MOVIE NEWS – A group of amateur criminals hold a ballerina’s 12-year-old daughter for ransom in the hope of capturing a mysterious wealthy man. They have to look after her for the night, but they can only suspect the worst when Abigail – the girl’s name and the title of the movie – apologizes in advance for what is about to happen to them.

The movie project has long been known as Dracula’s Daughter, so you can guess who or what Abigail is. Of course, the trailer tells us everything anyway.

With Abigail, Universal Studios is adding another work to its monster movie franchise, Universal’s Universe of Horror, in an attempt to repeat the triumph of the iconic company in the 1940s. Back then, Universal was home to the classic Mummy, Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, Phantom of the Opera, and others – with apologies to those left out – and this new series is living up to its promise. There was a bump in 2017 when Tom Cruise’s The Mummy didn’t do as well as expected, but then The Invisible Man made up for it with an $8 million budget, a $145 million gross and critical acclaim.

Abigail is written by the creative duo of Radio Silence – Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett – who are old hands at the genre, having helmed The Hidden One, Scream (2022) and Scream VI, all of which were as successful as they were scathing.

The trailer for Abigail reveals a lot, first of all that the latest addition to the horror universe fits the bill nicely, i.e. it puts a good twist on the classic story of the ballet-rat vampire girl and spares no humor as well as no hoof blood.

(Abigail – domestic release: April 18, 2024)