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.

Lisa Frankenstein

“Lisa Frankenstein” is a 2024 Dark Comedy/Horror starring Kathryn Newton (Freaky), Liza Soberano (Forevermore), Carla Gugino (Gerald’s Game), Joe Chrest (Stranger Things), and Cole Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody).

Lisa (Newton) is an outcast who has to move to a new school, new house, and has to start a new life her senior year in high school after her mom was brutally murdered in a home invasion in front of Lisa. No one seems to get her, that is until an old cemetery she likes to hang out in is struck by lightning. The lightning reanimates a corpse (Sprouse) from the 1800s. Now Lisa must hide the reanimated corpse from being discovered all while he becomes a little to protective over Lisa.

The movie takes place in 1989, and they do an excellent job of nailing the 80s. Right down to the quirkiness of the movie, that 80 movies were known for. Even though Tim Burton didn’t direct this movie, it has his feel. It has the offbeat, quirky, gothic feel that he is known for. Think of “Edward Scissor Hands.” It has the same feel. Even Newton and Sprouse look like a young Helena Bonham Carter and Johhny Depp in this. It surpassed my expectations. It’s a lighthearted, dark comedy that’s worth checking out. I give it a 7/10.

Freaky

‘Freaky’ is a 2020 horror/comedy from Blumhouse starring Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers), Kathryn Newton (Blockers), Celeste O’ Connor (Wetlands), Misha Oserovich (The Goldfinch), and Uriah Shelton (Lifted).

‘Freaky’ is slasher horror film that is about a serial killer (Vaughn), he finds Millie (Newton), a teenage girl, sitting by herself, waiting for her ride after a football game. He chases her down and stabs her, something freaky happens and they end up switching bodies. Now Millie has 24 hours to stab the killer with the same knife, or they will permanently be stuck in each others bodies.

When I first saw this trailer it reminded me of ‘Happy Death Day’ mixed with ‘Freaky Friday’, which makes sense because Blumhouse also put out ‘Happy Death Day’. However, after watching it, it’s more like ‘Freaky Friday’ mixed with ‘Friday the 13th’. You have this big, masked, killer stalking his victims, then he switches bodies with a teenage girl. I like the fresh take on the slasher movie. It has a good story line, and Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton really nail their roles when they “switch” bodies. Vince Vaughn channels his inner David Rose, and you can see him run around acting like a teenage girl, and who doesn’t want to see that? This is a must see, I give it a 7/10.