Disengage brain, sit back and go with the flow.

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2012)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. As titles go, it's up there with Snakes on a Plane and Cowboys Vs Aliens. In terms of quality and sheer entertainment value, it's somewhere between the second half of Cowboys Vs Aliens (about the time the aliens arrive) and the middle third of Snakes on a Plane. It's a 'disengage brain, sit back and go with the flow' kind of film. Don't expect much and you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's not terribly inventive, it's deeply flawed but, beyond all else, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a lot of fun.
The films starts in 1818 with the young Abraham Lincoln living in Indiana with his parents (Robin McLeavy and, favourite of The Squiss, Joseph Mawle). We're given a quick background lesson as the young Lincoln a) befriends a young African American, William Johnson b) defends Johnson from a beating by the villainous Jack Barts c) watches his mother die after having her wrist 'kissed' by Barts and d) nurtures his desire for revenge for nine years before shooting Barts in the eye only to discover Barts doesn't die that easily because he's a vampire!
Lincoln, by now played by Benjamin Walker (as the film progresses he looks more and more like Liam Neeson who, coincidently, was slated to play Lincoln in Spielberg's biopic until he was replaced by Daniel Day-Lewis), is rescued from an extremely narked Barts by the mysterious Henry Strugess (Dominic Cooper on fine form). And so begins an odd partnership that leads to vampire hunting, bloodletting, violence and the love of a good woman.
After an enjoyable scene-setting first act, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter dives into the action with great gusto and for forty-five minutes or so completely forgets about the niceties of plot or continuity. The lighting and overall feel of the film changes scene by scene; one moment it's moody and gloomy, the next moment sepia images suggest flashbacks but it transpires we've actually advanced in time. It's both clumsy and erratic and there's nothing else to do than sit back, watch the fights and hope it makes sense again soon.
A fast-flowing sequence with a horse stampede is blurred with poor digital effects but still enjoyable for the pace and sheer audacity of it, and that's pretty much the format of the film. And using a horse as a weapon is an act of absurdity bordering on genius. The arrival of Refus Sewell as Adam, the big and very bad vampire boss is a welcome boost to the proceedings. It's a very obvious piece of casting but if you need villain who barely resists twiddling his waxed moustache and muttering "Curses" then Sewell is your man.
Director Timur Bekmambetov doesn't hide from the obvious references and lessons learned from his most successful films to date: Night Watch, Day Watch and the fabulously extreme Wanted. The fight sequences, Lincoln using an axe rather than the standard vampire-slaying silver bullets, are no longer original but still a great deal of fun although everything pales beside the stunning choreography of The Raid, which didn't need to rely on digital effects, blue screens or wire work. As with buses, there's no sign of an historical horror mashup for eons and then suddenly we experience a glut of them. If you're interested, soon to be released are the unrelated Abraham Lincoln Vs Zombies (direct-to-DVD and with a budget of $150,000 as opposed to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter's $69 million!), FDR: American Badass and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. On the basis of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter's box office so far, there'll be a great many more following.
And that may not be a bad thing.
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