Tag: Dan Stevens

Abigail

“Abigail” is a 2024 horror movie starring Melissa Barrera (Scream VI), Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast), Alisha Weir (Matilda: the Musical), Kathryn Newton (Lisa Frankenstein), Kevin Durand (Smokin’ Aces), and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad).

Six criminals who are the best in their field are hired to kidnap a twelve-year-old girl and hold her 24 hours in a safe house for a hefty ransom. The kidnapping goes smoothly, but once they’re in the safe house, the criminals quickly realize they are locked in, and they are not locked in with an ordinary little girl. Instead, they are locked in with a vampire who is intent on making each one of them her meal. Now it becomes a matter of survival for the six criminals.

I’m a sucker for a good vampire film (no pun intended), only problem is, vampire films tend to be very hit or miss. This one has a unique story line, with having a little girl as the blood thirsty monster. It’s a vampire flick mixed with the “Usual Suspects”, a who’s who of sorts, but it’s easy to figure out what’s going on in this one. Still, it’s super enjoyable. The casting is great, two of the characters I found super annoying, but they died early on so it’s okay. The remaining ones play their parts great, especially Weir, Newton, and Durand. Enough can’t be said for these three. It’s pretty fast paced once they realize the little girl is a vampire. It’s filled with brutal and bloody killings, which always makes for good cinema. It’s an entertaining watch, and a win for vampire films. I give it a 7.5/10.

The Rental

“The Rental” is a 2020 horror/thriller movie starring Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast), Alison Brie (GLOW), Sheila Vand (Argo), and Jeremy Allen White (Shameless). Dave Franco (Unfinished Business) makes his directorial debut with this one.

Two Couples rent a house on the beach for a relaxing weekend away, but things quickly go downhill.

Almost every rental movie is the same, some people rent a house then there’s someone creepy watching them and/or killing them. It’s been told a thousand times, but the ones that are good are really good while the others fall flat. This one falls in the flat department. It’s not the acting, it has a solid cast and it’s good acting. The story doesn’t flow well and is a little jumbled. It’s an hour and a half movie, but it takes an hour before anything happens, then the last thirty minutes they try to jam all the action in. By this point it’s too late, also the ending doesn’t add anything up or answer any questions. With the actors and the story, it has the potential to be good, if it was done differently. I would skip this one altogether, but if you do want to check it out, it just released on Netflix. I give it a 4/10.