 What's going on guys welcome back to the channel critical overload here So this will be a spoiler free review for radio silences Abigail, which comes out this Friday as I just stated It's directed by radio silence and it is starring Melissa Barrera Dan Stevens Catherine Newton William Catlett Kevin Durant and his cloud Alicia where? John Carl Esposito and several others now. It's also written by Steven Shields and Guy Busek The story is revolving around a group of would-be criminals who kidnap a 12-year-old Ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure all they have to do is 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 Now Abigail is one hell of a banging vampire flick and because horror has been so shaky with its recent releases It's no shock that I ended up having the most fun with this movie compared to other horror offerings that have come and gone so far in 2024 that's not to say that this is the best horror from I've seen all year because we still have long legs Maxine Cuckoo, etc But yes radio silence has cooked up another good horror comedy with Abigail that leans it back into their radio Not territory and while it has its shortcomings is still well made overall our story revolves around this group of criminals Joey Frank Peter Rickles Dean and Sammy this all of this is not their real names all of which have a very shady past But have come together for this alleged payday while most of this group is forgettable without their charismatic personalities To keep them afloat and engaging Joey is carrying the bulk of this story It's made very clear from the opening sequence that she's the main character her primary struggles Just come down to learning how to be an effective mother dealing with addiction and not over Complicated and how to be present in her child's life She's relatable in that regarding easy to feel sympathy for since she comes off as the most sane person in this situation Honestly, what makes Joey so Intriguing and compelling is the fact that in comparison to everyone else around her She seems like the most withdrawn from the group so that naturally just made her more Attractive and Melissa Barrera does a great job already playing someone who's detached because Joey is very reminiscent To Sam Carpenter who she played in the screen franchise, which is also directed by radio silence for screen screen 5 and screen 6 Abigail also is exploring this parallel between Joey and our titular little girl since Abigail has some of her own parental problems It was an effective way to highlight Joey's growth over time by exploring this parallel as for the others This screenplay doesn't do them any favors when it comes to giving me a reason to care about them Their development simply is non-existent. I couldn't give a rat's ass about anyone else in this movie However, music and shields make up for this by giving everyone time to shine would at least one comedic Standout moment the jokes land every time there wasn't a single one that failed to make me chuckle a Lot of the jokes in here are probably going to make some of you laugh yourself to the point of you might want to just start Have like you might start to have stomach pains If you ever last laugh so hard that your stomach starts to hurt I think Abigail will get the job done because it really is very funny Admittedly Abigail does rely on the humor more than being straight up terrifying and it does work for it Embracing how silly and goofy its own concept is went a long way for this story I may be alone on this one But Abigail felt like radio silences deranged take on home alone if Kevin McAllister's parents really hated him Just think about that for a second. I can't be the only one that thought that One aspect of the screenplay that does not work if you've seen the trailers is how this movie does indeed Try to dangle a twist that the trailer already let us in on Music and shields keep you guessing by tossing in a name that has all of the kidnappers afraid and you start to doubt Who the villain is but around like 20 minutes or 30 minutes in We're reminded of course of who the villain is it all starts to come together in a way That's definitely more effective if you haven't seen the trailer Still there are several twists that you won't pick up on right away But after watching you realize the writers were subtle with their clues a commendable quality since it could have been Obvious with certain revelations and then they still treat it like a shock factor which Abigail I'm happy to report does not do Abigail does rely on exposition dumps, but not in a beat me over the head with the obvious way It's mostly letting us in on further details about our kidnappers So it was effective in that regard some of the vampire lore did seem slightly confusing But I'm sure a rewatch will make me feel better about that. I was very Satisfied with the fact that the lore of the vampires was not something that we constantly took breaks to have spewed to us We kind of just rolled with it and what was unfolding on screen spoke spoke for itself The vampire lore was made evident more so through actions and not just okay Let's sit down take a break and talk about how vampires work There are sequences where they're talking about vampires, but not excessively going over the lore and all the ins and outs of vampires Which could have become tiring and I'm glad Abigail did not do that It's a very fast-paced film that establishes urgency from the opening sequence with how it cuts back and forth between Abigail and her Eventual kidnappers their urgency exists throughout and it only lets up when we have these few intimate moments between Joy and Abigail mostly It was a well-paced film overall Melissa Borreira in the entire cast I would say are phenomenal Especially Dan Stevens who is devouring every scene he is in as this arrogant selfish Individual and then you have Alicia where who was also a standout She delivers a one-up performance as this innocent But sinister little girl that switch from innocent child to diabolical fiend was enough to keep me engaged in her performance And the way she delivers her lines which such confidence and conviction really impressed me Borreira is excelling a portraying a character that is very again reminiscent to Sam Carpenter But Joy has her own distinctions that Borreira captures wonderfully Catherine Newton is an absolute delight as Sammy Sammy is going to be a lovable character for many thanks to her Like I stated what saving these thin characters is great talent and radio silence just being competent directors I thought Abigail was visually pleasing and satisfying. I love the warm color palette that was featured throughout I do say I do want to say that I think they did not make great use of the overall setting that Manching was gorgeous and I don't think they really made proper use of it The score by Brian Tyler kept things suspenseful kept me on edge Was really effective at heightening some of the emotions during that third act Which is quite entertaining that third act is the best Best best last hat last half of the film or the best half of the film I would say is that third act all in all I would say Abigail is a solid 7 out of 10. It's not breaking any new ground when it comes to vampire movies It's a bloody good time. The special effects are freaking phenomenal amazing special effects Really solid performances from everyone. It's just a good time a good campy horror comedy That doesn't take itself too seriously knows what it needs to be and it excels at that quite well Job well done to radio silence on another banger I'm gonna give it a 7 out of 10 if you haven't already of course make sure you subscribe turn on post notification Never miss a video in the description. I'll have links on my social media accounts I'm on Facebook Twitter and Instagram. You can message me there Of course, let me know if there's any movies and news or reviews you'd like me to cover in the future and with all that in mind Guys, I will see you in the next video