Enjoy a superb mishmash of supernatural horror and historical drama!

Rating: 8/10 (14 September 2012)

The story revolves around Abe (Abraham Lincoln) who had witnessed a horrifying event during his childhood. He was witness to his mother's death from a vampire bite. This changed his life forever. He decided to end every "living" (dead) vampire and chose to become the Vampire Hunter. However, this battle with Vampire symbolized a bigger battle which Abraham Lincoln fought and that was against Slavery.
To be honest, even Abraham Lincoln would surely have laughed after watching this mix of history and fiction. This movie will keep you engaged from beginning to end as you will find it difficult and sometimes tiresome to distinguish between fact and fantasy. Life will become a lot easier for you if you have read the novel with the same title by Seth Grahame-Smith as the movie is a copy of the novel. Let us analyze whether the movie actually lives up to the expectations.
The setting of the film is what is should be. The movie has the perfect setting and you feel like evil spirits will jump from any corner of the screen. The background is mainly old European. Sepia and black are the predominant colors that are used in the film and add to the gory nature of the film. Visually speaking, the movie is a treat to watch. There are lots of fireworks, blood-tarnished fangs of vampires, Gothic architecture; music which is in harmony with the flow of the flick. The movie also has bats and more bats. There is a lot of fast paced action even though the pre-interval half of the movie drags. The blood bath depicted is very realistic and you actually feel at a point that vampires are actually responsible for the blood and the bodies strewn around.
Although mentioned earlier that the pre-interval half of the movie is a drag, nevertheless there are many scenes that are actually worth watching. For example the scene where Mary Todd uses Abraham's hat as a tool to rise up to his height in order to kiss him is innovative, to say the least. In this movie, the leading lady (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is an interesting character. In the first half of the movie, we see this woman desperately on the look-out for extraordinary adventures. Early in to the second half, we see her as the sire that has suffered the loss of her son. Later, she takes up the mantle of being the woman responsible for the success of Abraham Lincoln.
The debonair, calm and dangerous-when-matters-vampire Henry, played by Dominic Cooper, is by far the best vampire that has been portrayed ever. Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln looks bleak initially, sometime even overshadowed by the characters surrounding him. However, things take a turn when he becomes President. He essays the role of the President to the hilt with his dominating and soaring attitude. Even he looks mesmerizing tired and lanky eyes.
Finally, a word about Timur Bekmambetov, the director of the movie. Timur has done complete justice to Seth Grahame-Smith's novel and has also added a few of his ideas to make a gripping movie out of another blood-dripping novel. The movie could have been a bit more interesting if the director had added a few slices of the popular speeches of Lincoln against slavery.
All in all, in case you are looking for a movie which has a happy ending, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is not the one to choose. This movie does not belong to the meek hearted but for the one who loves bloodshed and likes their vampires to be free from humanity.