Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln-Vampire Hunter

I must say that Seth Grahame-Smith had a very creative imagination to have portrayed Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter.  The premise of his 2010 book "Abraham Lincoln-Vampire Hunter" is suppose to be the untold life of  America's 16th president as an axe-wielding vampire hunter.   

No, I have not read the book but I guess Tim Burton did and was intrigued enough to produce a movie adaptation with the same title.  Being a fan of supernatural/horror/suspense movies, I was intrigued myself which was why when the opportunity came up for a movie date I grabbed my wife, bought popcorns and soda, and watched the 105 minutes of film.    

In a nutshell, the movie is all about revenge.  Young Abraham Lincoln witnesses her mother infected by vampire blood that eventually kills her.  When Abraham came of age, he confronts the killer of his mother only to discover that his foe is of the supernatural kind.  But before he succumbs to the vampire bite he is saved by Henry Sturgess.  Henry nurses Abraham back to health and convinces him to become a vampire hunter.  Unbeknownst to Abraham, Henry is also a vampire and that he is being used by Henry with the ulterior motive of getting back at the vampires that killed his wife.  Apparently, vampires cannot kill one another. 

In the effort to create a cast of historical credibility, the story takes on actual characters (Mary Todd, Lincoln's wife; Joshua Speed, Lincoln's close friend;  William Johnson, Lincoln's personal valet) and events (the death of Lincoln's son William, attributed to a vampire bite; the American Civil War which was highlighted by the battle of Gettysburg, where the Confederate soldiers were vampires).  

The movie did dispel one vampire myth---that of being a creature of the night.  This film portrayed vampires as "day walkers" minus the skin glitter of the Twilight vampires.  

Did I mention that Benjamin Walker (who played the role of Abraham Lincoln) looks like a younger version of Liam Neeson?

Benjamin Walker

Liam Neeson

Do I recommend that you watch this film?  It had good visual effects I can tell you that especially the horse scene where Abraham battled with his mother's killer.  However, the story seemed to have waned to a screeching halt after the climactic face off between Abraham Lincoln and the vampire leader Adam.  Watch at your own risk.

Dark Shadows Movie Review

Dark Shadows is the 8th corroboration from Johnny Depp and Tim Burton.  It was a film adaptation of a Gothic soap opera of the same title which was aired by ABC from 1966 to 1971---a series that Johnny Depp was a fan of.   

Dark Shadows tells the story of Barnabas Collins, a wealthy 19th century fish canary magnate who found himself cursed to become a vampire by a scorned lover who happened to be a witch.   Barnabas' real adventure begins when the casket, where he was supposed to be kept to live his vampire life, was accidentally dug-ed out by construction workers 196 years later in 1972.  There he finds that the family canary business has been shut down and his family influence usurped by the very same witch who turned him to a vampire.

The film is vintage Tim Burton reminiscent of Sweeney Todd in terms of the use of light and dark and with characters heavily made up.  

I found it a nice date movie to watch.

The movie also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, and Eva Green.