The terrifying tale of a ballerina-turned-vampire in Abigail pays homage to Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winning horror movie role with one of its best scenes. Directed by Ready or Not’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Abigail is a reimagining of Dracula’s Daughter in which an unlucky team of kidnappers find themselves trapped in a spooky mansion with a seemingly innocent little girl who turns out to be a bloodthirsty vampire. Abigail has been praised as a fresh, funny spin on the classic Universal Monsters property.

Although it hasn’t been a huge hit at the box office, Abigail is undoubtedly destined to become a cult classic somewhere down the line, because it’s a ton of fun. While Abigail is primarily an homage to the Dracula canon, drawing from a little-known Dracula spin-off, it has nods to other horror movies, too. There’s one scene in particular involving its titular undead ballerina that calls back to a modern horror masterpiece that earned Natalie Portman an Academy Award.

Abigail Brings Swan Lake Back To Horror Movies 14 Years After Black Swan

During Abigail’s dance scene, the eponymous vampire dances to Swan Lake, a classic ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This isn’t the first time that the beautiful sounds of Swan Lake have been juxtaposed with unnerving imagery for a terrifying horror movie experience. It was previously used in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, a ballet-themed psychological thriller for which Natalie Portman received a much-deserved Oscar for Best Actress. Black Swan’s entire plot revolves around a production of Swan Lake full of fiercely competitive dancers.

The lead role in Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play the friendly, angelic White Swan and the dark, villainous Black Swan. While Portman’s Nina Sayers is perfectly suited to the role of the White Swan, a fellow dancer named Lily, played by Mila Kunis, is better suited to the role of the Black Swan – and thus begins an intense rivalry to determine who will take the spotlight. Abigail’s use of Tchaikovsky’s iconic Swan Lake compositions provides a nice callback to Black Swan.

Abigail Uses Swan Lake Differently Than Natalie Portman In Black Swan

While Abigail and Black Swan both use the music of Swan Lake on their soundtrack, they use it very differently. When Abigail dances to Swan Lake, she’s already been transformed into her true vampiric form and revealed her undead condition to the bad guys. Black Swan plays it a little differently, as it uses the song to facilitate the revelation of Nina’s fate. Still, in both cases, it makes for a great juxtaposition between heartfelt music and gut-wrenching horror.