Heist + vampires: why should we see Abigail in the cinema?

A mix of heist and vampire flick, Matt Bettinelli-Olpini and Tyler Gillette’s Abigail hits theaters this Wednesday, May 29th.

Feature film directed by Melissa Barrera (Scream and Scream 6), Dan Stevens (Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania), Kevin Duran (Planet of the Apes, Tension). William Catlett ( Lovecraft Country ), a young Alicia Weir and the late Angus Cloud ( Euphoria ) follow a gang of robbers hired to kidnap the daughter of a powerful underworld tycoon. The latter are tasked with watching the girl, a young ballerina, all night in order to receive a ransom of 50 million dollars. Taken to an isolated mansion, the kidnappers mysteriously start disappearing one after another throughout the night…

A committed young actor

Filmed at the historic Glenmaroon House, located in Castleknock, an elegant suburb of Dublin, the feature film features a young vampire ballerina. This is Alisha Weir – Already seen in Matilda, the musical and Scandalously Yours, playing the heroine in a tutu with sharp teeth. The 14-year-old girl told us that she had never seen a horror movie before filming Abigail and that she prepared for the movie by watching the Vampire Diaries series.

The actress – who had already taken modern dance lessons – was coached by choreographer Belinda Murphy. Alisha Weir underwent 2 months of classical dance training for the film.

The choreographer recalls in the press kit: “I started getting to know Alisha’s pointe shoes two months before the shoot. We especially wanted to strengthen the legs, ankles and abs. Alisha is very dedicated to her work and has a great understanding of the demands of preparation. He has innate abilities, learns very quickly and is very determined. During our collaboration, choreography became a natural extension of his movements. It’s really Alisha, for the most part, that we see in these scenes, and she has tremendous creativity.Alisha Weir also learned martial arts moves for the fight scenes.

And for the scenes where she appears as a vampire, the young girl wore dentures and contact lenses. Director Tyler Gillett The press kit reads: “We witnessed an extraordinary transformation in his work. We felt like we were part of Alisha’s show and were happy to accompany her on the journey.” Matt Bettinelli-Olpini adds: “When we see him transform into a vampire, he goes from being a victim to a predator that we feel sympathy for. It was very special.”

A fun mix between a heist movie and a vampire movie

This cross between a gangster film and a horror film was born in the mind of screenwriter Stephen Shields when he was consulting on the film offerings available during the flight between Dublin and Los Angeles. The latter said that “he hasn’t seen a good heist movie in a long time.” After thinking about his favorite thrillers, he started to think of some stories and for fun decided to imagine a disgusting character from the horror register.

The screenwriter pitched his concept to Universal in 2019, and the studio ordered him a first draft of the script a year later. Excited by the potential of the device, the producers contacted William Sherak, whose structure, Project X Entertainment, created Wedding Nightmare and the last two opus of the new Scream saga. Sherac believed Abigail might be of interest to directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpini and Tyler Gillette.

The latter offered the role of Joy Melissa Barrera with whom they have already collaborated on Scream and Scream VI. Fired from Scream 7 in November 2023, following his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the actor is back with a new horror film.

26,500 liters of fake blood were used

And as usual, the filmmakers used a lot of blood… in the interview The whole movieThe directors say they felt uncomfortable with the red sticky substance constantly on the set of the actors.

“All of our films are bloody, but I would say this is without a doubt the bloodiest. We spent a lot of time apologizing to our actors on set! Blood is in the DNA of a vampire movie, and the amount of blood in this movie… it’s pretty extreme!” Before Scream, the duo had already made horror films A wedding nightmare and a child.

During our meeting with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillette, they told us they used about 7,000 gallons of blood, which is the equivalent of 26,500 liters!

They add: “We’re big fans of vampire movies, so we felt a real responsibility to make something that was really scary, with interesting characters and obviously a lot of blood. There’s something really funny about that. Horror movies. And it adds blood. It’s scary and visceral, but it It’s also so over the top and absurd that you get real reactions from the actors on set and that’s great.

In terms of inspiration, the duo clearly cite Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula and Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire, but also Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Generation and Tomas Alfredsson’s Swedish film Morse, which also spawned Matt Reeves’ American remake.

Angus Cloud’s latest film

The feature film is dedicated to Angus CloudDean’s interpreter in the feature film. The actor – who started his career in 2019 in the TV series Euphoria Where he played Fezco, he ended his life on July 31, 2023. Although the productionAbigail A few months after her death in a SAG-AFTRA strike, Angus Cloud filmed all of her scenes before filming stopped.

The film crew paid tribute to the 25-year-old young actor with our microphone. The Directors declare as follows: “Angus was charming, charismatic and genuine. You know, sometimes you meet people who seem like there’s nothing fake about them. Spending the summer with him on this film was fantastic. He brought a lot of energy to the set and it was contagious. .“

Melissa Barrera adds: “It was such a rare talent. He was an actor you never wanted to get rid of because you never knew what he was going to do. He always did something different in every performance and it was very exciting to play someone like that as a scene partner. He was also a lovely boy. He was so kind and funny and it was great getting to know him and working with him.”

for that William CatlettOne of Angus Cloud’s great qualities was “That he didn’t care about fame. All he cared about was being a good person. He was always very honest on set. He was always very honest on set. We called him a “scene stealer” because he stood out from the crowd. And sadly, his time in this world is over, but his legacy to humanity will always live on, especially in the cast of this film.”

Kevin Duran concludes: “TheAll the energy he had, the heart he had, fell under Angus’ spell. I feel honored to have been able to meet him. And she’s gorgeous in the movie. He is very good. “

Abigail You can see it in theaters this Wednesday, May 29.

Meeting with the film crew