A new horror movie with an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is a stark reminder of last year’s $65 million box office failure

caveat! Major spoilers for “Abigail” (2024) ahead!

The success of Universal’s new horror film; Abigailis reminiscent of the disappointing response to the 2023 Nicolas Cage-directed vampire film, which had great potential within the genre. As part of Universal’s continued effort to tackle more classic monsters from its library, the studio has partnered with: scream and Are you ready or not? Director team “Radio Silence” Abigaila modern reinterpretation of the 1936 horror film. dracula’s daughter. Abigailwhich was released in theaters on April 19th and currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 82% from critics.This is an impressive feat for a horror film, following a notable string of vampire films that were panned by critics.

Radio Silence’s critically acclaimed hits Abigail The film comes on the heels of several other notable attempts by the studio to reinvigorate the Universal monster catalog, with mixed results in recent years. There were early attempts to create a “dark universe” in the works of Tom Cruise; mummy The 2017 remake of the film turned out to be a critical flop and box office disappointment, earning just $410 million against an estimated budget of $125 million (Box Office Mojo via). nevertheless, The studio has chosen to continue the Universal monster movie franchise with filmmaker-driven standalone filmswhich includes several takes on Dracula. Abigail And a divisive Nicolas Cage movie.

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Where to watch Abigail: Showtimes and streaming status

Another horror movie from Radio Silence is here, and you have a variety of options as to whether you want to watch Abigail in theaters or at home via streaming.

“Abigail” is the blockbuster modern vampire movie we wanted for Renfield, played by Nicolas Cage.

Abigail achieved critical acclaim that she did not receive at Renfield.

in front Abigail, Universal’s last resort to reinstate expanded service Dracula Horror-comedy style lore was also present in the 2023 movie renfield, starring Nicholas Hoult as the titular henchman and Nicolas Cage as the legendary vampire Dracula. Despite a huge budget of $65 million and huge potential, horror movie icon Nicolas Cage played the creepy and terrifying Dracula. The Great Nicholas Hoult plays the lovable protagonist. renfield Ultimately, it was a box office hit and received mixed reviews from critics. Following an April 2023 release. renfield It only made $26.5 million worldwide in theaters, Currently has a 58% “rotten” score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

renfield It was still praised for having a good time in a theater filled with brutal murders and creepy performances. Although the performances by the lead actors were good, the film was unfortunately a disappointment both critically and commercially. like that, Abigail‘s widespread critical acclaim and long-term box office potential renfielddisappointing performance. renfield The film was intended to receive a similar mass audience and critical response as Radio Silence’s new work, and was expected to be gory and humorous entertainment that would definitely be a crowd-pleaser. Abigail It has been advertised as.

Abigail and renfield Although both take a similar approach to the iconic story of Dracula in that they both favor an underappreciated character who plays a neglected father figure role, 2 The two horror comedies had very different results. Radio Silence currently boasts four consecutive horror-comedy hits. Are you ready or not? (2019), scream (2022), Scream VI (2023), and Abigail (2024), their dracula’s daughter The reimagining now serves as an inspirational template for Universal’s upcoming classic monster movies. What to learn from. But sadly, Abigail‘s Dracula-esque character revealed as Christophe Lazare played by Matthew Goode, with chance to cost Nicolas Cage’s Dracula renfield–Abigail A crossover is unlikely.

Why Abigail was better for critics than Renfield

Abigail’s 82% is significantly higher than Renfield’s 58%.

meanwhile Abigail It certainly thrives on the spooky moments and humor. renfield took it a step further, but it wasn’t well received by critics and viewers. moreover, renfield‘s blood and action was considered too cartoonish and exaggerated.; But AbigailThe bloody violence and gore of Are you ready or not?‘s ending seems like child’s play, but it doesn’t play out in an overly cartoony, animated way.on the other hand renfield‘s approach to humor and horror leans more towards creating cult classics than broad crowd-pleasing hits. Abigail It better accomplishes the latter while integrating smart writing and darkly compelling performances.

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Abigail Review: ‘Scream’ Six Directors Reinvent Vampire Movies with Highly Entertaining, Gory Horror

In what may be one of the best vampire movies of all time, Abigail offers a very gory, fun, humorous and fresh take on the subgenre.

probably where Abigail Even more successful is the almost complete absence of the Dracula character. renfield I had a hard time balancing how to use Nicolas Cage’s creepy vampire character.. Cage’s Dracula was a fan-favorite character that audiences wanted to see get more screen time and maybe even make an appearance. renfieldHe ends up being the most interesting of the movie’s cast of characters, so he ends up undefeated. Meanwhile, the portrait Abigail“Dracula” is depicted through descriptions by other characters and reactions to his reputation, and Matthew Goode’s appearance reinforces the familial themes rather than overshadowing the film’s story. It’s a fun cameo appearance.

Abigail ends the dark vampire movie streak of the past decade

Over the past decade, vampire movies have had more critical misfires than hits.

It has an 82% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Abigail After many critical reviews and mixed reviews, it breathed new life into the vampire subgenre.in front Abigail Arrival in April 2024, The last two big vampire movies were major misfires. renfield and Demeter’s last voyage, both of which were box office failures in 2023.Similarly, smaller vampire films such as night teeth (2021), day shift (2022), and Invitation (2022) failed to receive critical acclaim.Going back even further, Universal’s 2014 film the untold dracula It failed to impress critics on a larger scale and currently holds an abysmal score of 25% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The past decade has been a struggle for big-budget vampire movies to produce many hits. Abigail This makes me more optimistic about the future development of this subgenre. Abigail However, he’s not entirely alone among vampire movies with positive scores on Rotten Tomatoesas Taika Waititi’s 2014 comedy what we do in the shadows Animated movies of 2018 with a score of 96% Hotel Transylvania 3 Holds a score of 62%, 2021 blood red sky With a score of 81%, in 2023 El Conde match Abigail It has an 82% rating on review aggregation sites. Despite the fact that there have been far more serious misfires than hits over the past decade. AbigailThe success of 2024 will give vampire movies a major boost.

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What’s wrong with so many Dracula movies?

With Renfield and The Last Voyage of Demeter both huge hits at the box office, where does Hollywood continue to go wrong with Dracula?

Abigail’s success puts more pressure on Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu movie this year

Universal plans to release another vampire movie in 2024

Continue Abigailthe next major vampire movie to be released is by Robert Eggers. nosferatu remake, i.e. Scheduled to be released in theaters on December 25, 2024. The new horror film is a remake of the 1922 German film of the same name, which is loosely based on the Bram Stoker novel. Dracula novel.under consideration nosferatu The new vampire movie features a cast that includes notable horror actors such as Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, and Willem Dafoe, and horror film director Robert Eggers is in charge of the camera and script. is expected to achieve more significant success than ever before. Abigail.

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Director Nicholas Hoult remakes 102-year-old horror movie, fixes $65 million failure with Nicolas Cage

The upcoming remake of the 102-year-old horror film may help Nicolas Hoult repair the losses he incurred in his $65 million fiasco with Nicolas Cage.

The pressure is even higher, as Robert Eggers’ three films have so far received 90% scores on Rotten Tomatoes. nosferatu To be a winner among the critics. Abigail It sets a precedent for quality vampire movies from 2024 onwards, and the first few teaser of nosferatu suggests that the horror subgenre will be a remarkable success. As 2025 approaches. of course, nosferatu and Abigail The studio, both owned by Universal Pictures, is striking back with its approach to vampire films with its 2024 film.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo

Abigail (2024)

Abigail is a 2024 horror thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillette. The plot is about a group who kidnap the daughter of a dangerous crime lord, only to discover that she is actually a vicious vampire out for blood. Alisha Weir stars as the title character alongside Kathryn Newton, Melissa Barrera, and Dan Stevens.

director

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillette

release date

April 19, 2024

Sales agent

universal pictures

Writer

Guy Busick, Stephen Shields

cast

Kathryn Newton, Dan Stevens, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Durand, Melissa Barrera, Alisha Weir, Angus Cloud, William Catlett