Abigail, 2024

Abigail is a 2024 American vampire horror comedy film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and written by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick. It stars Alisha Weir as the title character alongside Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, and Giancarlo Esposito. The film follows a group of kidnappers who capture the daughter of a powerful underworld figure and demand $50 million for her release, unaware of something sinister.

TRAILER

Young ballet dancer Abigail is abducted by six criminals and taken to the secluded Wilhelm Manor. Before leaving, their leader Lambert instructs them to guard Abigail for 24 hours, at which point they will receive an equal share of a $50 million ransom paid by her father. The group, using aliases to avoid identifying each other, consists of former Army medic and recovering drug addict Joey, former NYPD detective Frank, thrill-seeking hacker Sammy, former Marine sniper Rickles, dim witted mob enforcer Peter, and sociopathic driver Dean.

Though reluctant to continue with the plan as she was unaware Abigail was a child, Joey is tasked with managing Abigail. Joey is sympathetic to her, sharing that she has a son and promising to protect Abigail from harm. Abigail admits her father does not care about her and will not pay the ransom, before apologizing for what is going to happen to Joey. Perturbed by Abigail's words, Frank violently confronts her, learning that her father is Kristof Lazaar, a powerful, almost mythical crime lord.

Dean enters the basement, where he is attacked by an unseen assailant. Investigating his screams, Sammy finds Dean's decapitated corpse. The group realize that Lazaar's legendarily violent enforcer, Valdez, is inside the house while the security system prevents them from leaving. Searching for a way out, Rickles is mutilated and killed. The group confronts Abigail for information, but she transforms into a vampire, revealing she is Valdez. Frank shoots Abigail, but her injuries heal almost instantly. Frank, Sammy, and Peter attack Abigail with garlic, crucifixes, and other folkloric weapons said to ward off vampires to no effect. Her strength and speed allow her to easily overwhelm and prevent them from stabbing her through the heart. Abigail bites Sammy before being incapacitated by Joey with a tranquilizer and locked in a cage.

Upon awakening, the centuries-old Abigail reveals that she knows the group's true identities and arranged for them to abduct her, through Lambert, so she can kill them for wronging Lazaar. Joey deduces that Abigail has killed dozens of her father's enemies in a failed effort to earn her his love. Abigail effortlessly escapes her confines and attacks Frank, but Joey exposes Abigail to sunlight, which severely wounds her. With hours before sunset, the group splits up to find an escape route, but Sammy transforms into Abigail's vampire thrall and kills Peter. Abigail has Sammy attack Frank and Joey, forcing Joey to destroy Sammy with reflected sunlight.

Lambert lures Frank and Joey to a hidden security room, where he reveals Abigail turned him into a vampire years earlier for helping Frank avoid Lazaar's wrath. Frank allows Lambert to turn him into a vampire so they can kill Abigail and Lazaar, but following his transformation, Frank kills Lambert for leading him into Abigail's trap. Abigail attacks Frank, but he overpowers her and drains her blood, leaving her weakened. Cornered, Joey leaves a phone message for her son, apologizing for having been absent from his life for many years. Revealing in his power, Frank bites Joey, intending to turn her into his thrall and force her to kill Abigail and eventually her son. However, Joey does not transform because of Frank's inexperience with his new abilities, and she and Abigail team up to kill him.

Abigail encourages Joey to leave and be present in her son's life, but Lazaar arrives and threatens Joey. Abigail defends Joey for being present when she needed her while Lazaar was not. Although Lazaar angrily rebukes her, he relents for Abigail's sake and allows the bloodied and battered Joey to leave.

CAST

Melissa Barrera as Joey, a military medic and recovering addict

Dan Stevens as Frank, a corrupt former police detective

Alisha Weir as Abigail, a centuries-old vampire who has the appearance of a 12-year-old girl.

Will Catlett as Rickles, a Marine sniper who lives by his own moral code

Kathryn Newton as Sammy, a thrill-seeking hacker from a wealthy upbringing

Kevin Durand as Peter, a physically-imposing former "muscle" for the Broussard family of Montreal struggling with his conscience

Giancarlo Esposito as Lambert, a criminal mastermind connected to Abigail's kidnapping

Matthew Goode as Father / Kristof Lazaar, an ancient vampire, infamous crime lord and Abigail's father.

In Memory of Angus Cloud

Cloud was found dead in his family's house in Oakland, California, on July 31, 2023 at the age of 25. The cause of death was an accidental multiple drug overdose, a lethal mix of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and benzodiazepines, the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau told NBC News in September 2023. His mother said his last words before his death were “I love you, mama."

Most likely he died in the movie scene by Abigail in 2023.

In the abandoned house in the movie has a LOT of DEAD bodies inside. Everybody died, except one. 

Rating: 10 Stars

Trouble, 2024

The Swedish film Trouble, 2024 from director Jon Holmberg (Swedish Dicks) and co-written by Holmberg and Tapio Leopold (Day by Day), stars Felip Berg, Amy Deasismont, and Eva Melander.

A innocent father who works at a major electronics store runs into trouble with the law when he witnesses a murder during a TV installation. Unfortunately for him, he’s framed for the crime and swiftly locked up. It’s all going downhill fast.

TRAILER

What happens in Trouble?   

Conny (Berg) is down and out — divorced, his ex’s new husband is a well-to-do pilot, and he hates his job. But his luck is about to get so much worse: After a routine TV installation at a customer’s home, he witnesses the murder ofher her husband and Conny’s pinned for the crime . He’s mistaken found guilty at trial, because of a scheme within the police itself, sent away to jail for years, and believes he may never see his daughter again. When he meets big-time bad guys Norinder (Čukić) and Musse (Sällquist) in the clink, he gets tangled up in their escape plan while also trying to clear himself of all wrongdoing. They need a Pilot and they think he is one after seeing his family photo in his room, they scape after and events unfold as he tries to prove his innocence

Is Trouble based on a book?  

 No. It’s a remake of the 1988 Swedish film of the same name (Strul in Swedish) directed by Jonas Frick and written by Bengt Palmers and Björn Skifs.   Rating: 10 Stars (Super Fun) 

Rating: 10 Stars

The Twilight Saga: Breaking dawn Part II, 2012 (Leaving Soon Netflix)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (or simply Breaking Dawn – Part 2) is a 2012 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2008 novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. It is the sequel to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and the fifth and final installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively; Mackenzie Foy portrays Renesmee Cullen. The ensemble cast includes Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Michael Sheen, and Dakota Fanning.

TRAILER

PLOT

The film continues from the events of the previous film, as Bella, who has just given birth, awakens from her human-to-vampire transformation. After her vampire husband Edward Cullen helps her tame her initial thirst for blood, Bella is introduced to their daughter Renesmee. The rest of the Cullens and Bella's werewolf friend Jacob stay nearby, and when Jacob acts possessively towards Renesmee, Bella learns he has "imprinted" on her, a werewolf phenomenon that makes Jacob and Renesmee soul-mates.

Meanwhile, Bella's father, Charlie, has been trying to contact the Cullens for updates on Bella's health. Carlisle, the Cullen patriarch and a medical doctor, announces that they have to leave Forks, Washington, to protect their identities.

Jacob, desperate not to lose Renesmee, visits Charlie and tells him that Bella is alive and vaguely describes that she has transformed, revealing his wolf form to Charlie to persuade him to stop asking further questions. Charlie goes to the Cullen house to see Bella and meet Renesmee. He accepts that Bella is now recovered but somehow different, though he does not know what has changed or where Renesmee came from, instead accepting she is "adopted".

Several months pass with Carlisle monitoring Renesmee's rapid growth. The vampire Irina spots Renesmee in the forest and mistakenly assumes she is an "immortal child": a type of vampire transformed in childhood who, because it cannot be reasoned with or trained, sucks the blood out of humans uncontrollably. The creation of such children is outlawed by the vampire leadership, the Volturi, and anyone caught with one is executed on the spot. Irina reports the crime to the Volturi.

After Edward's sister Alice, who can see glimpses of the future, experiences a vision of the Volturi and Irina coming to kill the Cullens, she instructs the others to gather as many witnesses as they can to testify that Renesmee is not an immortal child.

As the Volturi serve punishments swiftly, the Cullens and their werewolf allies prepare for a possible battle. Bella soon realizes she has a special ability: a powerful mental shield that had protected her from Edward's mind-reading even when she was human, which she is taught to extend to protect others from vampire superpowers.

The army of the Volturi arrives in Forks, led by Aro, who can read people's minds by touching them. Seeing the Cullens alongside their witnesses and allies, the Volturi hesitate. The Cullens are able to prove to Aro that Renesmee is not an immortal child.

However, the Volturi are eager to subdue the Cullens to forcibly enlist their talented members, so they summarily execute Irina for her mistake to provoke the Cullens into battle. But before an all-out fight breaks out, Alice appears in time to give Aro her vision of the future if fighting ensues.

In Alice's violent vision, Carlisle, Aro, and several others on both sides are killed, including other Volturi, Cullens, and werewolves. Aro, despite being afraid of the vision, still wants to execute Renesmee as she might be a threat to the vampires' secrecy.

Alice reveals their final witness, a Mapuche man from South America, who is a half-human half-vampire, just like Renesmee. He proves that he is not a threat, supporting the notion that Renesmee is not one either. The Volturi unhappily leave, Aro concluding that there will be no battle today.

Back at the Cullen home, Alice glimpses the future, seeing Edward and Bella greeting Jacob and a fully matured Renesmee, also a couple, on a sun-dappled beach. Edward reads Alice's mind and feels relieved that Renesmee has Jacob to protect her.

Alone in their favorite meadow, Bella pushes her mental shield away and finally allows Edward to see into her mind, showing him every moment they have shared together in a montage. They kiss after Bella tells him, "nobody has ever loved anybody as much as I love you", and he romantically responds "with one exception".

Rating: 10 Stars

The Twilight Saga: Breaking dawn, Part I, 2011

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (or simply Breaking Dawn – Part 1) is a 2011 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2008 novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. It is the sequel to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) and the fourth installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively.

TRAILER

PLOT

Several months after the events of the previous film, human Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen are getting married. During the reception, werewolf Jacob Black, who had left town upon receiving an invitation to the wedding, returns, much to Bella's delight. They share a dance in the woods, where Bella says that she and Edward plan to consummate their marriage on their honeymoon while she is still human. Jacob becomes furious, fearing that such an act could kill her.

After the wedding, Bella and Edward travel to an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, and they make love for the first time. Two weeks later, Bella vomits after waking and notices that her period is late. She informs Carlisle Cullen, a medical doctor and Edward's adoptive father, that she believes she is pregnant.

Edward is distraught, as it is highly unlikely a human will survive giving birth to a vampire's baby. He encourages Bella to receive an abortion from Carlisle. She refuses and convinces Edward's sister Rosalie to be her bodyguard. They fly back home to Forks, Washington, where Jacob rushes to the Cullens' house to find a pale, underweight, and visibly pregnant Bella. He implores her to terminate the pregnancy immediately, but she refuses.

Jacob storms out of the Cullens' residence and meets in the woods with his packmates, including their leader Sam, who soon feels they should kill Bella to ensure her half-vampire child does not harm anyone. Jacob refuses, and he and several other werewolves separate from the pack.

As Bella's pregnancy progresses, her health declines rapidly. She soon realizes the fetus is craving blood, so begins drinking human blood obtained by Carlisle from the hospital, improving her health. As a half-vampire, the fetus's development is far more accelerated than that of a human fetus, and thus Bella's pregnancy progresses at an alarming rate.

Edward's resentment for the baby dissolves when he discovers he can read its thoughts. When Bella suddenly goes into labor, Edward, Jacob, and Rosalie begin performing an emergency C-section while Carlisle is out obtaining blood. The procedure is excruciatingly painful, and Bella falls unconscious, though she wakes to find she has delivered a healthy daughter, whom she names Renesmee (a combination of her mother's name and Edward's mother's name).

Bella's heart suddenly stops, and Jacob desperately attempts CPR. Edward injects Bella's heart with his venom in an attempt to transform her into a vampire, but his action appears to be futile as Bella remains lifeless. A distraught Jacob decides to kill Renesmee for apparently causing Bella's death; however, when he looks into the baby's eyes, he "imprints" on her: a werewolf phenomenon in which one realizes one's soul-mate. This prevents his pack from killing her as their most absolute law is not to harm anyone who has been imprinted on.

Over the course of two days, though still unconscious, Bella's injuries heal and her figure returns to normal. Finally, her eyes open and are blood-red, signifying that she has become a vampire.

In a post-credits scene, the Volturi, the keepers of vampire law, receive a letter from Carlisle which summarizes Bella and Edward's wedding and her transformation into a vampire. The Volturi bicker about how Carlisle is growing his coven and that the Volturis' dispute with the Cullens is over. However, the Volturi leader mentions that the Cullens still have something he wants.

Rating: 10 Stars