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ABIGAIL MOVIE REVIEW
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have directed several films together, often referring to themselves and their team of collaborators as Radio Silence. Having hit the ground running with arguably the best segment in the original V/H/S “10/31/98”, they went out to become a big hit with 2019’s Ready or Not and then Scream (2022) and Scream VI. With Abigail, they return to Ready or Not‘s comedic horror tone as well setting it again in a big creepy mansion. The story follows a group of criminals who have been hired to abduct a little girl from her rich daddy’s estate and take her to a prearranged location to wait out a gigantic ransom demand. None of the criminals know each other and certainly don’t trust each other. They also can’t help but wonder why they have to wait it out in a crumbling manse that feels like Disney’s Haunted Mansion. Soon they start getting picked off in horribly gory ways and wonder…is it one of their own? Has the child’s father sent a vicious killer after them that urban legend associates with him? Or is it something else entirely? Well, if you’ve seen the trailers, or really the bulk of the marketing, you already know the answer, which is kind of a shame because it would have been much more fun to go into this entirely cold. Regardless, Abigail is both a fun horror romp and a great ensemble comedy with a cast that all totally gets the assignment and clearly is delighted to see how far they can push it. Especially young Alisha Weir, playing the titular character, who after seeing this it’s hard to remember her being so absolutely charming in Matilda the Musical. Chris, Wright, Kim, and Mike all get out some toothy humor while reviewing Abigail for your listening pleasure. The children of the review…what music they make.
DIRECTED BY: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Radio Silence)
STARRING: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Will Catlett, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito, Matthew Goode
YOUR REVIEWERS
Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)
Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.
Kimberly Brown (Highly Suspect Reviews)
Kimberly wants to live in a world filled with blue telephone boxes, speedsters, and ice dragons but through an ironic twist of fate, she’s stuck in this reality where these wondrous things only exist on page or film. Kim’s perpetual desire to consume sci-fi and fantasy media as a teen led her to the study of illustration/design at university to better understand its creation. Currently an Austin transplant, when she’s not wearing her critic hat you can find her pretending to like hiking, fielding questions about her hair or maybe even enjoying a local brew at the nearest dive bar.
Mike J. McAllister (Screener Squad, Staff Writer, Head Video Editor)
Mike J. McAllister is a filmmaker, editor, writer and animator. He is also a film junkie, dog lover and Surge-aholic (Hi, Mike). He grew up in a small town in Western Pennsylvania, where he earned the reputation as the “human IMDb” and was on a first-name basis with every video store clerk in town. He later studied film in Pittsburgh. He has since written several unproduced screenplays and TV pilots. He has also produced a number of short films, some of which have appeared in festivals across the country. He is a ninja with Final Cut Pro and is armed with a mind full of mostly useless pop-culture trivia. He also enjoys animation, MST3K, classic video games and being the “music geek” among his friends (which really just means he buys vinyl and listens to music that doesn’t come from an anime soundtrack). He resides in Austin, Texas, and can be followed on the Instamagrams at @ohheyitsmikejm.
Wright Sulek (Screener Squad, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Trash in the Can, Audio Editor)
Wright hails from the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas. His passion for filmmaking brought him to Austin to study and make movies. Since then he’s had his hand in acting, writing, and directing his own short films with numerous like-minded film geeks he’s met along his journey. His newest interest has brought him into the podcasting world. He co-hosted a few different movie related podcasts such as ‘And Now This’ and ‘The Match Cut’. He currently co-hosts with longtime friend, Eric Samaniego, where they talk shop about the grimiest, trashiest, lost gems of movies on their show, ‘Trash in the Can’. Wright also guests and hosts reviews on Screener Squad and Highly Suspect Reviews as well as co-hosts Digital Noise with Chris Cox.
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