What is Abigail about? The 2024 horror movie explained

If you’re wondering what Abigail is about but don’t want any spoilers, you’ve come to the right place.

Abigail has ties to a classic Universal Monsters film, features a blood-thirsty ballerina, and a blood-soaked Melissa Berrera — what’s not to like?

She might not be in Scream 7 but the modern scream queen has other new movies locked in, and this was one we were dying to watch.

We’ve seen it and it’s a thrill ride, so here’s the spoiler-free rundown of Abigail’s story.

What is Abigail about?

The Abigail movie is about a group that kidnaps the daughter of an underworld figure. They realize their mistake when she turns out to be a vampire.

They plan to hold her overnight in an isolated mansion to collect a $50 million ransom from her father, whom they’ve heard ominous rumblings about but have never seen.

When the group starts getting picked off by an unnatural force, things become clear. Accidentally kidnapping a supernatural child and locking yourself in with her? Sounds about right for horror movie twenty-somethings.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not, Scream 5/6) direct, and Kathryn Newton, Berrara, Dan Stevens, and more round out the group of in-over-their-head kidnappers.

Alisha Weir stars as Abigail, who can be seen stalking the halls of the mansion in her eerie ballerina attire.

Is Abigail a remake of Dracula’s Daughter?

Abigail is a “reimagining” of the 1936 cult film Dracula’s Daughter.

Although Abigail’s trailers don’t say it outright, this is one of the classic Universal Monsters remakes (much like 2020’s brilliant The Invisible Man).

Abigail was originally announced as a “Dracula’s Daughter reboot” — although ‘remake’ is more appropriate — by Universal Pictures in an April 2023 press release.

However, Abigail takes a completely different approach to the story of the famous vampire’s offspring.

While the 30s movie was a quieter horror-thriller laden with queer subtext and an adult daughter, the remake is a full-on horror-comedy with a young girl and buckets of blood. Their loglines and execution strike different tones.

This isn’t inherently a bad thing, as Universal has proven that you can squeeze new juice from the classics. The Invisible Man took a similar approach with mostly new material, and we loved that.

Is Abigail scary? Age rating explained

Abigail is rated R in the US for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, pervasive language, and brief drug use. It’s a horror film that’ll try to get scares out of you, but it has comedy too.

It’s marketed as a horror with some slapstick comedy and is scarier than the classic film without a shadow of a doubt. It likely won’t keep you from sleeping, though.

In our review, we noted that the scares aren’t the most effective, but that the filmmakers paint “the screen red – literally – with an unholy level of gore.” So, we’d say Abigail is more grim and violent, than necessarily being scary.

Abigail age ratings, according to IMDb:

• Australia: MA15+
• Canada: 18A (Alberta)
• Canada: 14A (British Columbia)
• Canada: 13+ (Quebec)
• Finland: K-16
• Germany: 16
• Hong Kong: III
• Ireland:16
• Lithuania: N-16
• Luxembourg:16
• Netherlands:16
• New Zealand: R16
• Norway: 15 (cinema rating)
• Philippines: R-16
• Singapore: M18 (edited version)
• South Africa: 18
• Spain: 16 (ICAA)
• Sweden: 15
• Switzerland: 16
• Taiwan: 18+
• United Kingdom: 18
• United States: R
• Vietnam: T18

Abigail goes wide on April 19, 2024.

Whether you see it or not, check our list of the best horror movies to see what else is out there. For other new releases, find out how to watch Immaculate or how to watch The First Omen. You can also look to a creepy-crawly future with our guide to the Longlegs release date.