Sippin’ Cinema Series: Take 3 – ABIGAIL Delivers Expected Vampire Thrills, But Nothing More Than Blood and Bites

I am so confused by how I feel about this movie. There were plenty of scenes and ideas that I really enjoyed. But I could have skipped this movie altogether and life would be no different. I have honestly no clue how you handle the topic of a ballerina vampire girl that is trying to kill those people contracted to watch her for money, but I applaud Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett for being creative and original with it. Some say the twist shouldn’t have been revealed in the trailer that the girl is a vampire, but I don’t see how you can do any marketing or promo for this without that being relayed to potential viewers.

The exploding blood throughout though when a vampire was stabbed through the heart or faced with sunlight was awesome though and while it was ridiculous and ramped up to 1000, it felt good to see. The montages of Abigail dancing with a headless figure and the effects of bites and attacks really were the highlight of the film for me. I liked the route of Abigail being the one getting people to watch her as some type of “hunt” that she has been doing for a very long time. The comedy didn’t really hit for me, except for the “those are fucking onions” line which made me spit out my drink it was so great. I think some subtle humor would have worked better, but this being a horror comedy it takes a lot to get that balance write without feeling just forced in trying to make people laugh.

Melissa Barrera shines as someone who finds sympathy in Abigail, and continues to show why she can be the lead character in horror movies. Kathryn Newton was my favorite character as Sammy. She is goofy and ditsy in a film that just needed that kind of dumb comedy, and has my actual favorite scene when she becomes a vampire and starts dancing around in the tunnels once she turns. The progression of the story to Frank wanting to become a vampire to help Lambert pushed the movie into a much needed refreshing act, but just gave us a vehicle to be able to have more vampires going at once that Abigail and Melissa could duel with.

Overall I’m glad someone made a movie about a 12 year old vampire ballerina (I guess), but this is one that won’t be a rewatch for anyone unless they just randomly fall in love with the idea of getting really drunk or high and seeing exploding blood.

2.25/5 RATING

C. A. ROETHLE