid – if a less bloodthirsty one – in Netflix’s ).
       
       The promised payoff from their handler (Giancarlo Esposito) is a
       $50-million ransom, to be extracted from the child’s wealthy father.
       All the sextet must do, they’re told, is keep the kid company for 24
       hours in a secluded mansion without cellphones to avoid the temptation
       of making contact with the outside world.
       
       Simple enough, until bad things start happening, making the group
       wonder first who the girl’s father might be, and subsequently how
       somebody seems to be picking them off in the goriest fashion possible.
       
       Although there’s an obvious formula to this sort of fare, the
       filmmakers do their best to play with that, weaving in some pretty
       funny (and occasionally ominous) dialogue related to the absurdity of
       the whole situation. While that eventually leads to at least one
       wrinkle too many, by then “Abigail” has delivered enough of what
       audiences expect, plus a few surprises.
       
       To the extent that’s accomplished without a whole lot of unnecessary
       exposition, or excessive rule-breaking in terms of understood
       parameters of vampire lore, the movie overcomes an idea that frankly
       looked hard-pressed to be stretched much beyond the two-minute coming
       attractions.
       
       Chalk it up perhaps to modest expectations, but by that measure
       “Abigail” mostly makes the right steps, and by the time it’s
       over, that tiny dancer, and her captors, have had a busy day indeed.
       
       “Abigail” premieres April 19 in US theaters. It’s rated R.
       
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