Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

It is what it is, a nutty premise made in nutty fashion, but for the undemanding horror fan there's a good time to be had here. Action choreography is of a very good standard, as is, perhaps surprisingly, the CGI. The history aspects of the story, one Abraham Lincoln's accent into justifiable legendary status, are of course a mixture of the based on fact and chaotic popcorn, but it's always interesting, exciting and bloody!

I imagine most horror fans have seen it by now, but if like me you are late to it, and like me you go in with low expectation levels, you could well find yourself having a blast and not hating yourself in the morning . All that and Rufus Sewell looks suspiciously like Adam Ant! 7/10

If you take this movie so serious you'll be disappointed 'cause it's not. But if you take it as fun movie, fulled of action/fantasy/horror scenes and as what it is then you can give it a chance. Maybe, the character of Abraham Lincoln defined as vampire slayer is naive and childish and is not what you expected to see for historical important figure. Maybe someone thinks that this is disgrace for the character. And finally maybe someone thinks there is a storyline abstraction 'cause the book is better and I don't doubt that even I haven't read it. All this defects are not so important if you like movies in this kind of genre like Underworld, Resident Evil etc. This was a movie that deserves attention and give it a try.

Supposedly, the beginnings of Vampires in America and a story about Honest Abe (Benjamin Walker) as he hunts them down before becoming our 16th president.

I had no idea who Benjamin Walker is. Anyone? Yes, I suspected, but had never heard the truth that Abraham Lincoln was a Vampire Hunter…..until now. And, now you will too, if you watch this movie. I can hear you asking, "is it all true" Well, of course, it is. Hollywood wouldn't make up something if it weren't true now, would they? And, yes, they are finally admitting the truth about Edgar Allen Poe being a detective who wrote poems on his stake-outs. But, on to Abe………………..as a Vampire Hunter.

But first, before you turn away from this one, let me tell you of 2-scenes that are worth your time. The first one is a battle between Abe and Vampire Jack Barts (Marton Csokas) on horses in a horse stampede. Yes, that's right. In a horse stampede. The way this was done was nothing short of fantastic and you will ask yourself " how in the world did they do this?" The second one is near the end on a burning bridge the train is crossing. Unbelievable how they did this. Again, you will ask yourself "how in the world did they do this?" They took CGI to a new level. You will be talking about these two scenes for a long time. Kudos, kudos and kudos again.

The entire production, photography, dialogues were all first rate as were the actors within. The music was spot on especially with the train near the end chug-chugging in time with the beat. Excellent.

Yes, there is some gore as Abe settles in to become the Vampire Hunter we know and love, and his weapon of choice is an Axe. Hey, he was a rail-splitter at one time. Keep up.

Abe is befriended by Henry (Dominic Cooper) who teaches him how to kill Vampires. But, wait……Henry has a secret.

The main villain Vampire is Adam played by Rufus Sewell and he is always good. And, we learn how the battle for Gettysburg was really won. Yes, the North won but now you will learn how they did it. Never before told.

One more thing: finally, someone decided on a Mary Todd Lincoln (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who is easy on the eyes. Good choice. And, yes, Benjamin Walker makes a good Lincoln especially with the beard later on in the movie.

It's true, I didn't want to see this movie much less do a review on it. A friend I won't name (Russ) recommended it and thanks to him I discovered the truth and it set me free. Now, I know all. Will you? (7/10)

Violence: Throughout Sex: No. Gore: Yes, there is some. Nudity: Yes, quick shot of a dead woman with a breast exposed. Language: Only two f-bombs were heard. Otherwise no language at all. (7/10)

Just got back from an advanced screening that was the (according to the director) first screening seen by people outside of the cast/crew of the movie. Overall I was very impressed, having never read the book I did not really know what to expect. Acting was good, nothing Oscar worthy but no poor performances. Everyone did their job well, especially Benjamin Walker and Dominic Cooper. They both excelled in their roles as Lincoln and Henry respectively. Plot flowed well and was easy to follow, and the action was absolutely fantastic. It was over the top, fast paced, bloody, and very well done. If you don't mind seeing vampires getting hacked, slashed, and bashed to death in a wide variety of ways, you'll enjoy this movie.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

*** (out of 4)

This horror/action film sets up to tell the true story of Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) who witnessed his mother getting killed by a vampire so he dedicates his life to stopping the bloodsucking creatures. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER might have a silly title but it's actually a fairly ambitious little movie that really took me by surprise. Going by the trailer you'd think that this film was just going to try and do a BUBBA HO TEP and takes a historical figure and make some cheap thrills out of him killing vampires. There's no doubt that the "cheap thrill" aspect is on full display here but the film actually goes a bit further by tying all of these events into common knowledge surrounding Lincoln's life. Not only do we get the vampire stuff but it's pretty well blended in with various historical truths like Lincoln becoming a lawyer, marrying Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and we go all the way up to the Civil War. The final thirty-minutes actually take place during the Civil War and the way the writers used slavery and the vampires was pretty interesting. With that said, I really hope no one goes into this movie expecting historical accuracies (they'd be crazy right?). Walker actually does a very good job at playing Lincoln. I thought he was very believable playing the good soul as well as the action hero. Dominic Cooper was excellent as his mentor and Anthony Mackie is also very good in his role as a black man who aids Lincoln. Even Winstead is good in her part even though the screenplay doesn't do her character much justice. The one major issue I had with the film was the incredibly bad CGI effects. I thought there were some that was so bad that you'd expect to be seeing them in a SyFy movie. Just take a look at the scene where Lincoln in chopping the tree or a really embarrassing sequence dealing with horses. The slow motion action scenes also weren't all that entertaining. With that said, I really liked the way director Timur Bekmambetov built up the atmosphere of the 1800's. I was really surprised how how authentic everything was and I think this is a reason why the CGI looks even worse. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER should have been a really, really bad movie but I think for the most part they got it right and those with a little knowledge of the real history around the war should find the touches interesting.