Radio Silence’s new horror movie Abigail puts a twist on a classic Dracula story, but its major ending reveal debunks a theory connected to a 2023 Nicolas Cage film. While Universal had done away with its attempts to restart the Dark Universe after the disappointing critical and commercial performances of Tom Cruise’s 2017 The Mummy remake, the studio has still moved forward with new imaginings of their classic monsters IP. Within the last two years alone, Universal has produced two big vampire horror-comedy movies, 2023’s Renfield and 2024’s Abigail, which debuted to varying successes.
The cast and characters of Abigail are largely original creations, but the story itself has a loose basis in the 1936 horror movie Dracula’s Daughter. The titular character is revealed to be the centuries-old daughter of a crime lord vampire, whose possible identity as Dracula was left a mystery ahead of Abigail’s release. Consequently, some fans had theorized that – with both being Universal-backed vampire movies – Alisha Weir’s Abigail could be connected to Nicolas Cage’s Dracula from Renfield. After plenty of speculation, the end of Abigail features a surprising reveal that answers whether that theory is correct.
Abigail’s Father Is Matthew Goode’s Kristof Lazar, Not Nicolas Cage’s Dracula
Abigail debunked the theory that Nicolas Cage’s Dracula is her father
As it turns out, Abigail’s father is Kristof Lazar, a vampiric crime lord who often neglects his daughter. Though his makeup isn’t too dissimilar from the vampire in the 2023 Universal horror-comedy, Abigail’s father is played by Matthew Goode – not Nicolas Cage. While some had hoped that Renfield and Abigail could be connected in a new cinematic universe, the casting of Matthew Goode as Kristof Lazar means such an occurrence isn’t likely to ever happen.
Rather, he’s only referred to as Kristof Lazar, leaving it ambiguous whether this name may simply be a modern alias for the Dracula character.
The disconnect between Abigail and Renfield becomes more pronounced when realizing that the 2024 horror movie never refers to her father as Dracula. Rather, he’s only referred to as Kristof Lazar, leaving it ambiguous whether this name may simply be a modern alias for the Dracula character. Like Nicolas Cage explained in 2023’s Renfield, Dracula goes by many names, so it’s still highly probable that Matthew Goode’s Lazar is actually Dracula. Consequently, Goode’s Lazar and Cage’s Dracula can’t occupy the same space in a Universal vampire movie.
Why It’s Better That Abigail Avoids Universal’s Dracula From Renfield
Abigail has a more exciting potential horror movie crossover
Abigail certainly could have gone for a greater shock factor by having Nicolas Cage show up to reprise his role as Dracula, but Radio Silence was wise to avoid this temptation. While Nicolas Cage’s casting was widely regarded as the greatest aspect of Renfield, the movie turned out to be a fairly big critical and commercial disappointment. With an estimated $65 million budget, Renfield only earned $26.5 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo), while also dividing critics with a 58% score on Rotten Tomatoes. As such, Abigail distancing itself from less successful Dracula iterations was the right move to stand on its own and be judged by its individual merits alone.
Rotten Tomatoes Score
Worldwide Box Office
Abigail (2024)
83%
$17.7 million (& counting)
Renfield (2023)
58%
$26.5 million
Furthermore, given the fact that Abigail features an Easter egg related to Ready or Not that could establish a different cinematic universe, it’s more exciting that Radio Silence left that door open. Abigail includes a portrait of a Le Domas family ancestor from the directors’ acclaimed 2019 horror movie Ready or Not, suggesting that the two stories exist within the same world. If Radio Silence were to work toward a horror-comedy cinematic universe, the more exhilarating option is to combine Abigail with Ready or Not over Abigail and Renfield.
