Abigail

Not the amazing breakout these other reviewers claim. Makes me wonder which Abigail movie they were watching. A dull waste of time. Serious lack of character development and misses the mark again and again. It seems like they had a a good set up but lost it in the weak dialogue and the cliche of an adult acting like a teen.

Cantrell has a few moments but overall not believable as the disturbed teen. Brown gives a decent performance but feels as if the director left it all up to him. The sets are a weak attempt at period but at least they did get the wardrobe right.

Key to a good horror is making the crazy believable for even just a moment. Unfortunately this film lost us on the opening drive with flat dialogue and no energy. I don't want to spoil the totally predictable ending but the Father element is just silly. Please don't attempt a sequel.

Another "genius" craft of a female director, and of course, such directors have male characters or scoundrels, or psychopaths, or traumatized boys, and female characters are all strong and independent. I want to ask you, those who shoot such feminist and incompetent nonsense: "Who taught you this?" Unoriginal, irrelevant, assembled from templates and cliches: he went a kilometer away in need and left a girl; a difficult teenager from a dysfunctional family is insulted by peers and his mother, and it all looks so shabby, and this is only in the first 15 minutes. The amateur production, the boring camerawork, the disgusting light that shines everywhere, all this is just repulsive with its unprofessiveness. I don't want to blame the actors, they play normally, but here's the directorial task that the actors perform - I haven't seen such a primitive for a long time. Who are all these people who are praising this movie? Did they even watch this movie? Or do they stamp their reviews without looking? Why are you doing this, do you really not care, or do you take the viewer for an imbecile? Or are you engaged in infoshamanism, instilling false meanings, for entertainment?

I couldn't stand this absurdity, I didn't watch this mediocre movie trash.

A mother & daughter from California move to a semi-rural area near Huntsville, Alabama, where the teen girl (Ava Cantrell) befriends a black misfit (Tren Reed-Brown). Havoc ensues.

"Abigail" (2023) is part coming-of-age drama and part thriller/slasher. It explores the same interesting themes as Nicolas Cage's "The Old Way" from eleven months prior, although that's a Western. It's comparable to "White Rabbit" (2013) and "The Rage: Carrie 2," just not as entertaining or rewarding. I'd say it's almost on par with "Devil's Island" from two years earlier; however, if you hated that one, you'll hate this even more.

The bottom line is that it's a technically well-made indie and worth checking out for those interested. Petite Ava Cantrell is a highlight and I respect a production that has the confidence to take its time (which others might interpret as boring).

Is what the girl does in the story unbelievable, as some complain? Not if you know the tree from which the fruit fell and she trains in her personal time (even if it's not shown). Filmmakers aren't obligated to spell everything out; they respect the viewer to put the pieces together.

It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in Oakdale, California, which is 31 miles southeast of Stockton in the middle of the Central Valley (more specifically, the northeast part of San Joaquin Valley).

GRADE: B-

I don't normally seek out indie horror films, but "Abigail" caught my eye as potentially being a smart coming-of-age flick with an engaging premise: Teen moves into new town to escape a sketchy (yet unknown) past, and a kind of black widow persona is revealed. Hey - sounds intriguing to me!

And... it did not disappoint. Cool titles and excellent sound work led immediately into an engaging prelude scene that will really hook you into the story. The cast chemistry was terrific, led by an outstanding performance by lead actor Ava Cantrell. Her relentless persistence with Tren Reed-Browns character and the friction with her mom played by Hermione Lynch made for a dynamic tension with both that drove the movie forward.

Several key scenes backed by an awesome soundtrack peeled back more of Abigail's persona (and potentially her past?), and painted a full picture of her that still haunts me. Ms. Cantrell's performance, going progressively edgier with every scene, is marvelous to watch, portending twists in the third act that will leave you satisfied and asking for a sequel.

I thoroughly enjoyed Abigail, from the storytelling and acting prowess on through the continuity details and production value. This is a character and premise that can really go places and I'm hoping for more of Cantrell, Reed-Brown and others. I rented and streamed it on iTunes.

Arriving in a small Alabama town, a woman and her neighbors strike up a friendship that helps him to overcome the bullies that relentlessly torment him for his home life, but the more she hangs out with him the more her homicidal tendencies come to the forefront unleashing a wave of violence against the bullies.

This was a really solid if somewhat flawed genre effort. When this one ends up working well is the way this one builds up the eventual explosion of violence that emerges as we get to know more about the character and her central relationships. Her troubled background that necessitated the need for the move and how the relationship with her mother is entirely based on combative disrespect that goes in a complete counter to with the neighbor where it comes across as a budding mentorship involving how to stand up for himself against the bullies which borders on coercion and homicidal tendencies. This setup manages to work itself up into an appropriately enjoyable and twist-laden finale where the series of reveals and gruesome outcomes are enough to make the film quite likable over some detrimental factors. The main issue with this one is the fact that it spends forever waiting around for something to happen as the people in this town are blind morons oblivious to what's going on around them. The psychotic tendencies of the teen bullies are so apparent it's hard to believe they were blind to what happened, and that goes equally to the drastically uninspired outbursts of violence that paint her as just as violent only she's doing it for the betterment of his life which should go hand-in-hand with the background we have on her with her mother that there's something off so all of this leaves the film to feel like it's dragging with these elements in place. As well, there's also the lack of violence or gore on display as the timid nature of the interactions makes everything feel rather tame as a result which is another area that holds this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.