The Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Abraham. F*#$ing. Lincoln.

“Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, discovers vampires are planning to take over the United States. He makes it his mission to eliminate them.” – [IMDB]

The Review

A bit of alternate history brings a fun summer escape.

The Verdict

Matinee it  - don’t expect an epic take on history or a thrilling vampire film, this movie finds its own place nowhere near the middle of the two.

The Overview

Confession, I didn’t read Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel by the same title, but I knew the main idea of it before I walked in, and I knew that it was a bit tongue-in-cheek. The story goes a bit like this (for the uninitiated): Abraham Lincoln’s mother is killed by a vampire when he is a boy, and in the course of seeking his vengeance, Abe learns that this country is more than just men and slaves. The 16th President manages to deal with the vampires before his political career really takes off, but of course the vamps aren’t just sitting quietly, they’re planning to take over the country during the coming war. It totally makes sense.

The movie is entertaining because it mixes 300 style slow-mo sequences of Abe slicing up vampires with his axe with a few moments of humorous dialogue and death sequences. The story is what is, the rapid training and job of a vampire hunter intertwined with the creation of a President of the United States. Things move pretty quickly in the beginning and sort of blur when things move from Abe being a candidate to President. Basically, if you go into this expecting something that is merely entertaining, not necessarily intriguing or enlightening, then you’ll leave satisfied.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a fun way to escape the summer heat for a few hours, which is all we’re really looking for during the summer, right? Okay, maybe not everyone, but if the Sun is beating down on you and you’ve got some cash in your pocket, Abe’s worth the time.