Scream Directors Apologized to Cast of New Vampire Movie for Using So Much Blood

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, collectively known as Radio Silence, made quite an impact on the horror genre when bringing the Scream franchise back to the big screen after more than a decade, and now their latest venture, Abigail, looks set to be another treat for fans of bloody horror.

Abigail is the latest movie to reinvent Universal’s classic monsters, this time bringing Dracula’s Daughter to a new modern setting. This fresh take follows in the footsteps of recent releases such as 2023’s Renfield and 2020’s The Invisible Man in reviving their IP after the failed Dark Universe plan that began and ended with the Tom Cruise-led The Mummy. According to the directors, Abigail will certainly not be for the squeamish, as they recently confessed to Total Film that they felt the need to apologize to the cast for the volume of blood they used on set. They said:

Radio Silence have made themselves a name as being happy to deliver plenty of blood and violence in their movies, and following their previous efforts in the Scream franchise, as well as Ready or Not, their comments clearly set a high bar for Abigail to deliver gore levels that can satisfy fans of other blood-soaked franchises like The Evil Dead.

What is Radio Silence’s Universal Monster Movie About?

Abigail tells the story of a group that unwittingly kidnaps a ballerina, only to discover she is not the defenseless little girl they believe her to be. Instead, it turns out that this little dancer is actually a ferocious bloodsucking vampire. With the majority of the film taking place in an isolated mansion, where the would-be captors are preyed upon by the titular character. Abigail is played by Matilda: The Musical’s Alisha Weir, with a stellar ensemble cast including Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Angus Cloud and Giancarlo Esposito.

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While this is a very loose take on Dracula’s Daughter, the Universal Monsters franchise seems to have found its feet again by not simply remaking their old films, but finding a way of incorporating the idea of them into more contemporary stories. Along with their recent efforts, Universal has several more films in various stages of production focusing on other characters in their monster arsenal. This includes Leigh Whannell’s take on the Wolf Man, a new version of The Bride of Frankenstein, and a potential sequel to The Invisible Man, which would take the form of The Invisible Woman.