The underwhelming $10.2 million domestic debut of Universal’s well-reviewed and well-received Abigail is a disappointment, but perhaps not a shock. Sure, the movie had a fun hook (kidnappers realize that the 12-year-old girl they snatched is a vampire), the cast was filled with geek-friendly names (Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton, and Dan Stevens), and it came from the directors of Ready or Not and the past two Scream flicks (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett). But that only meant so much to general audiences, especially for a film that carried a $28 million production budget.  

Vampire-specific horror films have been on a losing streak of late, as evidenced by Universal’s 2023 flops Renfield ($26 million worldwide on a $65 million budget) and The Last Voyage of Demeter ($22 million/$45 million). The Invitation, Sony’s summer 2022 sleeper, earned $38 million globally on a $10 million budget because it mostly hid the Dracula connection. And beyond blood-suckers, Abigail’s mediocre launch amplifies the concerns in Hollywood that there are too many horror films, or that general interest audiences have (comparatively) turned against them, or both.