"Abigail"

[00:00:00] You are listening to the Next Best Picture Podcast and this is our review of Abigail.

[00:00:16] You all came highly recommended.

[00:00:20] You know the rules.

[00:00:22] No real names, no backstories, no cell phones.

[00:00:27] So whose kid is she?

[00:00:29] A very wealthy man who is about to be $50 million poorer.

[00:00:32] I'm here to make sure you're safe.

[00:00:35] What's your name?

[00:00:36] Mine's Abigail.

[00:00:37] You can call me Joey.

[00:00:38] Do you have any kids?

[00:00:39] I have a little boy.

[00:00:43] See you in 24 hours.

[00:00:46] Do you know what a pinky promise is?

[00:00:52] If you behave and do as we say, like pinky promise you, it'll all be over soon.

[00:00:59] Joey?

[00:01:00] Yeah?

[00:01:01] I'm sorry about what's going to happen to you.

[00:01:07] What the fuck?

[00:01:08] Alright everybody, you were just listening to the trailer for Abigail and the story

[00:01:12] is as follows.

[00:01:13] A group of would-be criminals kidnaps the 12 year old daughter of a powerful underworld

[00:01:18] figure.

[00:01:19] Holding her for ransom in an isolated mansion, their plans start to unravel when

[00:01:24] they discover their young captive is actually a bloodthirsty vampire.

[00:01:30] The film is starring Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alicia Weir, Katherine Newton,

[00:01:36] William Catlett, Kevin Duran, Angus Cloud and Giancarlo Esposito.

[00:01:41] It is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpen and Tyler Gillett and it is written by

[00:01:46] Steven Shields and Guy Busick.

[00:01:49] Here to join me today for this podcast review I have Giovanni Lago.

[00:01:53] Hello.

[00:01:54] Oh.

[00:01:55] Josh Parham.

[00:01:56] Hello, hello.

[00:01:57] Cody Derricks.

[00:01:58] Hello.

[00:01:59] And Tom O'Brien.

[00:02:01] Hi everybody.

[00:02:02] Let's talk about a fucking vampire everybody.

[00:02:09] Okay so, Matt and Tyler, better known as Radio Silence have built up quite a name

[00:02:17] for themselves in the horror genre over the last couple of years with films such

[00:02:22] as VHS, Southbound, Ready or Not, Scream and Scream 6 I believe it was right?

[00:02:30] Yeah.

[00:02:31] Scream V, yes.

[00:02:32] Scream VI.

[00:02:35] They have, I think in a lot of ways, found this unbelievable way to make

[00:02:41] themselves stand out within the horror genre not necessarily by any form of

[00:02:46] style but just simply I can tell by like the overall tone of how they

[00:02:50] craft their stories and this is one where I remember watching the trailer

[00:02:54] for this on the show with you guys a couple of weeks ago and we all reacted

[00:02:58] very positively to this absolutely bonkers premise that took us by complete

[00:03:03] surprise.

[00:03:04] We had no idea what we were in store with this much like the characters in

[00:03:08] this film who find themselves trapped in this house with this ballerina

[00:03:12] vampire and I think we all had the same reaction of thinking this looks

[00:03:16] like a fun time from the people who made the rebooted Scream and Ready or Not.

[00:03:21] So does it actually hold up to that promise?

[00:03:23] How does it compare to the other films that these guys have offered us before?

[00:03:27] What do we think of the ensemble?

[00:03:29] And of course, what do we think of some of the gory practical special

[00:03:33] effects that are featured in this film?

[00:03:35] Now for the sake of this conversation, we are going to discuss spoilers so

[00:03:40] don't feel the need to withhold anything back in your thoughts here.

[00:03:44] We'll start off with our horror expert, Cody Derrick's.

[00:03:47] Cody, what did you think of Abigail?

[00:03:50] Oh, well, yes, as you know, somebody who is a huge horror buff and also

[00:03:55] grew up in the ballet studio.

[00:03:57] It felt like this movie was really crafted towards specifically Cody Derrick's.

[00:04:01] So I was really excited for this movie, especially having been a fan of

[00:04:05] nearly everything that I've seen from Radio Silence, including their early work

[00:04:09] and stuff like VHS and Southbound.

[00:04:11] So unfortunately, I was a little bit let down by Abigail.

[00:04:15] I still had a good time, but those good times were mostly relegated to

[00:04:19] whenever Abigail herself is on screen.

[00:04:21] I think the character is fantastic.

[00:04:24] It's really exciting to watch the birth of a brand new horror icon.

[00:04:28] I felt similarly about Megan last year where the movie was just OK,

[00:04:32] but everything to do with the titular character, as is the case here,

[00:04:36] is incredible.

[00:04:37] I just like know that we're going to see a lot of fun Halloween costumes and

[00:04:41] references to the character down the road, especially due to the performance

[00:04:45] of Alicia Weir, the young actress who plays Abigail.

[00:04:49] She is fan fucking tastic.

[00:04:52] I really loved her in Matilda, the musical a few years ago as Matilda.

[00:04:55] And this is about the furthest thing you can get from Matilda.

[00:04:59] This is heavy R rated, very gory time.

[00:05:03] And she is just perfection.

[00:05:05] She's funny.

[00:05:06] She gives an amazing physical performance.

[00:05:09] Everything to do with her is fantastic.

[00:05:11] That being said, whenever she's not on screen, there is a notable dip in

[00:05:16] energy and quality and everything.

[00:05:18] And it's not helped by the fact that it takes a long, long time to

[00:05:22] reveal exactly what Abigail is.

[00:05:25] And nearly everybody going into this movie, you can't really describe the

[00:05:29] movie without saying ballerina vampire.

[00:05:32] So everybody in the audience knows what Abigail actually is.

[00:05:35] But the movie treats that as a huge surprise, building up to it for almost

[00:05:40] an hour.

[00:05:41] And by the time we get there all is well and it becomes very fun after

[00:05:45] that point.

[00:05:46] But the first hour is decidedly quite sloggishly paced.

[00:05:51] I even check my watch by the time we got the reveal of Abigail because

[00:05:55] I wanted to be sure that it really felt as long as it was and indeed a

[00:05:59] full hour.

[00:06:00] And yeah, everything else about the movie besides Abigail is fun.

[00:06:04] I think Melissa Brera gives a good performance as always, but I was

[00:06:08] decidedly less engaged whenever the titular vampire ballerina wasn't on

[00:06:12] screen.

[00:06:13] OK, let's hear next now from Tom O'Brien.

[00:06:16] Tom, what did you think of Abigail?

[00:06:19] Well, Matt, I want to pick up on something that Cody said.

[00:06:22] This was I think the kind of movie I would love to have seen in a

[00:06:26] test screening.

[00:06:27] Not knowing anything about it, because, you know, I think when the

[00:06:33] writers wrote the script, it's a very well built script unless you have

[00:06:39] to factor in the fact that you have to promote a movie and that there

[00:06:42] are trailers who are going to reveal your big twist, because that's

[00:06:45] the only reason someone's going to see it, which unfortunately does,

[00:06:51] you know, force that shlaggy first hour of it, because I think that

[00:06:57] the big twist on paper probably you'd probably need that build up time

[00:07:02] with the characters and then turn it into a whole other genre.

[00:07:05] But unfortunately, it doesn't really work as a film for me, although

[00:07:09] I got to say I got a lot of I got to really admire radio silence.

[00:07:13] They do have a real skill in walking that fine line between comedy

[00:07:16] and horror, because it's so, so difficult to maintain that, because

[00:07:21] if you lean too much in one direction, you really dissipate the

[00:07:25] strengths of the other the other genre you're not leaning into.

[00:07:29] And this one, I think they they pulled it off, I think, better

[00:07:32] and ready or not.

[00:07:33] I think probably because the structure of that was a lot cleaner,

[00:07:39] which is not thing to say about a Splatterpalooza movie, but it

[00:07:43] really was the point of view in radio.

[00:07:46] Not a radio or not was very singular.

[00:07:49] You were introduced to a innocent who gets into this crazy world here

[00:07:55] in Abigail.

[00:07:56] The first hour is among the crooks.

[00:07:59] And whose point of view are we looking at this from Dan Stevens,

[00:08:04] Marissa Barrera?

[00:08:05] It's never really clear.

[00:08:07] It isn't until Abigail makes her full self known that it really comes

[00:08:13] to light.

[00:08:14] And even then, we're supposed to be rooting from Melissa Barrera.

[00:08:18] But Alicia, we were so good at it.

[00:08:21] I bought myself cheering for her.

[00:08:23] And that's kind of a problem narratively with it.

[00:08:27] So once that I realized that this is going to be not ready or not,

[00:08:32] I just sat back and enjoyed all the exploding bodies and had a really

[00:08:37] quite a nice time.

[00:08:38] So I'm very mixed on it, but I'm leaning more favorably than not.

[00:08:42] OK, all right.

[00:08:44] Gio, what about you?

[00:08:46] Well, I really went in not knowing much besides the first trailer.

[00:08:51] I wasn't even honestly expecting to see this this week.

[00:08:54] So when I sat down, I didn't really know what to expect.

[00:08:57] I'm like, sure.

[00:08:58] Like an OK, whore flick.

[00:09:00] I didn't even know it was made by Radio Silence, to be honest.

[00:09:03] Probably should have been given away because Melissa Barrera is in it and

[00:09:07] she's a frequent collaborator with them.

[00:09:09] And I had a blast.

[00:09:11] Honestly, I mean, I get the complaints everyone has.

[00:09:15] It does. You know, that first hour until the real film is revealed,

[00:09:20] kind of drags a bit.

[00:09:21] And it's like this very generic heist thriller caper where they're

[00:09:26] planning out to scoop the girl and then it's slowly just building and

[00:09:30] you're waiting because clearly, you know, something is up.

[00:09:33] And I mean, the trailer doesn't help when you know the reveal.

[00:09:38] So it feels like those who are in on the surprise are just slowly

[00:09:43] biding their time and are just like waiting for it to pick up.

[00:09:47] I think when the real film starts and Abigail, you know, identity is

[00:09:51] revealed to be a ballerina vampire.

[00:09:54] It's super fun.

[00:09:55] I agree with what Tom said about how Radio Silence is really good at

[00:09:59] balancing their comedy and horror.

[00:10:01] I think, you know, that main core group when it was Dan Stevens,

[00:10:05] Kevin Duran, who I think is like underrated, like presence.

[00:10:08] Whenever you see him, I'm like, oh, it's that guy.

[00:10:10] I think he's really funny as like the giant oath.

[00:10:13] And, you know, everyone has a really good camaraderie with each other.

[00:10:16] And Dan Stevens is just playing like such a douche.

[00:10:20] And it's fantastic. It's such a stark difference.

[00:10:23] You know, you see him in Godzilla and he's like, yeah, I'm the cool

[00:10:26] gadget guy who replaces teeth.

[00:10:29] And now he's like, I am just a prick and I don't care.

[00:10:33] And I got slick back hair and these dumb glasses.

[00:10:36] And I loved it.

[00:10:37] Melissa Barrera is good too.

[00:10:39] I do agree where it's like the film struggles to like who you're

[00:10:42] really should be following or rooting for, especially like the praises

[00:10:46] for Alicia Weir is very accurate because she's fantastic.

[00:10:50] Like every time she's just chasing someone and she does decide to do

[00:10:54] like a twirl or like some ballerina posture or move, I think it's

[00:10:59] maybe the funniest thing.

[00:11:00] Very gory film.

[00:11:02] I probably should have expected that once I realized it was made from

[00:11:05] the people who made Ready or Not.

[00:11:07] But I was still quite taken aback from how gory the movie was,

[00:11:12] which always a plus in my book.

[00:11:15] It's not the greatest thing ever.

[00:11:17] It's not as good as Ready or Not.

[00:11:19] I don't know if I even liked it more than the last screen film, honestly.

[00:11:23] But I will say I did have a fun time.

[00:11:26] I would recommend it.

[00:11:27] So all right.

[00:11:29] All right.

[00:11:30] Time to find out if Josh's love for Dan Stevens was enough or not.

[00:11:37] Josh, what do you think of Ready?

[00:11:40] Not Ready or Not.

[00:11:41] Abigail, we're talking so much about Ready or Not.

[00:11:42] It might as well be a review of that film.

[00:11:44] I mean, the set, this could have been a Ready or Not set.

[00:11:47] I just filmed it on the same mansion set.

[00:11:50] Yeah, it does feel like that oftentimes.

[00:11:53] And yes, my love for Dan Stevens will take me to many places,

[00:11:58] even some places I wish I wouldn't go to.

[00:12:00] But that's the burden that I carry.

[00:12:03] But with this film, I do agree with a lot of the sentiments

[00:12:07] that have been expressed so far with just how fun the movie is.

[00:12:11] I did have a really good time with it.

[00:12:13] I even understand the slow buildup is kind of frustrating at some parts.

[00:12:19] But to be honest with you, that did not really bother me that much.

[00:12:23] I actually was OK with that kind of slow progression

[00:12:28] to kind of get to know these characters in this world.

[00:12:31] And that I didn't have an issue with it.

[00:12:33] I like those characters enough that even though we weren't really

[00:12:37] getting the vampire stuff right away,

[00:12:39] I was OK with establishing that foundation.

[00:12:42] And by the time we did get to the just onslaught of carnage,

[00:12:46] yeah, that's when it becomes far more entertaining.

[00:12:49] I do agree.

[00:12:50] But I did not find the establishment pieces of this story

[00:12:55] in the beginning to really be that bothersome to me.

[00:12:59] So I actually didn't mind that.

[00:13:01] And in fact, where I actually have issues is with the ending to the movie.

[00:13:05] That's where actually the movie lost me a bit,

[00:13:07] where it felt like it did try to do some twists

[00:13:10] and it did kind of go into some territory with the story

[00:13:13] that I just felt was not really earned all that well,

[00:13:16] was not properly set up.

[00:13:18] And that is actually when it lost me,

[00:13:20] was like the last 20 minutes or so

[00:13:22] where it just felt like they didn't really know how to end it.

[00:13:25] And I did not feel like their conclusion was very satisfactory.

[00:13:28] But overall, I still had a really good time with it.

[00:13:31] I thought it was very entertaining.

[00:13:33] Yeah, the blood and violence is very fun to watch in this film.

[00:13:36] It's very creatively executed and it's not perfect, yes.

[00:13:39] But I did think that it was a thoroughly entertaining movie

[00:13:42] and very easy to recommend if you're into horror films.

[00:13:45] So I'm very similar to Josh here.

[00:13:48] I actually, while I felt the pacing of the first act

[00:13:53] and I agree that it was definitely slow,

[00:13:56] this movie would play so well if one went into it completely cold

[00:14:00] and had not seen any marketing material whatsoever.

[00:14:03] If you have a friend out there that you want to show this to one day

[00:14:06] who is totally oblivious to movies

[00:14:08] and does not see trailers or anything like that,

[00:14:11] this is just such a good film, I think,

[00:14:13] to pop on one night and watch with a friend or two that is like that.

[00:14:17] Because yes, I think the reveal works so much better

[00:14:20] when you don't know that it's coming.

[00:14:22] Now, if you do know that it's coming, like we all did,

[00:14:25] I too found myself pretty sucked in by the characters.

[00:14:31] They each have very distinct personalities.

[00:14:33] They're played by actors who are just clearly having such a good time here.

[00:14:40] And I do think that everyone gets their moment to shine

[00:14:45] in a way that really helps us to feel like a true ensemble.

[00:14:49] I think everybody is perfectly cast.

[00:14:52] And then we get into the meat and potatoes of the movie,

[00:14:56] you know, the second act.

[00:14:58] And that's where just for me, I was having a complete blast.

[00:15:02] No matter what flaws I had with the movie and some of which, you know,

[00:15:05] I'm sure we'll talk about here,

[00:15:07] I still found myself having a good time.

[00:15:10] Then by the time we get to the third act of the film,

[00:15:14] I thought we were done and I thought we were wrapping up

[00:15:17] and then it just kept going and going and going.

[00:15:23] And suddenly what I'm looking at the runtime right now,

[00:15:26] it's 109 minutes.

[00:15:28] This thing started to feel like 135 to me.

[00:15:31] There just came a certain point where I was like,

[00:15:34] how far is this going to go?

[00:15:35] Where is this going to end?

[00:15:38] And where we do end is funny because it ends exactly where I predicted

[00:15:43] it would, but it just felt like it took too long to get there.

[00:15:48] This to me could have been perfect if it was just a nice,

[00:15:51] clean 90 minutes or so.

[00:15:54] I think it would have just been so much more relentless in its pacing

[00:15:58] that would have allowed for that rush of entertainment

[00:16:04] to mask the flaws of this film.

[00:16:07] Instead, the longer it goes on,

[00:16:09] those flaws start to become more glaringly apparent.

[00:16:13] And just don't go in expecting it to be a masterpiece

[00:16:18] or even as good as Ready or Not

[00:16:20] because I think just that was a tighter film overall.

[00:16:24] And because it did have one character that we were following the whole time,

[00:16:28] made it a little bit easier for us to have a more focused approach to the story.

[00:16:35] Here there's shifting allegiances.

[00:16:38] You don't know necessarily who's good and who's bad.

[00:16:41] And I think that that does hurt a little bit

[00:16:43] with our emotional investment into the story.

[00:16:46] I mean, the one thing that I think that's most clear, though,

[00:16:49] is from the very beginning we're supposed to

[00:16:52] empathize the most probably with Melissa Barrera's character Joey.

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[00:18:09] Oh, for sure. Yeah.

[00:18:11] And I do think that her performance is very compelling.

[00:18:15] And the movie sets it up to be that she's going to be the one

[00:18:19] that you're going to root for.

[00:18:20] You know, I think from a narrative perspective, that's not very innovative.

[00:18:24] But I liked her presence as I usually do.

[00:18:27] I think she's a really good actor and is able to infuse so much

[00:18:30] personality and empathy in whatever role that she plays.

[00:18:34] And even though it's very clearly telegraphed that she's going to be

[00:18:38] the most sympathetic protagonist that you should attach yourself to,

[00:18:42] I was still invested and I liked her interplay with the rest of the

[00:18:46] cast as well.

[00:18:47] And I would even say for them very similarly, like on the page,

[00:18:51] is there much there?

[00:18:52] You know, I don't know really, but I think those actors bring so much

[00:18:57] of their own personality that I was just really engaged by all of their

[00:19:01] sequences. Even when I knew that it was a bit contrived and when it was a bit

[00:19:05] maybe flatly delivered or at least executed in terms of how it was written,

[00:19:10] I really loved what the performers themselves are bringing to the material.

[00:19:15] Yeah. I mean, like who is probably the weakest here?

[00:19:18] Is it Will Catlett who plays this former soldier?

[00:19:22] He doesn't really have much, I don't think, in terms of like character,

[00:19:25] except he attempts to form an alliance with Joey early on because

[00:19:30] everyone else seems very shady or completely incompetent as

[00:19:36] Catherine Newton's character, Sammy and the dearly departed rest in peace,

[00:19:40] Angus Clouds character, Dean come off.

[00:19:43] Well, they are useless.

[00:19:45] They also established that like Melissa Barrera's character in it have kind of like a relationship

[00:19:51] or like sort of a flame or like potential chemistry in that way as well,

[00:19:56] besides like an alliance.

[00:19:58] But like that also is never really explored because I mean, we said spoilers.

[00:20:02] He goes pretty early in the movie.

[00:20:05] He's like he's all like we're going to be trapped here for 24 hours.

[00:20:08] Might as well go for it.

[00:20:09] I'm like, dude, really?

[00:20:11] Yeah. Bye bye.

[00:20:13] That was something that I thought was completely unnecessary and definitely was

[00:20:18] I don't want to say like a huge detriment necessarily to the overall experience,

[00:20:23] but definitely one of those eyebrow raising moments of why even bother?

[00:20:27] Yeah, because the movie dispatches with his character pretty quickly.

[00:20:31] Yeah.

[00:20:32] If he was like longer into the movie and they had more scenes, I would get it.

[00:20:36] But that's like what, you know, Josh said there's certain things they either set up

[00:20:40] or doesn't feel paid off.

[00:20:42] I know we'll probably end up talking about Dan Stevens, a certain character decision

[00:20:47] that he makes, especially towards the end.

[00:20:49] I was just like, I don't understand where these are coming from.

[00:20:53] It just feels like they needed something to be like, oh, OK, let's make it a bit more spicy.

[00:20:57] And then it's like, oh, never mind.

[00:20:59] And then they just throw it to the wayside.

[00:21:01] Oh, so going back to Will Cowlett, I'll say this.

[00:21:04] I do think that that is obvious just misdirection to create a surprising moment

[00:21:09] for when he does get killed because you are led to believe that there's going to be more use of him

[00:21:16] throughout the rest of the film.

[00:21:17] As far as Dan Stevens goes, the I don't even want to call it a reveal, but let's just say

[00:21:22] the evolution, if you will, that he is the film's true antagonist and not necessarily Abigail

[00:21:32] was something that I actually thought was pretty well plotted throughout the course of the movie,

[00:21:37] considering, like you all said, what a complete douchebag he is from the very, very beginning.

[00:21:42] And he maintains that energy all the way through.

[00:21:45] I agree. And I think the teaming up of Joey and Abigail towards the end is satisfying.

[00:21:51] You know, it's late early on when she's the only one that's allowed to go check in on Abigail

[00:21:55] and they clearly have a bond and you're rooting for Joey.

[00:21:58] But seeing them work together was satisfying.

[00:22:01] Also, I like this idea too, that Abigail can sense some form of redemptive quality in Joey.

[00:22:09] And she displays power by essentially letting her live versus the other ones who she's, you know,

[00:22:17] gleefully obliging to her father to dispatch of his enemies for.

[00:22:24] I think that Abigail sees a kindred spirit in Joey.

[00:22:28] They both are involved with parent-child issues.

[00:22:31] And even if they lay it on a little bit thick with Joey's character, with the son,

[00:22:37] and did she abandon him and all of that, it still, I think, provides a satisfying link between those two characters.

[00:22:44] When they do join up together, it makes sense.

[00:22:47] It does make sense. But I don't know, for me, I actually did not really care for the major turn that Frank makes at the end.

[00:22:57] And yes, he is set up to be the most despicable and the most kind of, you know, loose morals of that group, for sure.

[00:23:06] And he, it makes sense for him to be the one to make that turn if you're going to do it.

[00:23:11] But at the same time, it also just felt like the movie then at that point went so over the top that I didn't feel like that was really earned to me.

[00:23:21] And when a character like that does make that kind of a turn, it seems like would be very dramatic and maybe something that you would be interested in earlier on.

[00:23:31] And that just didn't really feel like that came across very well to me.

[00:23:35] And I don't know, it almost felt more so like they were maybe just scared to kill a kid on screen.

[00:23:41] I don't know. It felt maybe more so motivated by that.

[00:23:44] And it was fun for sure. There's definitely a lot of fun things that happen in that finale.

[00:23:49] But I personally did not really feel that it was that earned in the narrative and the characters from my perspective.

[00:23:56] I agree. I think I could see him becoming a bit like it makes clear sense.

[00:24:00] They talked about how like, yo, this dude clearly abandoned his family because he just liked being a dirty cop so much.

[00:24:05] And he's just been writing that thin line. And I get like why he would kill John Carlos' character, especially because this whole thing was arranged and they realized it was a trap.

[00:24:16] But like his total flip on Joey to me was just like, where did this come from?

[00:24:20] Because I'm not saying they like liked each other, but like they mutually were like, OK, we got to get out of here.

[00:24:24] And then he's just like, yeah, I'm a vampire. You know what? I'm going to kill you.

[00:24:28] And I'm just like, where is this decision coming from?

[00:24:31] Like, I don't I don't get it. Like, I mean, you can still be like this cool vampire criminal dude and meet Lazar and take over without like just having to murder her, I guess, is just because we have to make a villain for Joey and Abigail to team up with the fight, I guess.

[00:24:47] At that point, it just felt like they're joint straws.

[00:24:49] I completely agree with you, Gio. I think the motivation behind why he's targeting Joey is, you know, maybe you could just chalk it up to sheerly he's annoyed with her by that point in the film.

[00:25:00] But still, I didn't really buy into that. And I think too where this movie starts to really fall apart is in the convoluted backstory of how they're all linked to this crime boss and how they've all been brought together.

[00:25:47] To showcase who their characters are, at least at times. And I appreciated that they were given that that flexibility in doing so.

[00:25:58] I just felt like the grander plot that connected them all together was very flimsy.

[00:26:04] Yeah, I give the I give the actors enormous credit.

[00:26:07] I think the script sometimes gets a little heavy in sort of telling us who they are. We have two different scenes, one with Joey very early in a bar and then later with Abigail in a cage in which they go around the room and reveal things about people.

[00:26:25] And we're told a lot of stuff there. Yeah, it does help to fill some some gaps in.

[00:26:31] But I think that it's the cast acting skills that really kind of bring these characters to the fore. We may be told who they are, but for the most part they bring them to life.

[00:26:43] And I think the cast is the best part of the movie. Yeah.

[00:26:47] And when we say acting skills, like we're not talking dramatic Oscar caliber performances here, but just for sheer entertainment and comedy. Oh my God, you could tell that this ensemble was having such a good time working on this.

[00:27:01] I mean, Catherine Newton, I think has so many standout moments in particular where her comedic chops just shine through and she gets a scene where she falls into a pit of these rotting, disgusting bodies.

[00:27:15] And I was like, man, you know, for somebody who's been in a couple of horror films and clearly has a love for this genre, you can just tell that she's having such a good time in moments like this.

[00:27:26] I really did like her in this role. There is a moment very early on involving a cell phone that gets taken away from her. I thought it was like a very, very small moment, but very entertaining at the same time.

[00:27:37] And there's even a twist with her where she gets like possessed by Abigail that was like kind of interesting and like, oh, that's a new way to approach vampire mythology that is very fascinating and not really scary, I would say, but was just still really entertaining to watch.

[00:27:56] And I really, I really did like her presence in this movie.

[00:28:00] Yeah, she has a pretty impressive resume so far, including two Best Picture nominees already, which is wild. And I'm looking at her filmography now. I'm almost always impressed with her.

[00:28:11] You know, she's somebody who shows up and brings such a welcome energy to any film she's in. And this one's no different.

[00:28:16] Did you guys find it a little odd how some elements of vampire mythology were at play here and then other times it was completely disregarded?

[00:28:29] A little bit, but also, you know, to the movie's point, every different vampire story has different rules. You know, like in Twilight they can be out in the sun, they just sparkle.

[00:28:39] You know, it's in this one, garlic doesn't do anything but sunlight does. I'm okay with mixing it up every now and then because it feels like, you know, they're extrapolating from the real life folk tales of vampires to see what actually works or doesn't work against the vampire.

[00:28:54] So that didn't really bother me, especially when the reveal of sunlight actually being the thing that can defeat them happens. It is very fun and very funny the way it's executed.

[00:29:04] And a stake through the heart.

[00:29:05] Yeah, I think it plays well into the comedy of it. Like that whole sequence when they're like, okay, we got to what kills vampires?

[00:29:12] And it's like, are we doing this? Fine. Okay. Like Twilight vampire. What kind of, you know, they break down. I think that's one of the stronger aspects of the movie and the comedy is playing into those genre stereotypes of vampire films and what, you know, typically off the top, you know, we experience this situation.

[00:29:30] We would probably all think the same things because absolutely watching vampire movies and then just for them to like dispel most of that immediately.

[00:29:39] And like that whole fight scene and for them to have to actually kind of plan how they are going to approach Abigail.

[00:29:45] You know, I think it's one of the more creative decisions of the movie.

[00:29:49] Now, if his chest weren't, you know, five times the size of any of ours, I would think that Kevin Durant. Oh my god.

[00:29:57] In that scene where she stabs him. How many times with that crucifix?

[00:30:02] It was like 15 times just like jab, jab, jab, jab, jab.

[00:30:05] I was like, holy shit. Well, he's dead. And then he kept going and I was like, wow. Okay. Adrenaline.

[00:30:11] I'm just surprised Dan Stevens like an artery in his leg just didn't get nicked from like how hard she just stabbed him with that steak.

[00:30:19] I was like, let's be real. If like an inch to like the left or something, your femoral artery is just going out.

[00:30:26] You know what this reminded me of? This reminded me a lot of some of the deaths in the screen movies where I literally would say to myself, oh, well, that character is completely dead.

[00:30:35] They've just been stabbed like 13 times and then they survived. And I was like, what? Yeah.

[00:30:39] So there was a little bit of that happening here, too.

[00:30:42] I felt this was more believable compared to the last screen where you saw Mason Goody Jr. get stabbed like a kajillion times.

[00:30:49] Right. And then at the end of that movie is like, oh no, he's good. He's just on the hospital bed.

[00:30:53] I'm like, what? They're like, there's no way. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:30:57] But I think it works here because we're dealing with the supernatural element and scream does technically take place in a real world setting.

[00:31:05] And that's why I think it gets very ridiculous there. But in this movie, no, I was fine with that.

[00:31:11] I was fine with them kind of throwing out some bits of the vampire mythology because I am not precious about that at all.

[00:31:18] And to me, the only thing that you need for a vampire movie is that basically they drink blood.

[00:31:23] Like if you have that, then you can extrapolate whatever else you want.

[00:31:27] And it provides some nice comedy in that fight sequence.

[00:31:30] It provides some subversion so you don't know exactly what are the weak points of this creature that they have to fight.

[00:31:36] So I was perfectly fine with that.

[00:31:39] I also think that the scene where they do try to come up with the rules of vampires very much reminded me of From Dusk Till Dawn.

[00:31:45] It very much reminded me of that sequence when they're trying to figure that out in that film.

[00:31:50] And equally, it's fun, I would say.

[00:31:52] And I do really love all of the set pieces involving Abigail.

[00:31:56] Yes, they are so bloody and gory, but it just it puts a smile on my face, which I'm a sicko.

[00:32:01] But I admit it.

[00:32:03] I will say that the gag that maybe made me laugh the hardest in this movie was when Katherine Newton is tasked with going to get garlic and she comes back with a bag of onions.

[00:32:17] Onions.

[00:32:19] There's a fucking onions.

[00:32:21] Yeah, Dan Stevens' reaction to that moment is perfect.

[00:32:25] He just has one of those voices that like every line reading he does is almost hysterical.

[00:32:31] Although Kevin Durant, too, I think it's just he's just a giant oaf.

[00:32:35] Like everyone is playing into like those very hacker or like heist film roles where you have the hacker.

[00:32:43] You have the medic, you have the leader, the giant muscle and them playing into that just also is just really indecision.

[00:32:50] What I love about Dan Stevens voice in this is that he starts out in a very neutral.

[00:32:55] I'm the boss kind of thing.

[00:32:57] But when his past is revealed, his accent gets more and more queens as it goes along.

[00:33:03] Yes, I noticed that too.

[00:33:06] Man, this is I got to say I haven't seen Cuckoo yet.

[00:33:10] But between this Godzilla Kong, I think like Dan Stevens, man, like there just needs to be like we got to bang the drum for this guy.

[00:33:20] Seriously, I think he's so underappreciated and he's been so versatile throughout his entire career.

[00:33:28] But I just feel like maybe ever since.

[00:33:32] I don't know, maybe ever since Beauty and the Beast, where that was supposed to like kind of catapult him to A-list status.

[00:33:39] Maybe maybe he didn't I don't know, maybe he just never wanted that for himself and he just prefers to be in these smaller movies where he's not necessarily the atypical lead necessarily.

[00:33:52] And when he is, it's in something like The Guest, for example.

[00:33:56] But I just think this guy deserves so much more praise than he's been given over the years.

[00:34:03] I mean, like I've ever been Alicia Weir.

[00:34:04] To me, he's the standout of this movie that made it so entertaining for me to watch.

[00:34:10] Yeah, he's my favorite kind of character actor, which is so undeniably handsome but wants to be a weirdo.

[00:34:16] You see a lot of that in Hollywood nowadays.

[00:34:18] I think he's excellent in something like this, where he's allowed to do a funny voice and lick blood off his face.

[00:34:24] All these things that are more fun to do for an actor and he really excels at it.

[00:34:28] And I really love how he plays off his looks.

[00:34:32] Yes, he's good looking and sometimes his characters know that.

[00:34:36] Like the Eurovision Song Contest character, that Russian.

[00:34:40] I mean, I just love that character because he's so self-aware.

[00:34:45] And for him to turn around from that, you know, then he did the Guest beforehand.

[00:34:50] Now this, it really is a character actor in a leading man's body.

[00:34:55] And I also want to give some praise too to Katherine Newton for the scene where she is possessed by Abigail.

[00:35:01] That's another example of like you could just see Katherine Newton just going for it with a capital G.

[00:35:08] And she is someone who I agree with what was said before.

[00:35:12] She's consistent in everything that I feel like I've seen her in up until this point.

[00:35:16] She's built up a great filmography.

[00:35:19] If we aren't giving her her flowers, we should probably start, I think, giving her flowers because she rarely misses, in my opinion.

[00:35:27] Just such great energy that she brings to it.

[00:35:30] And as I said, that scene when she does turn and is possessed by Abigail and is like fully a vampire.

[00:35:38] Like it's something that obviously you're like kind of expecting.

[00:35:41] And then the movie sets up one thing and subverts it, which even though it was predictable, I was still into it.

[00:35:48] I still found that to be a really interesting story decision and mostly because it was a slightly new element to the vampire mythology that they were bringing.

[00:35:58] And I thought that the way that that scene between her and Kevin Durand was really well executed.

[00:36:04] And I liked that she then kind of just sort of went for it after that.

[00:36:08] And she's not in the movie too much longer after that point.

[00:36:11] But it was just another example of how committed she is that no matter if the character has to be funny or terrifying, that she knows how to find that avenue to make it work really well.

[00:36:23] This movie could have used a little bit more Giancarlo Esposito, in my opinion.

[00:36:27] I don't think so, honestly.

[00:36:29] I forgot he was in the movie, honestly.

[00:36:31] I didn't even know until that's where my problems actually come up to the in this story.

[00:36:36] I think that his return makes absolutely no sense at all because like I get that he then wants to use these people to double cross Abigail because he's tired of working for her.

[00:36:48] But my thought was, shouldn't this have happened like before most of the people were killed off?

[00:36:54] Why did you wait until like the movie's nearly over to enlist these people's help?

[00:36:59] But that's what I mean.

[00:37:00] Now, when I say this movie needed more of him, what I would have preferred to have seen was instead of holding off on him until this revealed, which I agree with you, Josh, doesn't hold up well at all.

[00:37:11] I would have found a way to try and reintroduce him back into the house and make it seem like he was working alongside them and make it seem like he was trying to help them.

[00:37:20] But then you do the reveal later.

[00:37:22] Like, I would have just tried to have found a way to have him return mid movie somehow because yeah, the gap in between and bringing him back and then this reveal that he too is a vampire all of his time.

[00:37:34] Oh, and also too, he's not even the big bad of the film.

[00:37:37] He's just kind of like a pawn in it like everybody else.

[00:37:40] It's like it just once again, the script is where the premise is awesome.

[00:37:46] But the script has a lot of problems throughout.

[00:37:49] Yeah, I agree that it would have been better if they were going to have that reveal to have him be seated more so within the narrative so that it isn't just saved right at the end.

[00:38:01] But I still didn't really care for it all that much.

[00:38:05] It felt like it was just there so that we could make Frank a vampire at the end.

[00:38:10] And I just I don't know if I'm just all on board with that decision.

[00:38:15] It just felt like we needed to up the stakes, but the stakes are up in a very artificial way for me that didn't really feel like it fit within the narrative that they were creating.

[00:38:24] And I don't know if for me that would have been necessarily solved if we saw more of the Lambert character.

[00:38:31] I still think I would have had an issue with where they were going with the finale of the movie.

[00:38:37] Although I have to say Dan Stevens is line reading of fuck it.

[00:38:41] I'll bite pretty was pretty great.

[00:38:45] He's good. Yes.

[00:38:47] Yeah, yeah.

[00:38:49] Angus Cloud.

[00:38:50] Man, I don't want to be disrespectful.

[00:38:52] I really don't.

[00:38:53] I had overheard that they shot all of his scenes prior to the shutdowns due to the strikes and then he tragically passed away after that.

[00:39:05] So didn't get to come back to do any reshoots or anything like that.

[00:39:09] It seemed to me almost at times like they maybe included more material for him than maybe they normally would have if he had in the past.

[00:39:21] Or they just never got a chance to do any reshoots or anything like that.

[00:39:27] I don't know, just something about his presence in this movie.

[00:39:30] It felt like he was a tad bit overexposed, in my opinion.

[00:39:35] And what I mean by that is, you know, I thought the guy was definitely a standout during Euphoria.

[00:39:41] Don't get me wrong.

[00:39:42] But I also felt like he was a little limited to in terms of what he could do as an actor.

[00:39:49] And I started to see those cracks here.

[00:39:53] But at the same time, like I said, I'm trying to be as respectful as humanly possible.

[00:39:57] I don't think he's necessarily bad.

[00:39:59] I just think the filmmakers wanted to showcase him and rightfully so.

[00:40:05] But I think it maybe did a bit of disservice to him because he does have some comedic moments and then he has some comedic moments that don't land, in my opinion.

[00:40:14] And then there were just some moments of dialogue that just felt kind of awkward in their pacing.

[00:40:20] I don't know. Did you guys get that vibe or was it just me?

[00:40:23] I didn't think he was even that much in the movie to really give a thought for me because, again, spoiler alert, his character goes, he's the first one out of the entire crew to get chopped off.

[00:40:34] But I mean, I enjoyed his presence.

[00:40:36] I thought the scenes with him and Catherine Newton and he's clearly trying to flirt with her and everything.

[00:40:42] And she's just like, no, please stop was a funny dynamic.

[00:40:46] But again, nothing really gets explored further with him because he dies relatively early in the film.

[00:40:53] And that's his main purpose, it felt to me.

[00:40:55] The minute he walked on screen, it's like, well, that's the person that's dying first.

[00:40:59] And as somebody that does not watch Euphoria, this is basically the first time I've seen him.

[00:41:04] So this is like my one and only impression of him.

[00:41:08] And like I get what the character is there for.

[00:41:10] I get the comedy he is meant to serve.

[00:41:13] I agree with you, Matt, that some of it does land.

[00:41:15] There's a scene with him and Catherine Newton that I thought was very funny.

[00:41:19] But there's other parts that's like, you know, this is a bit broad and it kind of is playing very flat to me.

[00:41:24] But I understood the purpose of him.

[00:41:26] He really is just meant to be the annoying guy that gets killed off first.

[00:41:31] I felt like that was the reason that character was here.

[00:41:33] And for that purpose, it's not my favorite.

[00:41:36] It is probably like one of the least things that I liked about the movie.

[00:41:41] But I understood why it was here for sure.

[00:41:44] It's just so tragic, too, because I'm looking at his filmography here and, you know, it's such just his career was just starting.

[00:41:53] You know, that's that's the tragic thing about this.

[00:41:57] I mean, so young, 25 years old, you know, just absolutely tragic.

[00:42:02] But, you know, what are you going to do?

[00:42:07] But it did look like he was having a lot of fun in the movie.

[00:42:10] Oh, yeah. Everybody is. Yeah.

[00:42:12] Oh, I know I commented on Matthew Good's cameo earlier.

[00:42:16] What did you guys think of that?

[00:42:18] I was no I was laughing.

[00:42:20] I was so surprised.

[00:42:22] I was like, who is this guy?

[00:42:24] I was like, it's like, I know this face.

[00:42:26] And then once it clicked, I was like, Matthew Good.

[00:42:30] You know, for me, like the way it shot, I knew it was somebody, but I didn't I didn't put it together.

[00:42:38] So just kind of felt like a reveal of the character to me and everything to do with those last five minutes.

[00:42:43] I was like, OK, wrap it up. This is unnecessary.

[00:42:45] So by then I was kind of checked out.

[00:42:47] I mean, I like Matthew Good a lot as an actor and I can't imagine Dan's response to when he showed up.

[00:42:54] I actually just pictured that in my mind right now.

[00:42:57] But at the same time, it also felt like a reveal.

[00:43:00] Yeah. As Cody said, it feels more like a reveal of just the character.

[00:43:03] And at that point, I just didn't really care all that much.

[00:43:08] I didn't really get anything from us seeing him, his reveal at that point in the story.

[00:43:14] Like if they had never shown him and that character was completely off screen

[00:43:18] and it was just somebody that they talked about, but you never really saw, I think it would have been just as effective.

[00:43:24] So it's like it didn't really take anything away from me, but it didn't add all that much to the story either.

[00:43:30] I could kind of see why they would tack it on.

[00:43:33] That whole subplot about Abigail's relationship with her father, you know, OK, we'll have a little coda at the end and dad will show up and look ominous.

[00:43:44] I could see why it was there, but my heart sank when I saw him.

[00:43:48] It's like, oh no, are we going to have another 15 minutes of this?

[00:43:52] Oh, Tom, I'll do you one better. I started wondering, oh God, are we going to have another sequel because of this?

[00:43:58] Oh, my main thing is that when he shows it up and then he decides to like, you know, because the whole movie Joey's like, well, you know what?

[00:44:08] Your dad doesn't love you. And you're kind of just the tool hit man for him.

[00:44:12] And sure. And then at the end she's like, oh, you didn't love me.

[00:44:16] And, you know, he's like, OK, you're right. I'm sorry.

[00:44:20] It just felt like such a quick, like rash realization of like, oh, I'm a shitty dad.

[00:44:25] I was just like, this just kind of feels convenient.

[00:44:28] So that way we can spare Joey's life like she was literally about to get out and then Matthew Good comes in.

[00:44:33] And it's just Abigail having to like do some type of police.

[00:44:36] So that way, you know, everything we just watched wasn't pointless.

[00:44:40] And we watched just Joey just get murdered by a last second.

[00:44:44] Also, too, why does a crime underworld boss who happens to be a vampire himself need another vampire do his dirty work for him?

[00:44:54] You know, plausible deniability.

[00:44:56] I don't know. I was also trying to figure out, too, if they ever established in the movie how old Abigail was and also to is she indeed a woman or not?

[00:45:08] You know, I was I was also trying to figure that part of it out, too.

[00:45:12] I think it is established that she's probably female, but, you know, she she's in this little girl's body and it's like vampires can take any shape or form they want.

[00:45:22] But then again, going back to the rules that we were saying earlier, you can kind of twist these things around.

[00:45:27] Didn't they also say, too, that she could turn herself into a bat if she wanted to?

[00:45:32] I think they said it as like a joke.

[00:45:35] You do this when they're hypothesizing. Yeah.

[00:45:37] Yeah. To me, the vibe I got was like Kirsten Dunst's character in Interview with the Vampire, where she's stuck as a little girl because she

[00:45:46] assumingly got turned as a little girl.

[00:45:48] She says she's had like centuries of practice as this form.

[00:45:51] Yeah. Yeah.

[00:45:52] I was thinking about the kid from Near Dark to Oh, yeah.

[00:45:57] Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:45:58] There's even a shot of Dan Stevens in like glass with his glasses all covered in blood.

[00:46:03] That kind of reminded me of a shot of Bill Paxton movie.

[00:46:06] It's on the poster, basically.

[00:46:07] I had the same thought.

[00:46:08] I think also with Abigail, besides her eventually saying that she's like centuries years old, there's like that mural or whatever.

[00:46:16] Wasn't it like Angus Angus Cloud who looked at it and it was like a drawing of like Abigail, assumingly from like hundreds of years ago and like a different time period.

[00:46:25] And then, of course, you know, at the end when she's fighting Dan Stevens, he's like, you know, what's the thing about killing vampire?

[00:46:30] It takes centuries to learn how to do all the cool shit.

[00:46:33] So I liked that.

[00:46:36] And I also liked Dan Stevens is a lie.

[00:46:40] I you know, I forgot that this line was in the trailer.

[00:46:43] And then when I heard it in the movie, I went back and sure enough, it was in the trailer because it felt like such a true line when he says, I fucking hate ballet.

[00:46:54] Oh, gosh, there are some really good moments in this film, truly.

[00:46:58] But I think for me, like the moments that stand out the most, I mean, the absolute most of parts where I was grinning ear to ear was any time, any time there was any practical special effects gore.

[00:47:12] You know, you guys probably remember the end of Ready or Not.

[00:47:15] I imagine where all the bodies are just exploding multiply that by 10 in this movie.

[00:47:22] And I just feel like there was maybe a deliberate attempt on Radio Silence's part to be like, OK, we need to take the moments from Ready or Not and we just need to go bigger with those gory over the top moments because this movie, while I expected it to be gory, I was not expecting it to be this gory.

[00:47:43] This was a lot.

[00:47:45] There's one great moment where we see like a close up of a regenerating hand going out of Abigail's arm.

[00:47:51] And that was awesome.

[00:47:53] That was clearly some sort of puppetry.

[00:47:55] I loved it.

[00:47:56] What did that remind me of?

[00:47:57] The Rick Baker werewolf like practical effects at work.

[00:48:00] Oh, my God.

[00:48:01] It was incredible.

[00:48:03] Oh, that was great.

[00:48:04] That was great.

[00:48:05] And the first sunlight reveal of her arm getting dismembered.

[00:48:10] Shocking because it just like kind of it comes out of nowhere and over the top level of blood that just sprays over.

[00:48:17] I believe it's Dan Stevens in that moment.

[00:48:19] Great.

[00:48:20] Absolutely great.

[00:48:22] I really did love that detail where the minute sunlight hits you as a vampire, you just explode.

[00:48:29] And even remember that scene with Abigail and her arm is essentially in the trailer.

[00:48:34] And when I first saw it, I thought like, OK, well, that's probably like some trickery because normally we don't see that in vampire movies where the sun hits you and you explode.

[00:48:43] So they might have like combined that with something else that happens in that scene.

[00:48:47] But like, no, that's that's what happens.

[00:48:49] The sunlight hits you and you just explode into a pile of blood and guts.

[00:48:52] And it was awesome.

[00:48:54] Yeah, I agree.

[00:48:55] The one with Catherine Newton when she gets reflected off the silver tray.

[00:49:00] Yes.

[00:49:01] And then she just all coats them in.

[00:49:03] And I was like, my God, I wonder how much like Dan Stevens and Brera had to like just stand there, just covered in all this goo for hours at a time.

[00:49:12] But I was trying to piece together.

[00:49:14] Are they still using corn syrup for this effect?

[00:49:17] Because, man, I'd be licking my lips all day if I was on set momentarily, I was taken out of the movie and I thought to myself, do they have a housekeeper?

[00:49:25] Yeah, I was going to clean this up.

[00:49:27] No one.

[00:49:28] It's all waterproof.

[00:49:29] They can just hold it down.

[00:49:32] Yeah, no, there were some really, really effective moments in this.

[00:49:37] The neck biting, of course.

[00:49:40] Did you guys get a sense of Abigail's mouth when she was showing her teeth?

[00:49:45] Was that CGI or was that practical?

[00:49:48] It looked practical to me.

[00:49:50] Yeah, I think all the teeth stuff is practical in the movie, like them wearing it, which is also just incredibly terrifying.

[00:49:57] Like fangs for vampire because they look like piranhas.

[00:50:00] Yes.

[00:50:02] Oh, I was trying to like piece together though.

[00:50:04] I thought there was a really seamless blend of what was visual effects and what was practical.

[00:50:09] I would not be surprised to hear that there's minimal visual effects work in this movie, to be honest with you.

[00:50:15] Even the stuff of her like flying around clearly was wires on set.

[00:50:20] Yeah, I think that to me it looked as if the mouth, sometimes if it were to open up really wide, that was visual effects.

[00:50:29] But yeah, the teeth themselves, that looked practical to me.

[00:50:32] And I think that's what sells most of the horror effects in this movie is that it all looks like it's actually happening for the most part.

[00:50:41] And I think that goes a long way of having most of those sequences maintain this really nice impact while you're watching it.

[00:50:50] And before we get to final thoughts here, Alicia Weir, that scene in the cage, my god, the timing, the charisma,

[00:51:00] how she carries herself in that moment between this and Matilda.

[00:51:05] Oh, yeah. And she's also a wicked little letters too.

[00:51:08] She has a smaller role in that though.

[00:51:10] That is her.

[00:51:11] Mm hmm.

[00:51:12] Wow. I didn't even notice that.

[00:51:14] Yeah. Just the incredible range that we've already seen from her in such a short period of time.

[00:51:20] I'm really, really impressed by her.

[00:51:22] And she's only 14 years old.

[00:51:25] Yeah, I love that scene in the cage too.

[00:51:27] And it ends on a perfect note too because it ends just at the moment where I was thinking like, how is this cage holding her?

[00:51:35] We've already seen her be so powerful.

[00:51:37] Why is she still in here?

[00:51:38] Wouldn't she just be able to break out of this thing?

[00:51:40] And she does.

[00:51:42] And I thought that was just a perfect way to end it.

[00:51:46] I mean, I like this idea too of like every moment where she's letting them believe that they've won against her.

[00:51:53] She's just toying with them.

[00:51:54] Yeah, it's great.

[00:51:55] This is fun for her.

[00:51:56] Yeah.

[00:51:58] Okay, so for final thoughts, let's start off with Tom.

[00:52:16] Well, Matt, I've read a couple of reviews saying that this was actually a remake.

[00:52:19] Or that it is part of the Universal Classic.

[00:52:21] Well, Matt, I've read a couple of reviews saying that this was actually a remake.

[00:52:27] Or that it is part of the Universal Classic monster collection.

[00:52:31] Kind of the way that the invisible man several years ago used that as a basis.

[00:52:37] And I think that's a great way to start thinking about it.

[00:52:41] And I think that's a great way to start thinking about it.

[00:52:43] And I think that's a great way to start thinking about it.

[00:52:46] Kind of the way that the invisible man several years ago used that as a basis.

[00:52:51] And it said something about a 1936 film this is based on called Dracula's Daughter.

[00:52:56] So I went back and watched it.

[00:52:58] And it's only 68 minutes and it's on YouTube and you can watch it.

[00:53:02] I mean, it has nothing to do with this except for the fact that the main character is a daughter and her dad is a vampire.

[00:53:09] And so is she.

[00:53:10] Is this even an adaptation in that case?

[00:53:13] Reimagining a reboot, whatever you want to call it.

[00:53:17] It doesn't feel like it would be in that case.

[00:53:19] No, no, I think they use the name of the 1936 movie as an inspiration and then created a whole other movie.

[00:53:28] I mean, the 36 one was kind of interesting because there's a real heavy lesbian overlay to it.

[00:53:35] I mean, this the daughter is actually a an adult, a kind of slinky countess, countess Zelinska, who just goes around seducing women.

[00:53:45] And she wants to be free of this vampire heritage that her father's laid on her.

[00:53:51] And she just kind of screams, I want to be free to live with another woman.

[00:53:55] I was like, well, 36 days.

[00:53:58] It's so when you read that this is a remake, it's not a remake.

[00:54:01] But if you have a second, go on to YouTube, watch it for an hour.

[00:54:05] It's really kind of interesting what was going on back then.

[00:54:09] So that was my little bit of research.

[00:54:11] So it's it ain't Dracula's daughter.

[00:54:14] But that movie is OK.

[00:54:16] But I'd like this one a lot better.

[00:54:18] Yeah, there's no mention of Dracula not once in this movie.

[00:54:21] Just vampires, generic vampires.

[00:54:26] Yeah, I mean, there's a moment at the end when the dad shows up.

[00:54:29] He makes a comment saying like I've gone by many names throughout the years.

[00:54:33] And I think that's their little nod to that.

[00:54:36] This might be the Dracula, but that's about as far as they go with it, which I was fine with because I think as an audience, you get it.

[00:54:43] OK, Renfield.

[00:54:47] All right, Giovanni Lago. Final thoughts?

[00:54:50] Not going to hammer in anything that I've already said before.

[00:54:52] Besides, you know, just going blind.

[00:54:54] If you don't really know anything.

[00:54:55] Oh, I mean, if you're listening to this, I mean, at this point, it's more than you know.

[00:55:02] It's a delightful film.

[00:55:03] I don't think it might be like one of the best horror films of the year, but I think it's this fun fusion of comedy and horror.

[00:55:09] And Dan Stevens is just tearing it up.

[00:55:12] And I think that alone is worth me watching it.

[00:55:14] And it's really gory.

[00:55:16] Like, I'm still kind of processing how gory it was.

[00:55:19] I was not expecting that.

[00:55:20] So I think it's delightful film.

[00:55:22] You should go watch it.

[00:55:23] All right, Cody Derrick's.

[00:55:25] And I'm much more ad, although I did kind of grow tired of how often the characters were talking about having fun and we're going to have fun.

[00:55:33] And I can't wait to have fun.

[00:55:34] You know, once they turn vampiric, that seems to be all they talk about.

[00:55:38] And it really didn't feel like they were trying to convince an audience that was not already sold by that point that no, this is fun.

[00:55:45] And to me, like once I noticed that I couldn't stop hearing it.

[00:55:48] But other than that, yeah, it is a fun time, especially when Abigail herself is on screen.

[00:55:54] All right, Josh.

[00:55:55] I think the only thing that I would mention is that I definitely do think that the onion bit was my favorite, like funny moment in the movie.

[00:56:04] But I think a very close second for me involves Dan Stevens and a bookcase and a book that he's trying to pull out.

[00:56:13] That was very funny.

[00:56:14] I really enjoyed that moment.

[00:56:17] Who would win in a fight?

[00:56:19] Megan or Abigail?

[00:56:20] Well, Megan has no blood.

[00:56:22] So I was just going to say Megan has nothing to be, you know, what's the word?

[00:56:27] Sucked?

[00:56:28] Shoot.

[00:56:29] Sorry.

[00:56:31] Yeah.

[00:56:32] All right. That's pretty good.

[00:56:33] Do you guys think because Abigail survives the end of this movie that we are getting another Abigail film?

[00:56:41] I don't think so.

[00:56:42] To me, it's like ready or not in the sense that we watch an audience surrogate go into an environment, have a crazy experience and then leave.

[00:56:49] Like it's more about Melissa Barrera than it is about Abigail.

[00:56:53] And I don't really know what more there is to explore except for, to your point, Matt, like a new Abigail adventure, maybe like Abigail origins.

[00:57:02] Like I can totally see them sure.

[00:57:04] Greenlighting something like that.

[00:57:05] I could, too.

[00:57:06] You know, you trap another group of people in a similar set and it's just maybe taking place in the past, if anything.

[00:57:14] You have Alicia Weir come back.

[00:57:16] You don't need any of the other actors to return.

[00:57:18] Maybe you have Matthew Good.

[00:57:19] But like, I don't think that this is impossible.

[00:57:22] I think that this is likely if this film is a box office success.

[00:57:25] Yeah.

[00:57:26] And also the point of ready or not is actually not a great one, Cody, because they are making a sequel to that.

[00:57:32] Are they really?

[00:57:34] Well, I didn't know that. OK. Yeah, that is in development.

[00:57:37] I didn't know that either. Jesus.

[00:57:40] That just deflated me a little bit.

[00:57:42] OK. Yes.

[00:57:44] Oh, yeah. This is successful.

[00:57:46] They probably will find a way to make another one, especially because we know horror is cheap to make and it's really profitable.

[00:57:52] So if there is interest, I'm sure they will find a way to bring this character back.

[00:57:58] How is Melissa Barrera not dead by the end of this movie?

[00:58:03] Because she's the protagonist of a horror movie.

[00:58:05] Oh, talk about another convenience in the storyline where she clearly gets bit and she's going to turn a vampire.

[00:58:12] And then as soon as Dan Stevens dies, Abigail is like, oh, no, don't worry.

[00:58:17] Since he's dead, you want her.

[00:58:18] And I'm just like, so it was just like for a way to survive, just getting impaled in the heart like that.

[00:58:23] Sure. OK.

[00:58:24] Well, they also showed, too, that, yeah, Jean-Carlo Esposito

[00:58:28] poured his blood into Dan Stevens' mouth, I think it was.

[00:58:33] Yeah, to heal him.

[00:58:34] Right. And so that didn't happen there.

[00:58:37] But I wasn't even thinking so much about the turning.

[00:58:39] I was thinking more about she just got impaled.

[00:58:42] Yeah.

[00:58:43] Really, really badly.

[00:58:44] Seriously.

[00:58:45] And then bit on the neck on top of that.

[00:58:47] And I was like, how is she not dead?

[00:58:51] Well, I feel like I saw other people die in this movie from far less worse than what she got.

[00:58:57] I mean, I don't know.

[00:58:58] Like I said, at that point, I guess maybe she was already infected with the vampire blood and maybe that was providing her a level of immunity.

[00:59:06] That's one of those things where it's like you kind of just have to hand wave.

[00:59:09] I mean, even before that point, she's getting thrown around all in that study.

[00:59:14] You know, oh, my God.

[00:59:15] It's like glassware and off the top of the staircase.

[00:59:19] It's like, like I said, at that point, it's she's the protagonist of our horror movie.

[00:59:24] You just sort of have to accept that she's going to take damage and survive.

[00:59:28] You just need to suspend your disbelief for that part.

[00:59:31] My audience started laughing at a certain point with how many times she got thrown into bookshelves or tables and just just completely thrown around like a rag doll.

[00:59:42] It's pretty relentless at that point.

[00:59:44] Yeah.

[00:59:46] But I got to say, despite all of these issues, I still had a very good time with this.

[00:59:52] A large part of that is because of the cast and how much they all just bring their comedic a game to this absolutely bat shit crazy premise.

[01:00:01] I don't love it, but I can't deny that I had a really good time with it.

[01:00:07] I'm going to give this a six out of ten.

[01:00:09] I'm not as good as ready or not, but I still think that, you know, especially like Gio said, if you know someone because I can't say for yourself because you've been spoiled to death by this point.

[01:00:18] But if you know someone who has no familiarity with this and you get a chance to show it to them, that would probably be the best case to revisit this because I would love to watch this with someone who has no idea what they're in for.

[01:00:34] Gio, what about you? What are you giving it?

[01:00:36] I should give it a six.

[01:00:37] I just had so much fun.

[01:00:39] I'm going to give it like the lightest of sevens, like the lightest of sevens.

[01:00:43] All right, Josh, I am also going to give it a seven out of ten.

[01:00:48] To be honest, for most of this movie, I was actually pretty close to an eight, but it's the last 20 minutes that like really deflated it for me.

[01:00:56] And I just started making decisions that I didn't really agree with.

[01:00:59] And I kind of checked out of it a little bit at that point, but I still really like the movie.

[01:01:05] I thought it was very entertaining.

[01:01:06] I had a very similar thought process enter my head, Josh, where I was watching this at a certain point in the second act.

[01:01:12] I thought to myself, holy shit, is this about to be an eight movie?

[01:01:16] Yeah.

[01:01:17] Tom, what about you?

[01:01:20] I'm also in the sixth territory.

[01:01:23] It may sound like I should be lower given some of the complaints I've been talking about, but I just also had a wonderful time.

[01:01:31] I just sat there in the theater and just chortled.

[01:01:33] And I said, I know I'm not supposed to be liking this, but I'm having a wonderful time.

[01:01:37] So six it is.

[01:01:38] All right.

[01:01:39] And Cody, and also too, is this going to be your Halloween costume this year?

[01:01:44] Me?

[01:01:45] Yeah.

[01:01:46] I'm considering it.

[01:01:51] You know, we'll see what the rest of the year entails, but she's up there.

[01:01:55] I need a big wig.

[01:01:56] I need a tutu.

[01:01:57] I need blood.

[01:01:58] I need to see this happen.

[01:02:00] Huge teeth.

[01:02:01] Uh huh.

[01:02:02] So yeah, like you, Matt, I'm also at a six out of ten, which means it is the lowest rated of the Radio Silence films.

[01:02:09] But all things considered, that is not bad.

[01:02:11] No, I completely agree.

[01:02:13] I think that their legacy or, you know, whatever you want to call it, I still think remains intact.

[01:02:21] And they have not disappointed me yet.

[01:02:25] They've come close on some occasions.

[01:02:28] And I know for some people, they're not necessarily fans of maybe their screen films.

[01:02:32] But for me personally, I still maintain, I think that they've done a very good job in their careers of building up credible names for their films.

[01:02:43] They've put themselves within this genre and just entertaining us.

[01:02:48] That's the thing.

[01:02:49] I go to their movies to be entertained by how ridiculous over the top they are, self aware too.

[01:02:57] And that's something that for me in terms of horror, you know, I very much appreciate that.

[01:03:04] Like the Cabin in the Woods, the screams, you know, that kind of wink at the camera,

[01:03:09] knowing that this is completely goofy and ridiculous, but we're still going to throw all these genre tropes and gore at you.

[01:03:18] And, you know, make sure that you walk out smiling about the end of it all.

[01:03:22] All right. No Oscar potential.

[01:03:26] Sorry.

[01:03:27] The production design is good, but not the kind that Oscar usually goes for.

[01:03:31] And there's a part of me that wishes I could say makeup, but we all know how that goes.

[01:03:36] No, and I'm also the biggest stumper for horror makeup.

[01:03:39] And I don't think there's a ton here that would really register on Oscar's radar otherwise.

[01:03:44] So yeah, completely agreed.

[01:03:47] All right, Cody, where can they find you on the Internet?

[01:03:51] I'm all over the place at Cody Monster 91.

[01:03:53] And if you want to hear me talk more about horror films, check out my horror podcast Halloweeners.

[01:03:58] Giovanni Lago.

[01:03:59] You can find me on Twitter at the Giovanni Lago.

[01:04:02] Josh Parham.

[01:04:04] You can find me on Twitter and letterboxd at J.R. Parham.

[01:04:07] And Tom O'Brien.

[01:04:09] And you can find me on Twitter at Thomas E. O'Brien.

[01:04:12] And you can find me at Next Best Picture.

[01:04:14] Thank you so much, everyone, for listening to the Next Best Picture podcast.

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[01:04:39] Thank you all so much for listening, as always, and we will see you all next time.

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