Imagine, if you will, it’s 1996. You go to see a new movie called From Dusk Till Dawn, knowing nothing about it other than it’s co-created by Tarantino. For the first half, it’s the usual mixture of gangsters, guns, and great dialogue. Then that twist hits you, and you’re screaming, “What the actual fuck?” at the screen.

This seems to be what directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett – collectively known as Radio Silence – are going for here, only to have had the twist snatched away from them by evil marketing types. For the first 45 minutes or so, it plays out like a crime thriller. An assorted bunch of criminal types (led by Melissa Barrera and Dan Stevens) are assembled by a shady underworld figure (Giancarlo Esposito), assigned code names, and given a crime to commit.

So far, so Tarantino. They kidnap a young girl (Alisha Weir, last seen singing up a storm in Matilda) and hold her for ransom in an abandoned mansion. Tensions rise among the group, then one of them loses their head. Literally. And – surprise – it turns out their abductee isn’t an innocent 12-year-old as they thought, but a vampire. Who does ballet. As fun as the twist is, it would have been far more effective if it hadn’t been front-and-centre of the marketing.

That aside, it’s a huge amount of bloody fun, although it doesn’t reach the heights of Radio Silence’s masterful Ready Or Not or their Scream movies. The cast – particularly the female members (Barrera, Kathryn Newton, and especially Weir) are excellent, and are clearly having a blast. There’s copious gore and laughs aplenty, but it’s a lot lighter on the scares than their previous work. But if it’s gory fun you’re after, you’re in for a blast.

ABIGAIL is in cinemas now.