ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER (2012)
Tagline: President by day. Hunter by night.
(Action, Horror, Fantasy) [R]
History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet deeds. History remembers the battle and forgets the blood.
In this one, a young Abraham Lincoln witnesses his mother getting bitten by a vampire named Jack Barts, and she later dies by his side. He tries to figure out ways to get vengeance against Barts, but is unsuccessful and is almost killed by him when a man named Henry Sturgess steps in. Sturgess will teach Lincoln to be a vampire killer, but ultimately Lincoln sees other ways to help save a nation that will soon be overridden with blood-sucking fiends from beyond the grave*. With the evil specter of spreading slavery and pending civil war looming, can Abraham overcome the price tags on his family, marriage, and vision?
First off, when I first saw the title for this thing, I didn’t know it was already a book. I was like, that sounds like a cheese-fest, sign me up. I ended up watching this in the theater without having even seen a preview. Needless to say, I was freakin blown away. I think that if you go into this half checked out you will probably enjoy it. If you go in full-blown checked in, or full-blown checked out you won’t. In spite of the premise, it’s a ridiculously unsettling deeply intriguing and yet hopeful film. The movie closest to this in nature is probably PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES which came out 4 years later.
The acting in this movie is beyond incredible. When they shot this, they shot it like they were trying to make something for the History Channel only a TON better. Anthony Mackie is most famous probably for being the Falcon in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), but he’s incredible in this movie as is Jimmi Simpson who plays Joshua Speed. We also get stunning and creepy performances from Rufus Sewell (best known from A KNIGHTS TALE) and Erin Wasson who both play bloodthirsty vampires. Dominic Cooper is also pretty great as Henry Sturgess. You might better know him as the younger Howard Stark in the MCU. We also get a decent portion of the versatile Mary Elizabeth Winstead (as Mary Todd Lincoln) who seemingly can pull off just about any role thrown at her, but is most famous for SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD.
This thing feels like a full-blown period piece whenever the zombies are not on screen and the tapestry that gets woven here is nothing short of brilliant with a few exceptions. This is another case of the book is not the movie, but there are some really ridiculous things about this thing that kind of remind you we are watching revised history. One instance is the “horse stampede” scene where Lincoln (played by Benjamin Walker most famous for his role on JESSICA JONES) and Jack Barts are literally jumping from horse to horse with the horses running at full speed. I am down with this action-wise, "fine, we’ve got guys jumping from horse to horse", but at one point it appears that Lincoln should have definitely been dead and isn’t. It calls the viewer to far more suspension of disbelief than the entire rest of the movie except for a train scene that is almost as nuts.
I will say that I feel like some of the vampire scenes were shot just a bit too quickly especially when they get mad and their crazy teeth pop out but seeing Abraham Lincoln fling that ax around like a bada-s is worth buying this thing for. Somehow in all this, they end up getting in some biblical principles and actually making you like Lincoln quite a bit if you didn’t already. For me, this was a blast, and it's under 2 hours so it’s not dragging its feet getting things going. I can see why some critics didn't like it, especially if they came in expecting lighter comedic fare. This is NOT that. It's a history bending fantasy action horror flick.
I don’t watch this often but I do own it and enjoy it when I do. For me, this is a solid 7 out of 7 effort.
*Direct BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER quote.
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