Writer's Note: Today marks the birthday of two great Scream Queens: all-time great and erstwhile vampire slayer Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Abigail Breslin, who's carved out a fairly impressive resume in the genre over the last few years- no more Little Miss Sunshine. 😈
Here's a look back at two of Breslin's horror flicks, the underrated Maggie and Haunter. These reviews were first published on Facebook on December 20th, 2015.
Before she became one of the official Scream Queens, Oscar-nominated actress (for Little Miss Sunshine) Abigail Breslin was already angling for the job with these two movies, as well as the slightly more recent effort, Final Girl and the modern-day classic Zombieland. Thus far, her selections have been pretty impressive, unique takes on the horror genre, and Maggie and Haunter are no exception.
Maggie is another zombie-themed effort, but it’s not your average zombie film, to say the least. Given that the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, one could be forgiven for thinking that it would be an 80’s-style shoot-‘em-up, but Maggie is anything but. Instead, of all things, it’s actually more of a character study, featuring some of Ahnuld’s strongest acting to date. Go figure.
If TV’s The Walking Dead is a zombie story as a soap opera, then Maggie is one as a melodrama. Schwarzenegger plays Wade Vogel, a Midwestern farmer who receives a call from his daughter, Maggie (Breslin) - hence the title- informing him that she has the zombie virus that is on the rise all over. She left home to protect her family and is staying in a hospital for the infected.
Wade pulls some strings to get her out, on the promise that he’ll take her to be quarantined once the virus kicks in, in earnest. The plan is to allow her to say goodbye to her family one last time before she loses herself to the zombie infection. Here, the process is much more gradual than in a typical zombie flick/show, so Maggie actually has time to accept her fate- though in actuality, it’s her father that has to struggle to come to terms with letting her go.
This is not at all what some people might expect, either in a zombie film, or in a Schwarzenegger vehicle, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. So long as one goes in with modified expectations, you won’t be disappointed, but those looking for an action fest will come away dissatisfied, I’m afraid. There’s not much zombie action here, or action, period, really. It’s more of a mood piece, and a somber one at that.
One of the unexpectedly cool things about the zombie sub-genre taking off with TV stuff like TWD and Z-Nation and films like Zombieland and the Dawn of the Dead remake is that the market has become over-saturated with the expected kinds of zombie fare, which is forcing people to come up with different variations of it that are more off-the-beaten-path. This has led to some unique spins on the zombie tale, from rom-coms (Warm Bodies, Life after Beth) to creature features (Black Sheep, Zombeavers) to even Nazi zombies (the Dead Snow movies).
While some are more successful than others, as with any sub-genre, the ones that work bring something new to the table, and Maggie certainly qualifies. Those looking for Schwarzenegger to kick ass and take zombie names might not care for it, but those who want something a bit more left-of-center will probably dig it.
Indeed, I’d actually recommend this more to the less die-hard Schwarzenegger fans out there, who might not have preconceived notions for what this might be. The lower your expectations are in that regard, the more you’ll probably enjoy it.
Breslin, saddled with a tricky role, does a great job of showing how her character’s humanity might be slowly fading, but her need to do right by her family and friends never does. She wants what’s best for them, and though she’s wary of what might happen to her, she’d not above taking matters into her own hands, as she does at various points throughout the film, as things get progressively worse.
To her credit, she never quite falls back into the whole groaning, snarling, teeth-gnashing zombie we’re all used to. Hers is a more “human” zombie, sort of reminiscent of “Bub” in Day of the Dead, if he’d had a little more chance to evolve. Fans of her and Schwarzenegger alike will want to see this one, to be sure, but just know what you’re getting into and adjust your expectations accordingly.
Likewise, Haunter, our second Breslin vehicle, is not your average ghost story. It’s going to be hard to talk about this one without venturing into spoiler territory, and I don’t want to do that, so I’ll tread lightly. Breslin plays Lisa, an 80’s teen who finds herself seemingly trapped in a Groundhog Day-style loop where she relives the day before her birthday over & over again. But why? And can she escape?
The answers may lie in a series of clues she discovers upon exploring strange occurrences in the house she lives in. In most haunted house movies, the worst thing you can do is to investigate some strange noise off in a dark room somewhere, but here, it’s integral to Lisa figuring out what’s really going on.
The answers may surprise you, and even if the initial revelation about Lisa herself doesn’t, then the way it unfolds is genuinely unique and original, which is no mean feat these days, with so many haunted house movies being relatively paint-by-the-numbers.
I really dug the retro-80’s vibe, what with Lisa’s cool posters of Bowie and Iggy and the like, along with her ever-present Siouxsie and the Banshees T-shirt and her brother’s obsession with old-school Atari or whatever that is he’s playing. We also get some nifty even older-school flashbacks, as we go back to where it all began and see how things came to pass in the first place.
I won’t say any more, except to say that genre favorite Stephen McHattie (Watchmen, 300) crops up, and the film is visually stunning, with a fantastic title sequence, and some nifty F/X. The director, Vincenzo Natali, might be known to some of you for his similarly off-kilter offerings, such as Cube and Splice. I really dig his warped sensibilities, and look forward to whatever he does next.
Ditto Breslin, who continues to make interesting choices, be they genre work like these two films, or more dramatic fare like August: Osage County or Janie Jones. I like that she goes back-and-forth between more high profile stuff like Ender’s Game and Scream Queens and little indie flicks like these two, and hope she continues to do just that as her career progresses.
Her upcoming Freak Show looks quite promising in that regard, and a second season of Scream Queens is always a possibility. Whatever the case, I’ll be continuing to watch her stuff, because IMHO she is destined for even bigger and better things.
Check ‘em both out!
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