Abigail * * * ½

Abigail and her winning smile.

This is the latest horror film from Olpin and Gillett ,the co-directors that gave us Ready or Not. They are more popularly known for the Scream series.  Horror with a hint of comedy is their thing.   And splatter.  Lots of splatter!

In this film six people are hired to kidnap a young girl - Abigail - and hold her in a creepy old house till the ransom money comes through.  Fifty million dollars ought to do it.   

The six baddies are a stereotypical group made up of  a nasty cynical leader, a school girl turned bad, a word-slurring punk, a muscle bound hit man, a two-faced ex military man, and a pretty young Mum who took a wrong turn in life and is now reluctantly working for the dark side. 

What they didn't know when they grabbed Abigail is that her Dad is a gangster of terrifying legend.  Now they wish they hadn't got involved.  But they can't get out.  They also find they can't get out of the house.  Literally. 

What they also don't know is  sweet little Abigail gagged and blindfolded upstairs is actually a child vampire.

Well, you know how it is with Vampires. Once they get going there is no stopping them. With her petite size and her ballet moves Abigail makes for an unusual vampire but satisfactorily terrifying as she distorts her body, grins through bloody teeth, shows superhuman strength and moves at lightning speed, often utilising a pirouette or a chasse.   

Necks are torn open and most victims are immediately impaled to prevent them spawning.  I say most, because there has got to be a twist to give us a vampire fight or two.

When you impale a vampire it doesn't just fade away, it explodes, painting the walls with intestines and black blood. There is a lot of that. I'm not squeamish but it just becomes too much of the same. Besides, I watched this at midday and was trying to eat my sandwich.

Not much more to say other than the use of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake works wonderfully.

 It's good at doing what it promotes itself as, and it won't disappoint if you're into horror, splatter, slash and black comedy.