Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Well dear readers, after a long absence I have returned to post on my blog once again. Today I bring to you something so self-explanitory it hardly needs introduction. I review Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. This new film has been taking both the internet and theatres by storm. Partly because of its very interesting concept (I mean who doesn't want to see the Great Emancipator slaughter vampires?) and due to the book it is based on.

Now I personally have not yet read the book, though I have read others of its now famous series such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter. Each has proved to be an amusing social commentary on the time as well as a wonderful parody of the classic writing style that is so well done it is impossible to not want to throw yourself at these original classics and start reading them! So not only is it quite amusing but it is quite educational. Though none of these great books has yet made it to the big screen.

Until now at least.

I saw this movie the other night while out on a date and allow me to say I had no argument in the choice of film that night!

Now for a quick overview of the film. Young Lincoln discovers his mother has been killed by a man and many years later goes to murder him only to discover he is a supernatural vampire. He is rescued by a man named Henry and brought to his house allowing him to heal. The film then follows the historical career of Abraham Lincoln while exploring the unknown world of his night job, fighting vampires!

The Good:

Well as a movie I will of course be reviewing it in my usual fashion, and I really must say there is much good to be said about it.

The acting is phenominally done and the actors do well when mixing the rather silly premise with the semi-serious tone of the film. The two actors playing Lincoln were fabulous and did a grand job of portraying both the young awkward and brutally honest Lincoln and the gruff, older and professional Lincoln. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a wonderful job portraying Mary Todd, Lincolns wife to be, and Dominic Cooper is wonderful as Henry Sturges in all his forms.

The visual effects (with one notable exception) were fabulous and the well done features of the vampires were grand and somewhat scary when first used. I loved the way it was done making them seem both human yet monstrous. The action scenes are well coreographed and the stunts are amazing. Then you have the sinister vampire feeding habits which are simply done yet make a splash (of blood) on screen.

The movie has good pacing and is well balanced between its actions scenes and the moments of emotional drama which go well and help to balance the silly feel of the film while keeping the audeince on the edge of its seat with the well done story.

One thing which I must praise about the film is the lack of shaky cam. The actions scenes were clean, crisp, and flowed smoothly and were visually pleasing. I could easily follow the action and every stroke and kick that Lincoln made was clear and amazing to see as he cut a swathe through the vampire hordes. As I've said before, not enough films abandom shaky cam for these pleasing fights and allow us to actually see the action going on.

As an aside the sound track is amazing and really helps grab the audience and keep them enthralled in the film.

The Bad:

As previously mentioned there is one poorly done and over the top scene. This scene is where Lincoln confronts his mothers killer again and the climactic duel takes place in the middle of a stampede of horses. The visuals here are cloudy, poorly done, and spectacularly fake. To me there was no reason to include this in the movie as it was over the top even by this films standards. There was plenty of potential for different scenes, not something that belongs in a wacky spaghetti western! It was a sloppy scene and I felt myself cringing when the vampire flings a horse right at old Abe.

Now the film was only one hour and forty-five minutes, not bad for length. It could have been just slightly longer. I mean we are trying to tell a biography after all. That was a shame we couldn't see more of the film.

There were also the cheesy one liners, which were rather ridiculous at moments but for this type of campy movie were woth it.

The Verdict:

I really don't have much negative to say about this film. If you want a good campy and blood soaked action film to take your mind off things, this is one to watch. A good summer block buster I highly reccoment it to anyone who likes a) Lincoln, and b) real, non Twighlight vampires.

3.5 stars out of 5!