Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER (2012)

I finally watched Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter this week, as i didn't get a chance to see it in glorious 3D which, after seeing it, would have been ideal. This movie is an odd combination of real historical events and horror; one that is becoming common place. There is fun to be had here, but surprisingly- and fortunately- the whole movie takes its self very seriously despite its absurd premise. There where a few missteps along the way, but Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter succeeds in combining its two elements for the most part.

How are the elements in this story combined, might you ask? As a young boy, Abraham Lincoln witnesses the death of his mother at the hands of a vampire, Jack Barts. Years later, he attempts to exact his revenge unsuccessfully, but manages to meet Henry Sturgess, a vampire hunter, in the process. Henry teaches Abraham how to hunt vampires, with the eventual goal being to kill Jack Barts. Upon his move to Springfield, Abe studies law and works in a store by day, while hunting vampires that Henry directs him towards at night. Here, despite Henry’s advice, Lincoln meets his future wife Mary Todd. He decides to leave vampire hunting behind in favor of pursuing his law interests and family. That is, many years later, until he realises vampires form part of the confederate forces.  He once again needs to take hold of his axe and fight vampires- including the one responsible for his mother’s death so many years ago- to stop them taking over all of North America.

Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and a young Abe Lincoln (Benjamin Walker).

If you read that without chuckling, well done. There is no doubt the story is absurd, and it would have been easy for the film to fall into self-parody. Instead the makers chose a much more serious tone, which I appreciated; although others have criticised this as a negative. As an Australian, I can’t say I know very much at all about American history, so at times things where a tad hard to follow, but really it wasn’t a big issue. If anything, it spiked my interest. I absolutely loved the setting, and the sets look superbly accurate and realistic. The costumes are also very well done, and really immerse you in this 1800’s context. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Mary Todd, and I always love seeing her in movies (no matter how average the movie is she always manages to put in a great performance). Benjamin Walker does an excellent job as Abe Lincoln, and doesn’t falter at any stage. In fact, all the actors perform solidly which gives the movie a great framework and never distracts from the film.

A much older Abe with his silver-bladed axe, and his mentor Henry (Dominic Cooper).

 I couldn’t review this movie without discussing the gloriously stylized, over the top action scenes. They are over the top, absolutely, but are executed in a way that’s extremely fun and just perfect for a 3D medium. A sequence involving Abe and another vampire quite literally using stampeding horses as stepping-stones is great, and they managed to make the entire scene look very realistic and tense. The train sequence during the finale really is excellent, and would have been even more thrilling if I had seen it in 3D. This scene also manages to be quite exhilarating and frightening, as well as having the over the top charm the remainder of the films action-oriented scenes have. Despite CGI blood being used in these parts, its very well rendered and so I cant really complain about it.

The vampires featured are a refreshing return to Vamps that are actually scary. They are also able to live in sunlight (no they don't bloody sparkle) and become invisible.

At an hour and fourty-five minutes long, things can move a little slowly at times and there are some long stretches with large chunks of dialogue. It didn’t bother me too much, but I can see how some might dislike the little ‘history lesson’ scenes (which did get somewhat tedious) and how there are not action scenes every five minutes. But hey, quality before quantity! The action scenes we do get are awesome, as discussed previously. The films biggest problem comes in a dramatic shift in time from a young-adult Lincoln to him in his fifties. This shift is quite acute, and is done very unevenly. It disrupts the pacing of the film, and there is quite a bit of talking and politically focused scenes before we get to vampires again. It probably would have been better to either keep the film with a younger Abe, or make that first hour of the film shorter and more of a prelude. Another issue is that our two main baddies get killed anti-climatically and abruptly, and since they are such assholes I was wishing for them to suffer a little more. Which sounds horrible, but they ARE evil vampires. I really dug the ending, and it caps things off very nicely.

"Oh it is quite breezy up here-HOLY SHIT THE TRACKS ARE ON FIRE".

Will Johnson (Anthony Mackie) along side his long-time friend Abraham Lincoln.

I do regret not getting to see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire hunter in 3D, but it still proved to be a lot of fun without it. It’s a little clunky in parts, but the well choreographed fight scenes, solid performances and serious tone-among the other elements I discussed- lift the film considerably. If you’re a fan of stylized vampire ass-kicking, but don’t mind some historical exposition, id recommend that you check out Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for a gloriously fun ride that does require some suspension of disbelief.

3.5/5

Recommended classification: 15+ for strong stylised bloody horror violence, brief sex scene and brief nudity

The trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter-