Summary
The vampire comedyAbigailis a successful blend of genres and tropes, yet for all its individuality, the movie has some surprising similarities with a 2010 release in a completely different genre. The movie is one of manyoutstanding horror movies released in 2024, highlighting that the genre is one of the most exciting wellsprings of original storytelling in all cinema. And yet, whileAbigail’s daring storytelling and subversive characterization should be praised, it’s not entirely fair to say that it’s completely groundbreaking in its approach.
Despite being a vampire movie,Abigailoffers a distinctive spin on the subgenre. Whereas other recent vampire releases, such asThe Last Voyage of the Demeter, feature somewhat traditional representations of the legendary monster,Abigailsucceeds thanks to the ingenious decision to make its creature a 12-year-old girl. This leads to the somewhat incongruous sight of a child wreaking incredible havoc on a team of fully grown adults – reveling in the carnage she’s creating. Such a subversion of childhood innocence is jarring. However, while it’s incredibly effective,Abigailis not the first film to follow this theme.
Abigail Review: Scream 6 Directors Reinvent Vampire Movies In Highly Entertaining, Gory Horror
In what may become one of the greatest vampire movies of all time, Abigail provides an extremely bloody, fun, humorous & fresh take on the subgenre.
Abigail Shares A Surprising Connection With Kick-Ass
Abigail And Hit-Girl Are Surprisingly Similar Characters
With their lust for violence, deadly skill, and willingness to dismember adult characters on a whim,Abigail’s titular tiny vampire andKick-Ass' Mindy MacReady (a.k.a Hit-Girl)share a somewhat surprising connection. Despite being released 14 years apart,AbigailandKick-Assare both gleefully irreverent, celebrating their most subversive elements and shocking the audience through the juxtaposition between childhood and extreme gore. As the success of both films proves, it’s a formula that remains successful.
Kick-Assis available to rent on Apple TV+.
In some ways,Kick-AssandAbigailare very different movies. Despite being a “superhero” movie,Kick-Assis actually quite grounded, since none of its characters have any actual superpowers. By contrast,Abigailis clearly fantastical, with multiple supernatural creatures turning up throughout the runtime. And yet, despite these differences,the two films revolve around a young female character defying audience expectations with her violence. The fact that they both retain an undeniable power to shock speaks to the fact that bothKick-AssandAbigailare incredibly daring, boasting a protagonist capable of delivering a surprise.
Both Abigail And Kick-Ass Challenge Audience Expectations With Age
The Movie’s Use It For Comedy And Shock Value
Even in the wake of hit movies likeKick-Ass, the sight of children as perpetrators of extreme violence retains its power to shock. In bothKick-AssandAbigail, ultra-violent scenes such as Mindy’s attack on the drug den and Abigail’s assault on Frank, Sammy, and Peter become more effective becausethey sit so uncomfortably with most viewers' conception of what children should be like. The two films also benefit from a pair of outstanding performances by Alisha Weir and Chloë Grace Moretz.
Abigail’s tragedy is that she has remained trapped in a 12-year-old’s body for 200 years – unable to grow up despite her long life.
Interestingly,both movies explore the idea of lost innocence– albeit in radically different ways. Hit-Girl is portrayed as a tragic figure whose father’s quest for revenge turned her into a living weapon, yet robbed her of her childhood. Her struggle to adapt to normal life after Big Daddy’s death becomes a key theme inKick-Ass 2. By contrast,Abigail’s tragedy is that she has remained trapped in a 12-year-old’s bodyfor 200 years – unable to grow up despite her long life. These two approaches represent different sides of the same thematic coin and make bothKick-AssandAbigailsurprisingly deep – despite the buckets of blood.
Abigail Ending Explained
Abigail subverts certain aspects of vampire lore and has quite the ending. We break down the horror film’s biggest revelations and ending moments.
Kick-Ass Is Even More Daring With Its Characterization Of Hit-Girl
The Movie Is Even More Subversive
Although there are undeniably shocking things withinAbigail, the movie is arguably more traditional thanKick-Ass. Given the vampiric trope of immortality,the movie is not the first time that viewers have been confronted with a child-like monster. In theInterview With The Vampiremovie, for instance, Kirsten Dunst appears as Claudia – a young vampire whose main narrative purpose is to confront the challenges posed by never aging, with tragic results.
By contrast,Kick-Ass' Hit-Girl is a direct rebuke to the superhero convention of having young vigilantes take on the criminal underworld. Although she’s not dissimilar in age to a character like Miles Morales, her outlook is completely different. Not only is she remorselessly violent,but her entire persona is unnervingly mature. After their first meeting, she blows a kiss to Dave – an act completely at odds with the behavior of a normal preteen.
Perhaps most notoriously, Hit-Girl is one of the most foul-mouthed characters in the entire movie. Even thoughGrace Moretz was only 12 at the time of filming, she infamously delivered the line, “Okay, you c*nts, let’s see what you may do now,” sparking the ire of several advocacy groups. The fact that there was nowhere near the same level of outrage aroundAbigailboth speaks to the increased permissiveness of the horror genre and the later film’s less provocative attitude to its child star.
The Kick-Ass Franchise Is A Warning For Abigail’s Future
It’s Not Enough To Be Challenging
After the arrival ofMatthew Goode as Abigail’s fatherin theAbigailending, the movie’s future is tantalizingly poised. Not only did Melissa Barerra survive – paving the way for her to feature in a sequel – butthe introduction of the mysterious Lazaar opens up intriguing new aspects of the story’s lore. However, while the first movie was well-received and clearly has an effective main character in the diminutive vampiress, it’s clear fromKick-Assthat any follow-up needs to be careful if it wants to succeed.
In an attempt to up the ante,Kick-Ass 2increased the violence and puerile humor, with diminishing returns.
Much likeAbigail,Kick-Assperformed well with critics, and even outperformed the horror film financially. However, when it came to the sequel, reactions were not so positive. The consensus was thatwhat had seemed so shocking and fresh about the first movie became tiredin a second installment. In an attempt to up the ante,Kick-Ass 2increased the violence and puerile humor, with diminishing returns. The result was a much less positive critical reception and poorer box office performance.
Given that much of what madeKick-Assso effective has echoes inAbigail, any sequel to the 2024 movie needs to avoid making the same mistakes. Having established a hilarious and terrifying villain, the movie must avoid sacrificing story and character development for superficial shock value. It remains to be seen if anAbigailsequel actually happens. If it does, however, there are some clear lessons to learn.
