This Ballerina Vampire Bloodbath Is A Perfect Horror Movie [Overlook 2024]

Radio Silence struck casting gold with their horror-comedy version of “The Usual Suspects,” as handsome jagoff leader Frank (Dan Stevens), empathetic medic Joey (Melissa Barrera), ditzy rich-girl hacker Sammy (Kathryn Newton), lovable lunkhead beefcake Peter (Kevin Durand), stoic lookout sniper Rickles (William Catlett), and disaffected runaway driver Dean (Angus Cloud, in one of his final roles) have electric chemistry and play off of one another to brilliant results.

They are brought to the mansion by Giancarlo Esposito’s mysterious Lambert, who gives them all code names based on members of The Rat Pack, declaring the miscreants his “pack of rats.” Each character beautifully falls into their archetypal role, but their bombastic personalities prevent the film from ever feeling like a stale rehash. We know these characters already, sure, but it’s what the actors do with the characters that keep “Abigail” fresh and interesting.

Dan Stevens continues his year of being the weirdest, hottest guy in the cast and makes a feast of his “I Think You Should Leave” inspired character. Melissa Barrera, who served as the leader of Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett’s “Scream” series, commands her position as the emotional anchor for the film with ease, but the rest of the cast seems to be taking turns stealing scenes from one another — and I mean that as a compliment. This is a group of people who are so easily detestable, but “Abigail” leaves plenty of room for the audience to get to know them and decide whether to root for their survival or crave this tiny dancer to grand jeté so hard she knocks their head of their shoulder. Even the “worst” people are ones that you love to see on screen, especially when a pint-sized,  bloodthirsty terrorist of the undead is having the time of her endless life messing with them.