By MICHAEL GINGOLD
A memorable addition to the bloodsucker canon is showcased in ABIGAIL, now in release from Universal, the latest film from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of the Radio Silence collective. RUE MORGUE spoke to the duo about their twisty, extremely bloody horror/crime feature.
The title character is a young ballerina kidnapped by a motley gang of criminals played by Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens (who discusses the film here), Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Tyler Catlett and the late Angus Cloud. They think they’re in store for a $50-million ransom payday, but instead they become prey when Abigail (Alisha Weir) proves to be a vicious and agile vampire. Scripted by Stephen Shields and Radio Silence member Guy Busick, ABIGAIL (reviewed here) combines thrills, humor, quirky characterizations and lots of gore.
One thing that surprised me when I first saw the film is that the revelation of Abigail as a vampire occurs almost halfway through the film. And yet, obviously, the marketing had to deal with the fact that she is a vampire. Was there any concern that you were going to have to show that big reveal in the advertising?
MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN: We were very aware that that was how the film was going to be marketed. So when we were making the movie, we decided to make sure that it is about more than just the reveal that she’s a vampire. And then we could have fun with it before that twist and let the audience be a little bit ahead of the characters. You get to watch them trying to figure out what’s going on, and then hopefully you’re fully engaged, so that when the reveal happens, you’re ready for that next part of the movie to take hold. So we were aware that would be happening, and figured it would be more fun to just lean into it and accept it. There were times during the process, in preproduction, when we moved the vampire reveal around, and it just never felt right when it was earlier.
There was initial speculation that ABIGAIL was going to be part of Universal’s monsterverse, that it was going to be a remake of 1936’s DRACULA’S DAUGHTER. Did you take inspiration from any older films when you were developing this one?
TYLER GILLETT: I think we can see that Stephen Shields, who wrote the original draft of the script, definitely had that at the top of his mind. I think he very smartly hacked the system by creating something original around something familiar that was initially a take on Dracula’s daughter. But to Universal’s credit, when we got involved, they were very excited about us taking what existed on the page and turning it into something wholly new. And they encouraged us to not feel restricted by DRACULA’S DAUGHTER, or any other vampire lineage, for that matter. What that meant for us was, we got to rewatch all of our favorite vampire movies, and instead of borrowing from any of them specifically, we just watched that whole canon and realized that there was a real opportunity–because of how many ways vampires have been handled in movies and TV–for us to step in and take a weird and fresh and fun swing at what our version of that monster might be.
There’s great byplay between your cast. How much of their dialogue was improvised once you had them all on set?
BETTINELLI-OLPIN: You know, we had a great script, so it allowed for a lot of improv, because the foundation was so strong. Everybody got to put their own spin on it, you know? I would say that Dan and Kathryn improv’d an incredible amount. Angus improv’d an incredible amount. Maybe everybody did.
GILLETT: Yeah, it was always within the sort of blueprint of what the script had laid out.
BETTINELLI-OLPIN: One of the things that was really fun about making this movie was that the scenes were very clear in terms of what they were about. So we could have a little more fun with the dialogue within them, as long as we started in the same place, were in the right place, and ended up in the right place.
Was there concern about finding a young actress who could not only embody the character of Abigail, but also take on the physical work the part required? And once you cast Weir, did you give her more to do based on her skills?
GILLETT: It wasn’t just a concern, it was the thing that kept us up at night before we cast Alisha. In reading the script, it was like, oh man, we don’t want to cut back the amount that Abigail is in this movie, because she has to be front and center in so many ways. But wow, there really is a ton of heavy lifting for this character, and then whoever plays her, to do. And then we realized that what was on the page was actually just a fraction of what Alisha ultimately ended up bringing to that character. Everything was dance-specific, all of the action sequences, and we really designed the movie around what we discovered were her natural talents and abilities. So when you watch the movie, you’re seeing an incredible emotional performance. But then in the big stunt moments, that’s all Alicia, attacking that stuff with as much maturity and nuance and that same fun sensibility as we saw in her when we first auditioned her. We had an amazing time with her, and truly can’t say enough how great of a performer she is.
Was the SWAN LAKE music she dances to at the beginning–a reference to 1931’s DRACULA–added after Weir was cast?
BETTINELLI-OLPIN: SWAN LAKE was in the original script we read, with Abigail in a ballet studio finishing up practice, with that music playing. We thought that was really interesting, because it immediately set a tone for us, and set up a relationship with the original DRACULA that we really liked. And then, once we found out Alisha could dance, we really leaned into that idea.
What went into conceiving her vampire look? And also, you have an insane amount of blood in the film, so can you talk about that as well?
BETTINELLI-OLPIN: For the vampire look, we wanted something animalistic, so we steered it to the idea of almost like shark teeth. 30 DAYS OF NIGHT did that really well, and we wanted something we could do practically, so we boiled it down to getting some unique, character-specific teeth that had that kind of jagged, gross, fucked-up thing going on. And then contact lenses to lighten the eyes, to make it something real, something tangible.
The blood was also something we tried to do practically as much as possible. We used a ton of it, and at the end of the day, it felt to us like if we could do something on set with the actors where they’re interacting with this blood, it would feel real. It would have that energy and excitement that we hope comes through in the movie.
With this and READY OR NOT, clearly Radio Silence are fans of scenarios in enclosed spaces with a bunch of characters kind of fighting their way out. Is that something you’ve always been interested in, filmwise?
BETTINELLI-OLPIN: Yeah, we love a chamber piece, and it feels like there’s such an opportunity when you trap a group of characters in a very specific location, and you don’t let the outside world in. It feels like you force yourself creatively into a situation where you have to spend a lot of quality time with the characters and the dynamic between them. This movie only succeeds because you get to know each and every one of these people under pressure. That’s such a fun thriller trope that we have certainly used before, and we will continue to use, because there are so many fun and entertaining ways to deploy that idea.
Now that you’ve done vampires, are there any other classic horror characters you’d like to tackle?
GILLETT: I think as long as the powers that be, the people in charge, are open to and willing to let us come in and be weird and have fun and really design what that story is, to be something unique and wholly original, we are totally game for that. And Universal has really made a name for themselves in doing that. It feels like they love their monsters, but they’re not precious about them in a way that’s creatively prohibitive. That was certainly evident to us in making ABIGAIL, so yeah, if there was another opportunity to step into a different monster, we would do it in a heartbeat.
