Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: Movie Review

On paper, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" sounds it is going to fail badly. An alternate universe where one of the most beloved American presidents fights vampires? A civil war of north versus south and humans versus vampires? It has all the blueprints to a trying-hard, B-movie quality, cheesy action film. But in reality, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" works as it is the complete opposite of what we expected. This is one of those movies that proves that you can never really judge a book by its cover.

Abraham Lincoln's (Benjamin Walker) journey in this alternate universe begins when his mother Nancy is stricken with a disease of unknown origin – but recognizable to young Abraham as a result of a vampire’s bite. The vampire in particular is Jack Barts (Marton Csokas) whom Abraham has sworn to kill when the right time comes. As Abraham becomes a young man, he meets Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper) who teaches him how to properly fight and kill vampires. Abraham soon discovers that the revenge he seeks against Jack Barts is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the evil that is eating his young nation and one that will soon affect his.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" presents an alternate story that actually works and even better action sequences that cap off the surprise. Yes, it may still be absurd that Lincoln can shatter trees with one swoop or that a nation was shaped by a human-vampire war but once you settle down and remove all apprehensions, the movie proves to be one that is fun and a no-frills thrill ride. The best assets for this film (as you may have deduced already) are the action, the gore and the pacing. There's nary a boring moment and it proves to be scary at times even with a version of vampires that can disappear and re-appear right in front of your eyes. The action sequences are a perfect mix of stunning visuals and bad-ass axe-wielding kills. Endless blood will flow and heads will fly off and honestly speaking, it was a blast. Our favorites were the horse stampede fight and the Civil War sequences. As for the story, it works well against Lincoln's actual life but it was a little too shallow for our taste. Finally, while the film utilized 3D well, the dark tone muddles the film up substantially with 3D glasses on. "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" does enough action and gore to be great and sometimes, that's all you need even with a funky title/premise to succeed.

Rating: 4 reels





Why you should watch it:
- the story integrates well with the real Lincoln
- the action sequences and visual effects were epic

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the 3D version is too dark to be effective