Abigail Is About To Be The New Horror Icon
2024 seems like it’s shaping up to be a fun year for horror fans. Universal recently revealed the trailer for Abigail, the next film from Radio Silence, the directing team behind Ready or Not, 2022’s Scream and Scream VI.
The trailer is packed with action, horror, and humor as a group of people find themselves trapped in a house with a ballerina vampire.
Abigail starts off straightforward enough, with a group of criminals gathering to hold a young 12-year-old girl for a $50 million ransom. While they just have to hold the girl hostage overnight, the group learns that they’re actually the ones in trouble as she turns out to be a vampire.
Hilariously, she also happens to be a ballerina, making her an even more terrifying ballerina vampire.
The group learns that Abigail is actually a ballerina vampire
Radio Silence, the name for the directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, knows how to put together a fun and bloody modern horror hit. It seems that Abigail will definitely be continuing their hot streak. Along with the fun concept of the film, the movie also has pulled together a pretty fantastic cast.
Abigail stars Alisha Weir (Matilda the Musical) as the titular ballerina vampire. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Giancarlo Esposito, and the late Angus Cloud. Stephen Shields and Guy Busick penned the script.
Producers for Abigail include William Sherak, Paul Neinstein, and James Vanderbilt for Project X Entertainment, who have all worked as producers on the Scream franchise. Tripp Vinson and Radio Silence’s Chad Vilella are also on board as producers. Ron Lynch and Macdara Kelleher are attached as executive producers.
Abigail stars Alisha Weir as the ballerina vampire
Interestingly, Abigail is loosely based on Universal Pictures’ 1936 horror film Dracula’s Daughter. Infamously, Universal once tried to create a cinematic universe of its classic monsters titled the Dark Universe, but its lack of planning and sub-par films led to that universe quickly falling apart after the failure of Tom Cruise’s The Mummy in 2017.
Universal found its footing with its classic monster roster again with the success of 2020’s The Invisible Man and has since released the horror-comedy Renfield and 2023’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter, which are both Dracula films.
Abigail is loosely based on Universal Pictures’ 1936 horror film Dracula’s Daughter
Universal’s strategy of releasing monster movies that aren’t beholden to a connected cinematic universe has definitely been a more interesting route, as it’s unlikely we would have got something like Abigail if we were still stuck in the Dark Universe. Meanwhile, Universal is also set to release their next monster film in 2024, Wolf Man. Wolf Man comes from Blumhouse and Universal and is set to star Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott.
Wolf Man perfectly planned its release date for October 25, 2024, so horror fans will get to head to theaters just in time for Halloween. We won’t have to wait nearly as long for Abigail, as that movie is set for an April 19 release date. Stay tuned for more news on all of the upcoming horror films.
