10 Movies To Watch if You Like ‘Abigail’

Abigail is the latest horror movie from Radio Silence and follows a group of criminals tasked with looking over the kidnapped 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure. While the job of watching over the girl in exchange for $50 million seems simple enough, the high bounty quickly becomes apparent when they discover that the girl is a vampire, planning to take them all out one by one. The night soon becomes one of fighting for survival as the criminals begin to fall one by one.

Abigail scratches a specific itch when it comes to campy and over-the-top horror comedy experiences that are having as much of a blast presenting the film as the audience is watching it. This style of horror filmmaking is far from being individual to Abigail, as there are a great number of similarly effective horror films released over the years that tap into similar styles and avenues. Especially for those who love Abigail and are looking for more hyper-violent comedy vampire action, there is a wide selection of great films to choose from.

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10 ‘Renfield’ (2023)

Directed by Chris McKay

A modern horror comedy reinterpretation of the classic Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Renfield follows the titular character, who has been doing Dracula’s bidding for a century. However, Renfield begins to believe that he has a chance at redemption and escape from his life of indentured servitude, hoping to stop and defeat the evil Dracula once and for all.

The characters of Dracula and Renfield have seen countless adaptations over the years, yet few interpretations are as blatantly comedic and over the top as Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult. They play into the extremities of their characters at all times, creating hilariously comedic, larger-than-life performances that work perfectly alongside the abundance of gore and violence. Just like Abigail, Renfield takes a more comedic approach to a vampire story while still finding time to not shy away from a pure, gore-filled spectacle.

9 ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ (2014)

Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour

A Persian language vampire romance story, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night follows the townspeople of the Iranian ghost town Bad City, a city filled with crime on every corner. However, even beyond the simplistic and standard quarrels and difficulties that come with a bustling city, few in the city are aware that they are also being watched and stalked by a mysterious, lonesome vampire girl. The girl makes prey out of various members of the town, while the majority of the city is none the wiser.

Like Abigail, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night follows the story of an unassuming vampire girl with an increasing body count of criminals, yet the divide between these films comes from tone as opposed to premise. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night has overarching symbolism and is deeply rooted in powerful themes and messages, its powerful visual style making it a distinct and one-of-a-kind horror movie experience.

8 ‘Day Shift’ (2022)

Directed by J.J. Perry

While many vampire stories are quick the emphasize the power and legendary status of the blood-sucking monsters, Day Shift takes a unique approach in treating them like nothing more than an obnoxious day job. The film follows an LA vampire hunter (Jamie Foxx) who has been fighting off and killing vampires during the highly dangerous day shifts to pay off his child’s tuition and braces, making a small but dangerous living. His latest job places him down a dangerous rabbit hole that brings him face-to-face with the area’s most powerful vampires.

Day Shift treats the normally terrifying and life-risking task of vampire hunting as nothing more than a job and access to a paycheck. Foxx does an exceptional job at bringing to life the begrudged blue-collar worker who has seen it all and can find a way through any situation. Combined with some great comedic back and forth and exceptional gore and violence, Day Shift is a fun and lighthearted romp where hundreds of vampires meet their gruesome end.

7 ‘Jennifer’s Body’ (2009)

Directed by Karyn Kusama

A cult classic horror comedy film, Jennifer’s Body has attained a powerful legacy in recent years as one of the most beloved and feminist horror films out there. The film follows the story of Jennifer Check (Megan Fox), an everyday cheerleader who finds herself possessed by a ferocious demon and begins to use desire and sex appeal to lure out and murder her sleazy male classmates. It soon becomes up to Jennifer’s best friend, Needy (Amanda Seyfried), to put a stop to the bloodbath before the entire town is devoured by the demon.

There is a distinctly female energy and tone present in Jennifer’s Body that was rarely seen in horror movies of the 2000s. The film combines overt horror and gore with a campy, nonserious execution that made it ahead of its time. The energy and identity of Jennifer’s Body can certainly be seen in several other modern horror movies that mix feminist themes with quirky, over-the-top horror, with Abigail being no exception.

6 ‘The Lost Boys’ (1987)

Directed by Joel Schumacher

A wild and genre-defining cult classic from the 80s, The Lost Boys follows the Emerson family—brothers Michael and Sam and their mother Lucy—as they travel to the fictional town of Santa Carla, California, in search of a new life. It doesn’t take long before they realize that the entire town is a haven for vampires, overrun by a powerful biker gang of adolescents. Michael and their new teenage friends decide to take it upon themselves to hunt down the vampire menace, hoping to reclaim peace and calm the town.

For a long time, vampires rarely went beyond the old school, dark cloak Bram Stoker aesthetic, a trend that was most prominently destroyed in Joel Schumacher‘s iconic film. Stylish and wild, The Lost Boys revolutionized and revitalized the classic themes and symbolism of vampires and adapted it to a modern setting, making a once old-school monster into a platform for endless storytelling. Nearly every other modern vampire movie that has blended horror and comedy for a unique and original vampire story can attribute some credit to Schumacher’s original masterpiece.

5 ‘Let Me In’ (2010)

Directed by Matt Reeves

An American remake of the Swedish masterpiece Let the Right One In, Matt Reeves‘s Let Me In follows Owen, a bullied young boy who has little to no friends at his school. He soon blossoms an unexpected friendship with Abby, a young female vampire who has been living in secrecy with her guardian, Thomas. However, the friendship between a human and a vampire proves to come with its selection of complications, made worse when Abby intervenes with the bullies who tormented Owen.

Few American remakes of foreign films are able to live up to the effectiveness and strengths of the original, yet Let Me In excels greatly thanks to the great lead performances of Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Grace Moretz and exceptional directing from Matt Reeves. Let Me In takes the concept of a seemingly young vampire girl in a unique direction, ironically giving the character humanity and reliability to make her more genuine with both the audience and Owen.

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4 ‘Scream’ (2022)

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

The modern reboot and return of one of the most legendary and acclaimed slasher franchises of all time, Scream sees another dangerous killer donning the Ghostface mask 25 years after the original streak of murders in Woodsboro. A collection of new teenagers and characters from the first film come together to attempt to find the identity of the killer before the body count rises. Scream 6 continues the meta-commentary and angle of the previous films, directly poking fun at the conventions and trends of modern horror movie remakes.

Sharing the same directors of Abigail in Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, both the initial Scream reboot and Scream 6 employ a similar style of humor mixed with scares employed within Abigail. A fair bit of the humor and enjoyment is reliant upon the knowledge and understanding of not only the previous Scream movies but also the trends and conventions of horror as a genre up until that point. The film introduced a new generation of fans to the wild and hilarious satirical world of Scream and launched Abigail star Melissa Barrera as a modern-day scream queen.

3 ‘Ginger Snaps’ (2000)

Directed by John Fawcett

Another 2000s cult classic that deals with themes of identity, change, and womanhood, Ginger Snaps follows the story of two outcast sisters, Ginger and Brigitte, living in the boring suburban town of Bailey Downs. On the night of Ginger’s first period, she gets attacked by a vicious werewolf, beginning her slow yet terrifying transformation into a werewolf. It soon becomes up to Brigitte to find a cure for Ginger’s ailment before losing her sister forever.

Werewolf and vampire stories have gone hand in hand throughout film history, with Ginger Snaps acting as easily one of the greatest original werewolf films out there. The film has clear and powerful symbolism and themes of womanhood and self-identity while effectively balancing a more comedic and nonserious tone throughout. Especially compared to other feminist horror icons, Ginger Snaps is sadly overlooked, yet it’s easily one of the strongest examples out there.

2 ‘M3GAN’ (2023)

Directed by Gerard Johnstone

M3GAN follows a brilliant toy company roboticist using artificial intelligence to bring to life M3GAN, the seemingly perfect doll and companion. However, the lengths that the prototype M3GAN takes to better the life of her chosen partner take a turn for the deadly and violent. It doesn’t take long before M3GAN deems her creator as a threat, turning on the very people who created her and enacting glorious bloodshed.

One of the most original movie villains in recent memory, MEGAN became a pop culture icon as soon as the first trailer dropped. Combined with the doll’s signature dancing scene and the tongue-in-cheek approach it took to its proceedings and plot, M3GAN quickly became a smash hit and an incredibly memorable modern horror comedy. M3GAN also shares quite a bit in common with Abigail, being a bloodthirsty horror villain who banks off of the perceived innocence and appearance of a young girl.

1 ‘Ready or Not’ (2019)

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

The unexpected critical smash hit that quickly placed directing duo Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett on the map, 2019’s Ready or Not proved their capabilities to make massively memorable horror films outside their frequent anthology films. The film follows a young bride who, on her widely anticipated wedding night, is forced to participate in a seemingly playful family tradition. The game turns into a deadly version of hide and seek, where she is forced to survive her inlaws until sunrise.

Ready or Not features a lot of the signature charm and delight that Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett brought to Abigail, simply brought to its absolute extremes in what is easily the best film in their filmography. Ready or Not employs a brilliant balance between comedy, action, violence, and overarching themes of class divide that come together to create an instant classic in the eyes of many audiences.

NEXT: 10 Underrated Horror Comedies from the 2020s