THINK VAMPIRES H AV E BEEN DONE TO DEATH? YOU HAVEN’ T MET BLOODSUCKING BALLERINA ABIGAIL.

HERE, THE TEAM BEHIND THE PIROUETTING HEIST-HORROR TELL US HOW THEY REIMAGINED TERROR IN A TUTU

WORDS TOM ELLEN

TYLER GILLETT AND Matt Bettinelli- Olpin are talking about blood.

There’s nothing particularly surprising in this —as the men behind the last two instalments in the Scream franchise, the directing duo (collectively known as Radio Silence) are well versed in all things claret. But the amount on display in their latest offering — crime/monster mash-up Abigail —looks set to dwarf both those movies combined. We’re talking Overlook-Hotel-lift levels of crimson.

“We used a consistent blood recipe on the Scream movies,” Bettinelli- Olpin tells Empire. “But for Abigail we needed several different types of blood, so we went with a whole new mix. “Plus,” he adds, matter-of-factly, “there was the pool full of corpses. That was another specifically concocted mix of very disgusting ingredients. All food-grade, of course, as the actors had to be submerged in it.”

Beside him, his creative partner Gillett nods. “Our thing with blood is: it always has to feel viscous. The minute it feels thin, it’s not interesting. We want it to stick to you.”

Abigail is a vampire movie that’s also a heist movie that’s also a post-modern black comedy that’s also several complex character studies in one. During the course of Empire’s interviews with cast and crew, the film is variously compared to Reservoir Dogs, The Haunting, Baby’s Day Out, Jordan Peele’s Us, and “Home Alone dialled up to one hundred and eleven”. It is an attempt to mould a centuries-old horror trope into something entirely fresh and unique.

“That was the big challenge,” says Gillett. “Vampire lore changes so much from movie to movie —it’s become so convoluted and the net has been cast so wide. So, how can we feel like we’re bringing something truly new to the canon?”

Answering that question would require a grab-bag of disparate influences, a motley crew of top-drawer character actors, a rundown former orphanage, and a 12-year-old ballerina with razor-sharp fangs. Not to mention an unholy amount of the red stuff.

The story of Abigail begins, appropriately enough, right in Bram Stoker’s backyard. The Dracula author was born and raised in Dublin, and it was just a few minutes’ walk from his house —and a century or so after his death —that Irish screenwriter Stephen Shields sat down at his laptop to add a twist to Stoker’s original recipe. “I’ve always loved heist movies and horror movies,” Shields tells Empire. “So, I liked the idea of combining the two. To have Reservoir Dogs bumping into a vampire film —that seemed like a fun concept.”