It is no spoiler to reveal that “Abigail” involves a vampire, no matter how far into the movie it is before this fact is revealed. Both of the trailers which I watched make no secret of this fact. But there is no doubt that part of the fun of the film for those who have not watched the trailer or read a review is the anticipation of what evil lurks in a shut-in mansion where the predators become the prey.

The story begins with shots switching between a young girl dancing ballet in an empty auditorium and of different pieces of a gang preparing to execute a kidnapping. The girl, Abigail (Alisha Weir), finishes her practice and gets into a limousine to go to her mansion.

The crime team consists of 3 components. Two people, Dean (Angus Cloud) and Sammy (Kathryn Newton), are in a car. Sammy is the computer whiz who hacks the security system to allow the actual kidnappers to enter. Dean is the getaway driver.

The second component is a lone gunman, Rickles (William Catlett), perched on the roof to shoot any intruders. The third cadre are the actual kidnappers: Frank (Dan Stevens), Joey (Melissa Barrera) and Peter (Kevin Durand).

Entering Abigail’s room, she is subdued after a hypodermic injection. The father returns home and calls out to Abigail. As they leave with Abigail in a body bag, the kidnappers race to the van as alarms go off.

They speed to their destination, an abandoned mansion that no person who ever watched a horror film would enter. There they meet Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito), the brains of the operation. They are to remain in the house until the ransom drop occurs. Each of them has been guaranteed seven million dollars for the gig. They have their cell phones collected and are told not to give their real names or life stories to anyone else.

Joey is delegated to keep an eye on Abigail. The girl has her hands handcuffed uncomfortably behind her back. Joey rearranges the cuffs to the front to ease Abigail’s pain. The girl’s blindfold is removed and Joey takes off her mask.

Abigail tells Joey that her father may not want her back. Joey states with a pinky promise that no harm will befall Abigail. Then Abigail says that she is sorry for what is going to happen to Joey because her father is a known crime lord who no one crosses and lives to tell the tale.

All of them are creeped out about the identity of the father. But they discover that they have been locked into the mansion and cannot leave.

Dean goes down to the kitchen. Hearing a noise, he sees a rat. The next thing you know, he is dragged away by an unknown assailant.

Sammy goes to investigate and finds him in a chair. Even though his head is on top of his body, he has been decapitated.

More freaking out by the others occur. They have no clue what is stalking them but are soon to find out.

It has been a long time since I have seen a movie that revels in the depiction of blood like “Abigail” does. It would be a spoiler to ruin the greatest blood-producing effect of all. It is such a winner that each time it happened the audience applauded in glee.

Blood is the ultimate defining element of vampire movies. When the characters realize that Abigail is a vampire, it turns into a pop-culture moment. They discuss the various lore about the creatures and recognize the inconsistency of what stories have told about killing this form of the undead. As Sammy succinctly puts it, are they talking about Anne Rice, True Blood or Twilight?

The pacing is superb. The film starts out as a kidnapping story, then becomes a holding-a-hostage piece and then leaps out as a horror flick. Each sequence has its own tensions: will they execute the crime, can they get along in the gloomy mansion, and how will they survive in the end? There never is a dull moment.

The screenplay gets my kudos for originality. The way in which each character, who did not know each other prior to this heist, are related is a wonderful twist. Why they are in a mansion with a vampire killing them is another surprise. The lore of this vampire film has its own unique characteristics that add to the genre. The dialogue is well-scripted.

A dilemma that is presented is what do you do if you are offered a deal with the devil, in this case Abigail? Do you take it and rat out all of the other survivors? What if you could become a vampire? Who already may be a vampire?

The visual effects, which seem practical, are top-notch. Whether it is Abigail’s transformation, through basically her teeth and eyes, or the aforementioned blood gusher, it suspended my disbelief for the entirety of the picture.

Genre movies often are faulted for not developing their characters. But in this film, not only is Abigail well-drawn but each of the thieves develop their own set of rhythms and quirks.

This movie features Dan Stevens, who I recently saw in “Godzilla X Kong,” and Kathryn Newton from “Lisa Frankenstein.” Stevens has more to work with here as his character is not a side character to CGI. His performance is well-played.

Newton is two for two as far as I am concerned. Her role is more minor here but she gets to develop as the film progresses and has a great character arc.

The real finds, though, are Melissa Barrera as Joey and Alisha Weir as Abigail. Barrera has a complicated back-story filled with bad decisions. But she is determined to live to see her estranged son.

Weir is just amazing! She is able to be the scared little girl in one scene and the embodiment of evil in another. A true find!

This is a film that you can just go to, relax, and enjoy the lore and scares. Not recommended for children, but all adults who love horror should go.

Five out of five stars

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.

From Radio Silence—the directing team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett behind the terrifying modern horror hits Ready or Not, 2022’s Scream and last year’s Scream VI—comes a brash, blood-thirsty new vision of the vampire flick, written by Stephen Shields (The Hole in the Ground, Zombie Bashers) and Guy Busick (Scream franchise, Ready or Not).

Cast: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud and Giancarlo Esposito
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Written by: Stephen Shields, Guy Busick