Despite largely positive reviews (including ours) and good buzz from horror fans, the vampire ballerina horror flick Abigail didn’t find much of an audience when it opened in theaters last month. As of yesterday, the film has only grossed about $22.7 million domestically, and now, only two weeks (and change) since it opened, Universal is giving it a premium VOD release. Starting tomorrow, you can buy it (for $24.99) or rent it ($19.99) from most digital retailers. It will likely also be out on Universal’s Peacock streaming service before long.

Yesterday, in my weekend box office report, I mentioned that one of the reasons a movie like The Fall Guy had such an underwhelming result at the box office this weekend was due to shrinking home media windows. Abigail only opened on April 19th, meaning it’s getting a VOD release in not even three weeks since its theatrical debut, which is a TINY window. Why should people be expected to shell out cash when they know they can pretty much own a copy of the film for the same price it would have cost them to see it in a premium theatre?

Of course, horror fans can usually be relied upon to see a film in theaters, even if it’s a day-and-date release. A simultaneous release on Peacock certainly didn’t hurt Five Nights at Freddy’s last year. Maybe there was just something about Abigail that didn’t speak to the horror community. Whatever the case, Radio Silence’s (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) ultra-gory vampire flick may well find a cult following now that it’s hitting home media. In it, a group of would-be criminals kidnap a 12-year-old ballerina to extort her obscenely wealthy father. Naturally, she turns out to be a vampire. 

The film stars Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Alisha Weir and many others. You can check out our interviews with the whole gang right here!

Did you miss Abigail in theaters, and will you be checking it out on VOD? Let us know in the comments!

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SPOILERS for Abigail. Turn back now or consider yourself warned. Scream directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have delivered a fun, blood-filled horror comedy with Abigail, and the film concludes with a cameo which has people talking, particularly fans of a beloved historical drama series.

Abigail follows a group of would-be criminals who kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure. All they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl. The kidnappers are played by Melissa Barrera (Scream), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), William Catlett (Black Lightning), Kevin Durand (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), and the late Angus Cloud (Euphoria).

The titular Abigail (Alisha Weir) is a vampire whose father is the notoriously violent crimelord Kristof Lazar, which comes as bad news for the kidnappers. Throughout the film, we hear a lot about Lazar which paints him as a terrifying figure. When the big daddy vampire is finally introduced, he’s played by none other than Matthew Goode, who was featured in Downton Abbey after Stevens had left the series.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett spoke with Games Radar about Matthew Goode’s Abigail cameo. “We cast great f***ing actors to be in our silly movies,” Bettinelli-Olpin said. “I think that they ground everything in a way that you need, you need to have amazing dramatic performers to make this tone work right. You have to treat the absurdity of this premise with as much seriousness as you would treat like the most earnest drama, and I think the hack with our tone is casting amazingly talented people that just believably take you along for this ride. Dan and Matthew are just two examples from this cast who we think just absolutely brought the most and the best of themselves to it. The two of them are wildly entertaining and talented actors and they make the movie work with those performances.“

Abigail is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Michael Conway right here.

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Set almost 300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will introduce an entirely new world of characters, including Proximus Caesar, the latest villain of the long-running franchise.

Kevin Durand, who plays Proximus Caesar, spoke with GamesRadar about his character, and while he admits that “he’s the baddie,” he doesn’t want to describe him as an out-right villain. “It’s coming down to, you know, homosapiens or apes and obviously he’s on the side of the apes, so he’s willing to do whatever needs to happen, by any means necessary, to ensure a future for apekind,” Durand said. “From the perspective of the narrative, he’s definitely the baddie but yeah, when you watch the movie, you’re like, ‘Well, was he really that bad?’ I mean, he’s definitely narcissistic, but, you know, he’s just trying to ensure that his kind will go on.“

Getting to perform motion capture was a thrill for Durand. “It was incredible,” he said. “I mean, every movement, every expression came from the performance but they just have this wizardry going on over at Weta in New Zealand where they can really trick the human eye into seeing what they want you to see. It’s pretty phenomenal to get to be a part of that, it was definitely a great highlight in my career.“

Our own Chris Bumbray recently caught an extended preview of the movie at CinemaCon in Las Vegas and was impressed, calling the footage “pretty jaw-dropping” and a worthy continuation of the modern trilogy.

Directed by Wes Ball, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes “breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.” Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will hit theaters on May 10th.

Kevin Durand can currently be seen starring in Abigail, the new vampire horror/comedy from Scream directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. You can check out a review from our own Michael Conway right here.

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Update: As we enter the weekend, Radio Silence’s Abigail is duking it out for the #1 box office spot with Alex Garland’s Civil War, with both films currently projected to take $11M+ this weekend. Who will walk away with the #1 spot? We’ll soon find out.

Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare will likely take the #3 spot, with the WWII period action film expected to take in somewhere between $9M-$11M. Taking the #4 spot, we’ve got Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which will finish its fourth weekend at the box office with $8.5M, bringing its domestic total to $170.66M.

— Original article follows —

Radio Silence’s Abigail is pirouetting atop the Thursday box office by taking a bite out of $1M in tickets sold. Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare earned $1.45M, which includes nearly $600K in advanced screenings from last weekend. Meanwhile, Spy x Family Code: White embarked on its silver screen mission with $670K from shows beginning at 4 PM.

It’s too early to tell if Abigail will plie around Alex Garland’s Civil War, which enters its second weekend. Analysts expect Abigail and Civil War to walk away from the weekend with $12M+ apiece after Civil War led the charge for Thursday films in regular releases with $1.6M. Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare started its Thursday previews at 6 PM. Abigail began her previews at 5 PM in 2,800 last night and will expand to 3,384 locations today.

Early buzz around Abigail suggests that the Radio Silence horror film is Ready or Not meets Dracula, which sounds like a winning combination. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Abigail stars Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito, and Matthew Goode. The film focuses on a group of criminals who kidnap the ballerina daughter of an influential underworld figure; they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they’re locked inside with no ordinary little girl.

Meanwhile, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire screened at 3,847 markets and saw a third Thursday of $893K, -3% from Wednesday for a week of $19.7M and a running total of $162.1M. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire still haunts 3,350 cinemas with $7.3M in its third week. Kung Fu Panda 4 is still kicking on 3,104 screens in its sixth week with an estimated $7.2M. Finally, Dune: Part Two plays on 2,401 screens in week 7 with $5.9M.

If you’re looking for an exhilarating animated film this weekend, check out Spy x Family Code: White! Directed by Takashi Katagiri from a screenplay by Ichirō Ōkouchi and produced by Wit Studio and CloverWorks, the film stars Loid, Yor, and Anya Forger in a hilarious and action-packed spy thriller that’s as beautifully animated as the story is engaging. Our 8 out of 10 review for Spy x Family is here!

What do you plan to see in theaters this weekend? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Vampire films in the past decade or so have been hit or miss. With every Renfield, you have something
subpar sent straight to VOD. Lately, Universal Pictures has been killing it by dipping their toes back into their vampire lore with the above-mentioned Renfield and last summer’s The Last Voyage of the
Demeter.

As fun as those films were, Universal’s latest release, Abigail, is something on another level. Recently, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Matt Betinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett about their latest film. I also had the joy of speaking with the cast, including a paired-up Melissa Barrera and Alisha Weir (who were a power force together in both film and on-screen), Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, and Kevin Durand. Frankly, I’m expecting to see major things for young Ms. Weir. Her performance here is incredible.

We discussed the film, which our own Michael Conway raved about, and we also got a little more insight into their roles. Having seen the film, I tend to agree with our review in saying it’s a damn good time at the movies and one that demands to be seen with a crowd. If you are fans of the directing duo’s previous work like Ready or Not or their Scream sequels, you are in for quite the bloody treat. It’s a well-set-up heist film that just so happens to involve a vampire. While it is indeed tense at times, there is a perfect balance of comedy to counteract the horror. If you are in the mood for a fun thrill ride of a picture, I highly recommend checking out Abigail, which opens today.

Here’s the official synopsis: Children can be such monsters. After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.

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Two highly anticipated films are released this weekend: Radio Silence’s Abigail and Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. However, the release pattern for the latter is highly unusual, with Ritchie’s big-budget war epic only getting a theatrical release in the United States, skipping theaters in Canada and the UK in favor of an exclusive run on Prime Video later. As such, it’s not expected to make much of a dent at the weekend box office, with it looking like Abigail will pull off an easy win.

Currently, we’re predicting Abigail will make about $20 million. That’s much less than what Radio Silence pulled off with the Scream films. Remember, though, that this is an original horror title with a twist on classic vampire folklore. So far, the reviews have been mixed, with our man, Mike Conway, loving it, while others have accused it of being a tad goofy. Even still, it looks like a fun horror outing in the vein of the directing duo’s last original title, Ready or Not. It’ll be interesting to see what the CinemaScore on this is, with the hot cast, including ex-Scream star Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton, and Dan Stevens, which is likely a draw.

Second place should go to Alex Garland’s Civil War, which many folks think will be rather front-loaded. It should make about $12 million for a final tally in the $60 million-ish run, which should make this pretty profitable for A24 once foreign box office and digital profits are tallied up. The CinemaScore is B minus, which suggests its polarizing audiences, which isn’t too much of a surprise given how controversial it is.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare looks to open in the $10 million-ish range. That seems very low for the Henry Cavill-led war flick, but the release strategy is weird. If it’s not opening in Canada, its chances of really over-performing are limited. Thus this might be another Guy Ritchie movie that ends up being more popular on streaming than in theatres. What a shame. As a Canadian, I’d like nothing better than to plunk down my 20 bucks to see this in theaters this weekend, but it’s not to be. Heck, there’s even a chance this could be outgrossed by CrunchyRoll’s Spy Code x Family: White, which should make at least $6 million. It’s hard to tell with this anime film.

Here are our predictions for the weekend:

1. Abigail: $20 million
2. Civil War: $12 million
3. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: $10 million
4. Spy x Family Code: $6 million
5. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: $3 million

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PLOT: A group of criminals kidnap a young girl who isn’t what she seems.

REVIEW: There was a period in my youth when vampire films ranked amongst the coolest in the horror genre. Films such as The Lost Boys, Fright Night, Near Dark, and From Dusk Till Dawn knew how to tell a story while not forgetting to show us a good time. With directing duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s latest film, Abigail, this pair delivers by bringing the fun back into horror. As with 2019’s Ready or Not, this genre-mixing rollercoaster primarily takes place in a large mansion, but instead of one lead being hunted, it’s an entire group.

The film jumps right into gear with the abduction of Abigail (Alisha Weir), the 12-year-old ballerina who is the daughter of a very powerful and wealthy man. Guaranteed a hefty ransom for the kidnapping is a motley crew of miscreants, each with their own quirks and secrets: Former dirty detective Frank (Dan Stevens), the enforcer and musclebound Peter (Kevin Durand), former Army medic Joey (Melissa Barrera), the spoiled hacker Sammy (Kathryn Newton), ex-Marine and gunman Rickles (William Catlett), and the wheelman Dean (Angus Cloud). Once they rendezvous at another location, the group is met by the heist organizer, Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito). They are given simple instructions: no real names, no personal information, no cell phones. Just 24 hours of babysitting a pre-teen. Being given the task of sole caretaker to Abigail, Joey learns that something bad will happen almost immediately. After discovering the potential identity of Abigail’s father, the group may have bitten off more than they can chew.

We all know going in, this is not your typical 12-year-old girl. Bloodshed looms on the horizon, but the film takes its time to give us the promise of the trailers. This could have been a disappointment, however, the cleverly plotted and witty script, written by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick, unfolds with skill. In the first half, the storyline gives us just what we need to know about the characters, more often than not, in hilarious ways. Sure, they may be lowlifes, but we are emotionally invested before the stakes escalate.

Returning from Radio Silence’s Scream films is Barerra, who is in top form as the heroine of the group. While her role does not require the delivery of comedic punches, like the remaining cast, her character, Joey, easily switches from a caring mother to a full-on gun-toting badass. Sharing palpable chemistry with Barerra is Catlett, our stoic ex-marine, which adds to our emotional investment in the members of this group. Paired up with Barrera is a scene-stealing Stevens. As expected, this man is really leaning into his character. The filmmakers and Stevens are fans of the show I Think You Should Leave, which influences some of the qualities of ex-detective Frank. With his slick-backed hair, I was almost waiting for him to talk about his love for sloppy steaks. You know, a real piece of shit. Much like the lead character in Ready or Not, Newton is the one really put through the wringer. When Sammy is not being thrown into a pool of rotting bodies, she delivers some of the film’s funniest moments, especially when partnered with Cloud as Dean. His comedic timing shows another side we had not seen in previous roles. Real laugh-out-loud moments come from Durand, who plays his character as a hulking mimbo. Peter is a tough yet dumb, loveable enforcer who refuses to believe what’s going on when the bloodshed begins. However, it’s the film’s titular character who is the true star of the show. Weir’s performance as Abigail is nothing short of spectacular. Her portrayal of a scared little girl, afraid of her kidnappers, is convincing. Although, when the monster inside her comes out, Abigail’s pirouettes are lethal, resulting in a blood-soaked ballet.

And blood there is. Straight from the cast, this is the bloodiest film they’ve worked on, and I believe it. The excessive use of blood cannons in this movie takes me back to the glory days of genre films. And Abigail really lets it explode, particularly in the film’s final act.

From the ensemble cast, incredibly detailed production design by Susie Cullen, the choreography of Belinda Murphy, and the practical effects of Matthew Smith, Abigail is a guaranteed good time. It is one of the better vampire films I’ve seen in recent years and one the audience can really sink their teeth into. Chalk this up as another win for team Radio Silence.

Universal will be giving Abigail a theatrical release on April 19th.

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Universal has a long history with vampire films, going back to the 1930s. Their latest, Abigail, offers a reboot of 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter, a hypnotizing work that still stands as one of the best follow-ups to 1931’s Dracula. Now, fresh from its premiere at the Overlook Film Festival, it looks like Universal has marked a successful return to their vampire lineup.

Many reactions from Abigail’s premiere praise the movie for being nearly endlessly entertaining, bringing something fresh to the genre while also giving off the vibe of some of our favorite vampire flicks from decades past:

And yes, there is plenty of blood to go around in Abigail, something that is a given for the genre but it’s pretty awesome to see it be taken to the R-rated levels that it deserves:

Hype has been strong for Abigail, especially since Radio Silence has been working to help ensure the horror genre is back in the mainstream. But with our man Michael Conway’s recent set visit – coupled with these initial reactions – Abigail has easily bumped up the list of most anticipated horror films of the year. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait much longer, as Abigail is set for release on April 19th.

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (the most recent Scream movies), Abigail has the following plot: “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”

The titular Abigail is portrayed by Alisha Weir, the teenage actress who led 2022’s Matilda: The Musical. But she has by all accounts transformed entirely, something she credits to the material and costumes/makeup, saying, “I like to transform myself so I’m not Alisha anymore. It definitely helped being on the set, being covered in blood, and the tutu outfit helped me get into the character. And when I put the teeth in, that was definitely the end.”

Are you more excited for Abigail now that the first reactions have arrived? Where do you think it will rank in the top horror movies of the year?

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For day two of our Abigail set visit coverage, we got to speak with actors Kevin Durand and the legendary Giancarlo Esposito.

Recently, JoBlo was invited to visit the set of Radio Silence’s newest Universal monster movie, Abigail (CHECK OUT KATHRYN NEWTON INTERVIEW HERE), a film best described by the directors as “a heist movie hijacked by a monster movie.”  

Just as the day was ending on day two, we returned to the Glenmaroon House, the massively beautiful set for the vampire film.  Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, and Melissa Barrera welcomed us in as they were getting ready to film their big introduction to the crew, as seen in the brand new trailer.  In this scene, Lambert (played by Giancarlo Esposito) tells a group of the heist the girl they kidnapped is the daughter of a “very wealthy man who is about to be 50 million dollars poorer.”

After filming, we got to sit down with Mr. Durand and Mr. Esposito.  The following is a transcript of the round table interview.

Can you talk a little bit about your role?

KEVIN DURAND: “I play a guy named Peter, who is basically kind of a hired muscle of the crew.  We’ve been hired to kidnap a target and then realize the target is a 12-year-old, and we think, ‘Well, this is too easy,’ and it turns out it’s not as easy as we thought.  Peter’s always a couple of steps behind, partially because there’s a bit of a language barrier.  I’m playing him like he’s from French Canada, like he’s from Montreal, which is my original – my first accent.  So, I’m playing a French-Canadian guy who’s a little bit askew in trying to catch up and is not really okay with his line of work, so he drinks heavily.”

What’s Peter’s relationship with the rest of the crew?

“We kept no relationship.  We’ve never seen each other before.  None of us has any idea who the other is, so we were assembled because of that. “ 

Kathryn (Newton) was talking about how she came up with this three-minute dance number, speaking to how creative the collaboration is with Matt and Tyler.  So, I was curious how that has been with you and if you have also evolved your character working with them.  

“I came up with a 35-minute dance.  And they promised me at the very end they will try to shoot it.  It’s pretty funky.”  He laughs.  “Seriously, there’s a lot of freedom within the world they created.  They have a ton of faith in the people they hire.  For me to say ‘I want to make him French-Canadian,’ because for me it feels more personal, that was cool they were just open for that.  And from scene to scene, beat to beat, we just throw all the shit at the wall and see what sticks.  It’s a real nice collaboration.”

How does Peter react when things get weird?

“He doesn’t want to believe it.  He’s very Catholic.  And the very idea that vampires exist he’s like (in a French-Canadian accent) ‘There no such thing.’  He doesn’t believe it and then he’s being attacked by one.  

Is there a specific element of the film that you are most excited about or anxious to see?

“Well, Alisha is so stunning.  From the table read, I was like (whispering to himself) ‘Oh wow.  I’m probably not that good of an actor.  Shit.  How does she know how to do all this shit already?’ It’s unreal.  She’s really a phenomenal talent.  But I’m really, truly, excited for the entire thing.  When I read the script, I was thinking this is the kind of movie I want to see on a Friday night.”

Next up, Giancarlo Esposito walks in, playfully feeling like he’s being ambushed and joking around with us.  

We would love to know more about your character (Lambert) if you could reveal anything about that.

GIANCARLO ESPOSITO: “Reveal…that’s an interesting question. Look, I’m kind of a take-charge guy who, in this particular film, the big misdirect is that it’s a heist film from the beginning that’s done quite well on the first couple of pages – and they were for me when I read them. And you know, I went, ‘Wow, what a great set piece in the beginning.’  And then I come into the film, and I’m kind of taking charge of telling people what this job is, which insensibly is a kidnapping, and have to do that convincingly…

He continues,

“You know, in so many ways, the film’s about relationships and loyalty and being cursed with the great burden of who we are.  So, in a way, yes, it’s a horror film, but isn’t life the ultimate horror film?  Like, if you live and you start learning about who you are, you see the good, the bad, the ugly.   So, you know, for me I know for years I just shut that door.  I don’t want to look at that; probably why I’m an actor. You know, I just want to shut that door because that person is an intense human being that I don’t want to look at because he can be really a nasty fucking asshole.  Like, my children say, ‘Papa, you’ve grown so much.’ And I say, ‘No, I’m the same old asshole.’ (laughter) Don’t be fooled.  Just looking at them in a different way, right?

So, isn’t that the burden of life? So, I look at scripts – when I read them as something that I can learn from and grow from.  And then I decide, ‘Should I be on this journey?’  And I relate it back to the spiritual journey I’m taking.  People ask me a lot: how do you play these villains?  And you know, I shy away from saying it’s because I am a villain. Right?  And they look at me.  It’s because I’ve lived, you know?  I know I’ve been a warrior in a past life.  I know I’ve killed people (in my past life). I know that’s been a part of my essence. And I know this because I can look at one of my children, and she’ll just shrink, and I’ll see tears arise.  I had this experience once, and she asked me a question that was really hard to answer. She said, ‘What happened to you when you were a child?’ And that just froze me.  She said, ‘Do you know that generational trauma is really real?’ And I didn’t wanna hear that. And so I had to think about my father.  I’m Italian. My father was really strict. I witnessed a lot of arguing between my father and mother.

All of that affected me, you know?  My father used to belittle me.  Just verbally, and I started to think about all this and started to really feel it again, and it still hurts me.  I’m an adult man, a mature man.  So, I went, ‘Oh okay, I’m still working through that, so that means I’m still angry at him for doing that.’  If I can learn not to do that to my children, then I’m better off… an interesting part of this film for me as well is that this young Abigail is getting her way.   And it’s just a great analogy…There’s a lot of, in this horror movie, there’s a lot of great action, a lot of blood, a lot of loss of life, but a lot of great lessons, too.  That’s part of why I like it.”

Speaking with all of the actors we’ve talked to, there’s a lot of gray area.  There’s no black and white.  They’ve done despicable things, but there’s a lot of empathy there.  Was that part off the myth for you?  

“I think so.  it’s part of why I like being an actor here. You know, thank goodness I love Ireland, and I have a short period of time here. But we, as actors, we’re in a circus, and we’re in purgatory. This house is purgatory, right?  You can’t get out.  Some of these people have to get caked in blood. It’s nasty and sticky. You’re doing your time until your time is up. So, you make a choice. Do you learn from it?  Do you have experiences from it with other people? Or do you hate it?  I’ve been with actors who are just miserable. I mean, you sign on, you might as well get something out of it.  It’s interesting.  I do think that there are a lot of analogies for our lives within this movie and that we talk about a character that we don’t see the whole movie a lot.  The most powerful character we don’t see. What does that remind you of? Why are you here? Where is God? Where is Goddess? The most powerful puppeteer of all. 

You know what I mean? It’s really fascinating. But what does that really represent?  Because God and Goddess – because I always can’t say God without Goddess, powerful words – it’s a principle, right?  Yes, so I grew up Roman Catholic. I was going to be a priest. That was the person to look up to the sky to find God, right? And now I believe that there’s that piece of God and Goddess that’s in all of us. You got to find it inside of you to be able to find the goodness of who you are or the badness of who you are.  Because one doesn’t exist without the other.”

Abigail opens only in theaters April 19.

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Recently, JoBlo was invited to Dublin, Ireland to the set of Abigail.  You can read about our day-one coverage here and coverage from day two with interviews with Kevin Durand and Giancarlo Esposito here.  Now, with the film gearing up for release, we had the pleasure of taking part in a round table with the rest of the cast and directing duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.

Here is a transcript of the interviews.

First up was Dan Stevens, who plays Frank in the film.

One of the big things about this movie is when we visited the WGA strike was ongoing.  Can talk about the experience of making this film. First during the WGA strike and then returning to finish it.

DAN STEVENS: “It was certainly one of the longest periods it’s ever taken to finish a movie for me. You hear about movies that were made in the 70s that took two years to shoot or something, but it’s been a while. So yeah, it was strange.  I think for everybody who was in the middle of something and then had to return to it, there was a frustration.  I think I speak for most people that they’re just keen to work, keen to complete the thing that they set out to do.  It was definitely a sort of an interesting challenge. I think what it did enable us to do was really focus the work, when we came back on, we kind of reappraise what was needed in this sort of epic fight sequence. And we had an incredible fight coordinator come in.  And so, there was a real sort of scale to that fight sequence that maybe wouldn’t have happened if we’d just gone straight into it… So, we had a sort of two-week period to shoot this amazing fight sequence involving myself, Melissa and Alisha Weir. There were sort of some strange benefits to that kind of pause.  It was definitely a curious challenge for sure.”

When we saw you ever so briefly on set, the sequence we saw being shot was sort of all the characters grouping together. They had seemingly successfully captured this girl. but we were just starting to learn about the dynamics and the backgrounds of these characters. I’d like to know a little bit more about your character’s role on the team and the relationships with those other characters.

“Yeah, it’s a good question. And it’s one that I think we’re still a little bit of the dark about because of the nature of this sort of motley group.  It initially follows quite a sort of classic heist movie trope where you’ve got the getaway driver, and you’ve got the tech girl who’s going to hack the computers, and then you’ve got the medic who’s going to administer the sleeping drugs, or whatever.  And then, you got Kevin Durand playing the muscle. And everyone seemed to have a very, very sort of clear role in this in this band of criminals. And then there’s Frank, who just seemed to be an asshole. And that seemed to be his special skill, really. We could never quite figure out what he was doing there. I mean, for all intents and purposes, he was the boss of the group. So maybe that’s it. And maybe bosses are just assholes. I don’t know. But yeah, that really seemed to be his special skill.  That and cursing…frequently.”

Can you talk a little bit about working with Alicia as a young actor and what that was like?

“Yes. Absolutely incredible. I mean, I was incredibly impressed with her in Matilda. I assumed she was British. Then, I hadn’t met her before we sat down to do the read-through. She just walked in with her mom and sat down, and we started reading through the script. And then I thought, oh, she’s American. And she did this flawless American accent in the read-through.  Really brilliant.  (It Was) Really kind of scary and assured, and I was like, oh, she must be American. That’s incredible that she did this British accent in Matilda. And then I chatted to her afterwards. It turned out she was from Dublin. And I said, ‘Well, that’s extraordinary. Do you have a dialect coach?’ And she said, ‘No, I just watched the telly.’  And she is the sweetest, loveliest character. One of the most professional people I’ve ever worked with, just absolutely on point with everything she’s asked to do, whether it’s gymnastics, acrobatics, ballet, you know, being a scary, tiny vampire with teeth in.  She’s just completely sort of committed and unfazed by everything. And I think we were all just in awe of her, really. And it was definitely by the end, there was a real sense that we were sort of witnessing the dawn of a very exciting career there. She’s got a very good head on her shoulders, and I have no doubt is going to go and do incredible things.”

Matt and Taylor have teased that this is like their goriest, bloodiest film to date. And they’ve even apologized to the cast and crew. Can you tell us a little bit about what that was like to work with?

“I couldn’t speak to the sort of full gore of it because I haven’t seen the finished movie yet. But it was definitely the bloodiest thing I’ve ever worked on in terms of volume.  Just pints of red syrup that were required on set. And just the sort of the fun and the ridiculousness of that as well.  If somebody vomits up blood, it’s like ‘ok, we’ve seen this before, but what if it lasts a minute.’ And sort of having real fun with that.  For Matt and Tyler as well, who have a great sense of humor and are like really, really fun, lovely, funny guys.  When we weren’t shooting sort of gory scenes, we were just generally quoting I Think You Should Leave.  There’s been a thousand vampire movies. There’s been a thousand heist movies.  What can we do that’s a little bit different? And one of those things is definitely bringing in more blood.”

Next up were Melissa Barrera and Alisha Weir.

Alisha, can you talk about your journey to the project, auditioning for the part, and your relationship with the horror genre?

ALISHA WEIR: “Well, I’ve never done a horror film before.  My first big film was Matilda, which is completely different to Abigail.  But my agent sent us the script for us to read.  And me, my mom, and my dad all read it.  I’ve always wanted to be in a horror film.  Me and my two older sisters always watch horror films, and we absolutely love them.  So when I was reading the script, although it is a horror film, we all thought it was hilarious.  I then jumped on a Zoom with Matt and Tyler, the directors, and we just talked about the character and the script.  I then did another audition where I was going through the sides of it.  I just fell in love with Abigail, and I really hoped I would get the part.  My last audition was with Melissa, which was our chemistry read.  And then, two days later, I got the call that said I got the part.” 

Melissa, you’ve worked with Matt and Tyler before, of course.  What was your reaction when you first heard about this project, and how is this different from that previous work?

MELISSA BARRERA: “Well, I was excited for Matt and Tyler to venture out and do their own thing outside of a franchise where they have to follow certain rules and aren’t free to do whatever they want to do.  When I heard they were doing this movie, and it was vampire-related – I grew up watching monster movies – I was excited about them taking on the vampire world.  And when I read the script, I thought, ‘I could be in this.’  But it’s obviously up to them.  I never wanted to be like, ‘Hey, cast me because you know me.’  So, I didn’t mention it to them at all.  I just went to my team and told them I wanted to audition.  And when they found out I was interested, they said, ‘Okay, let’s do another one.’  It’s such a privilege when you can just make movies with friends.  They’ve become a family at this point.  They know how I work.  They know how to talk to me to get what they need out of me.  I know when they like something or when they don’t like something.  It’s so wonderful to see them get to do their own thing in this movie.  They’re kind of going back to their Ready or Not roots but on steroids.  It’s exactly the kind of movie that people would want to go see at the theater as a community.

This character is so different from your own personality.  Was there something you would do to help you get in the mindset of this maniacal, vicious vampire?

ALISHA WEIR: “For me, when I get into a character, I like to transform myself so I’m not Alisha anymore.  It definitely helped being on the set, being covered in blood, and the tutu outfit helped me get into the character.  And when I put the teeth in, that was definitely the end.”

When we were on set, there was at least one room where we had to be careful where we stepped because it was floor-to-ceiling covered in blood.  How bloody does this get?

MELISSA BARRERA: “This is the most blood that I’ve ever experienced in a movie.  I’ve seen movies that would have bathtubs or blood or someone coming out of blood.  But talking about the amount of blood throughout a movie, this is probably up there with the most.  We have blood cannons, so that says a lot.  Matt and Tyler- we have this joke, even from Scream VI – they always ask for more spritz, like more sweat and more blood.  Hair and make-up will get you ready, and I would always tell them, ‘They’re going to want more.’ And they would say, ‘Okay, well, we can always add more, but can’t take away.’ And it was always they want more.  Although at one point by the end, I was so bloody, I looked like nothing but eyes and teeth.  So they had to wipe away some to give me some sort of dimension, which was a first for them and me.”

Alisha, can you tell me about doing your own stunts and one of your favorite things that you did?

ALISHA WEIR: “I had so many favorite stunts.  I mean, I got to do wire work, which is something I’ve never done before.  The only thing I had done, I do acro, so I know how to do flips.  But I’ve never done wire work.  I’ve never flown.  And I was on banisters.  There was so much rehearsing.  I would go home and tell my dad, ‘I was on wires, and I was flying.’ And he would be like, ‘No you weren’t, Alisha.  There’s no way.’  It was so much fun.  When they asked me if I was up for it, I was a hundred percent ‘yes.’  It’s not every day you get asked to walk around on banisters with wires and flying.  The stunts were different to the ballet side of it as well.  They were both new to me, and I enjoyed doing both.  I’ve never gone on point before, either.  And I was very determined to do it.  If I couldn’t do it, then I would keep trying.  I would go home and practice it until I could do it.”

Last but not least, we got to talk to the directors a little more.

Can you tell us a little bit about the house and why it was the perfect location for slaughter?

MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN: “Yeah, that house is called Glenmaroon.  I think it was owned by the Guinness family as a party house.  It’s two houses with a little connector.  One of the things we always try to do when we’re doing anything is find a location, ideally practical as much as possible, and apply the story to it and let the story change with the location.  We’ve been doing that since V/H/S.  That house is just all the things we were hoping to find for this movie and more.  It’s weird; it doesn’t quite sit in a time because it’s been updated, and parts are sort of demolished and run down…Everything you see in the movie, except for the cellar and the library, was in the house.  It was walking through it with Guy (Busick), and was like, ‘How can we use this location to fuel the story and using it to our benefit so we’re not retrofitting stuff.”

TYLER GILLETT: “I’d say one of the things you didn’t see is that house was empty when we moved into it.  The amount of production design and set-decoration that happened.  While that was going on, we’d show up and our minds were just blown.  Watching it come to life was really an inspiring part of the process.”

When we were on set, everyone kept talking about how great Alisha Weir was.  What was it like working with a child actor, and how did you find her?

TYLER GILLETT: “It was incredible.  That was our big source of anxiety going into this project.  Just on the page, Abigail is such a character, and so much of what’s fun and interesting about the tone of the movie is about the contrast between this innocent child becoming this horrific monster.  We knew that the movie was only going to be good as that role because it’s the lynchpin of everything.  There was a lot of anxiety in the casting process.  We were really blown away to see how many incredible young actors there are out there.  We saw some really amazing reads.  It was actually hard to narrow it down.  When we met Alisha, we were immediately texting each other how she’s so incredible the way she presents herself.  She’s so kind, so curious.  And then she did a live read on Zoom.  There was a moment in sides, which she was reading, where she has to switch from a young girl to this sort of jump-scare vampire moment.  And she committed so fully to it on the Zoom, that it actually scared us.  It was fearless.  It was really clear after that Zoom that we hit gold with her.  Coincidentally, she happened to have lived in Dublin.  Every day on set with her was just truly remarkable.”

Filming amid the strikes- on one hand, you have Guy Busick, who you’ve worked with before and have a lot of trust in his work, but I also think about the end of Ready or Not when it was Samara Weaving’s idea to laugh at the end, which I thought was such a great note.  I was just curious how you navigated this movie through the WGA strike and then after when everything got resolved.

MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN: “The strikes were hard for everyone.  And they were hard to shoot during.  I think the writer’s strike, we got to a good place where we felt okay going into production with the draft we had.  The actor’s strike was really hard.  It definitely shifted the momentum, but the good news is, and we felt very lucky, is that we were able to jump right in to post and edit.  We basically shot the movie in order, so we were able to edit the first two acts of the movie, know what we had, and then go back ready to finish now knowing what we had to hit.  A lot of times, you get to that point and think, ‘Man, I hope I’m getting the right stuff.’  We’ve never done reshoots or anything before.  So we were ‘really fingers’ crossed on most projects.  But on this one, we got to go back.  The studio had seen the movie, and they really liked it.  They had some thoughts to throw at us for the third act that were really good.  One of the ‘big adds’ is that we got to bring on Wade Allen to help us do some of the fun stunt choreography.  He was kind of a second-unit director on this, and he’s incredible.  It really just helped us hone the third act.  There were a million trials and tribulations in this movie of all different sizes.  The fact that we got through it was really just a testament to the kind of family the cast, the crew, and everybody built out in Dublin.  At the end of the day, yes, the strikes were hard, but everybody stuck together, held hands, and we all got through it.”

You guys have such a great style by bringing fun back into horror.  With this film, was there anything that inspired you, or any previous vampire films going in?

MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN: “I think one of the touchstones for us, and many people our age, was The Lost Boys.  I think it was the first vampire we were aware of seeing.  It’s that fun that we grew up with.  And it’s not in a nostalgic way.  We’re not chasing nostalgia.  Our thing is, let’s try to do that, but in a modern way.  Let’s do that now so that kids can watch this movie- well, sneak into this movie- and have that effect that we all had when we saw The Lost Boys.  Where it’s scary, it’s funny, and has really great lines that you can just say over and over.  But we went through everything like Dracula and Dracula’s Daughter, all the Universal horror movies, Near Dark, Interview with the Vampire, 30 Days of Night…

TYLER GILLETT: “Let the Right One In was another big one inspiration.”

MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN: “Yes, definitely.  We kind of go all over the place and look at everything.  You never know where you’re going to find inspiration.  Again, this movie is a few different genres that are put into a blender together.  And it doesn’t stop there.  We talked a lot about crime movies like The Usual Suspects and Heat and those kind of movies, and see how we can take our favorite things from those and see how we can make them fit into this weird little box with these weird characters who don’t belong in the same movie.  And then have it fit to where it feels like it actually does belong together.”

David Bruckner mentioned working on V/H/S/85 after finishing Hellraiser felt like a nice return to home.  Do you feel that way with this movie after working on the Scream movies?

MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN: “Oh yeah.  Big time.  That was Tyler and I’s thing going into this.  We loved making the Scream movies and had a wonderful experience for those few years, but you’re stepping into gigantic shoes.  There’s a lot of expectations, a lot of pressure.  With this, from the jump, we were like, ‘Let’s make this ours.’  We don’t have a lot of expectations to live up to.  If people hate it, it’s because they don’t like what we like, and that’s fine.  It’s not like we are letting down a decades-long franchise.  There’s just something so refreshing to be able to turn to each other and go, ‘Do we like this? No. Then let’s not do it.’  You know, we don’t have to live up to anything, except our own expectations.  There’s just something freeing in that.  And at the end of the day, it’s better for not just our movies, but movies in general benefit from that kind of approach.  We really got to do that with Scream VI to a degree, but that was still in the world of Scream.”

TYLER GILLETT: “Yeah, existing within a franchise.”

 MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN: “We were constantly pushing against something.  In this, we didn’t feel like we were constantly pushing against anything because everything was of our own making.  So yeah, it was very freeing.  Make more original movies!”

Abigail opens only in theaters April 19

The post Abigail Set Visit: Interviews with Dan Stevens, Melissa Barrera, Alisha Weir, and Radio Silence! appeared first on JoBlo.