HAVING charmed the world last year, as Roald Dahl’s Matilda in the Netflix musical, Alisha Weir finds her teeth this week in Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Abigail, a reimagining of the 1936 Universal Monsters film Dracula's Daughter.

Weir plays the titular Abigail, the daughter of a wealthy and powerful underground oligarch, who is kidnapped early in the film for a $50m ransom. What should be an easy job takes a zany left turn when the would-be victim begins hunting down and killing her kidnappers for sport. She’s a vampire in a tutu, what’s not to like?

A delicious premise deserves a game cast and Abigail enjoys just that, boasting a who’s who of contemporary talents. Scream star Melissa Barrera plays team leader Joey, with Freaky’s Kathryn Newton and Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens alongside, as Sammy and Frank. They’re all named after the Rat Pack. There’s a final screen role too for Euphoria star Angus Cloud, who died last year, aged only 25. He pays Dean.

Making the most of a labyrinthine setting, a multi-storied manorial home, Abigail rips through a twisty and all-guns-blazing narrative. It’s fierce and fiercely funny material and drenched from head to toe in gore. This one won’t be for everyone but it’s catnip for horror fans. Weir is terrific.

Also this week, Jeymes Samuel’s The Book of Clarence treads a fine line between comic blasphemy and religious sincerity. It’s stirred up controversy in the US but even here the critics are mixed.

LaKeith Stanfield leads as Clarence, a down-on-his-luck opioid user in Jerusalem, 33AD. Clarence owes money to loan shark Jedediah the Terrible (Eric Kofi-Abrefa), a matter complicated by his love for Jedediah's sister Varinia (Anna Diop).

Unable to resolve his problems by honest means, Clarence sees inspiration in the contemporaneous rise of one Jesus Christ (Nicholas Pinnock) So it comes to pass that Clarence proclaims himself another new messiah and hilarity ensues. Perhaps. For all the obvious comparisons, The Book of Clarence is no Life of Brian. It’s wacky and silly, sure, but uneven and lacking in the confidence that saw Monty Python pull not one of their punches.

James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch are among a series of A-List cameos, while Teyana Taylor makes for a particularly badass Mary Magdalene. Watch out too for a witty John the Baptist, as played by David Oyelows.