The horror genre has been rolling in 2024, as audiences have flocked to theaters to see Sydney Sweeney battle the Devil in Immaculate, then travel back in time to find out what happened at The First Omen. The trend continues now that Abigail is opening, as co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett unleash what’s collectively known as “the Ballerina Vampire” movie on an unsuspecting audience. Our own Mike Reyes raved about the movie in his official review, praising the film’s ability to balance scares and laughs.
Here’s the thing, though. It would have been cool if, heading into Abigail, audiences didn’t know that the title character (played wonderfully on screen by Alisha Weir) was a vampire. The concept of a band of criminals kidnapping a little girl and holding her ransom could have hooked audiences. And if we found out that she was a vampire the same time the characters found out… that could have landed with an impact! So when Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett came on CinemaBlend’s podcast ReelBlend, I asked them if they ever entertained that possibility of hiding the twist, and Gillett explained:
We would always encourage people who are fans of something to try to go in as blind as possible. We do that with movies that we love, and are anticipating. Like, I refuse to watch any trailer for the new Alien movie, just because I want to have that experience in as blind a way as possible. But I think once we really landed on the very iconic image of Ballerina Vampire, we knew that it was going to be the biggest part, or the most memorable part, of what the marketing of this movie would be. What it ultimately ended up doing was, I think it challenged us to just make sure that everything that comes before and after that very specific twist has to really matter, and be really fun and really entertaining.
To Abigail’s credit, the directors succeeded. The cast that they assembled to play the kidnappers includes Scream veteran Melissa Barrera, Godzilla x Kong scene-stealer Dan Stevens, and the late Angus Cloud, who the filmmakers praised for his contributions. As Tyler Gillett continued, he emphasized that in all of the duo’s movies to date, this emphasis on character guides them, so that their stories can survive beyond a twist. He told ReelBlend:
What we always do is try to steer heavy, heavy, heavy into the characters and try to make sure that that dynamic is really fun and interesting and re-watchable. All of our favorite movies that have one big twist, or hinge on a big twist moment, we go back and re-watch them, not because we want to be surprised by that twist again, but because the stuff around that twist is so fun and interesting and enduring.
Catch the entire Abigail interview on the newest episode of ReelBlend:
Abigail heads into the weekend frame trying to steal focus away from Alex Garland’s Civil War, which set box office records for A24 when it opened and will try to maintain its grip on theatergoers. If horror isn’t your bag, take a look at the upcoming 2024 movies and plan your next trip to the theater.
