Reviews & Ratings for
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter More at IMDbPro »

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182 out of 263 people found the following review useful:
Solid all around flick with fantastic action, 10 June 2012
Author: bd101ttlb from Tampa, FL

Just got back from an advanced screening that was the (according to the director) first screening seen by people outside of the cast/crew of the movie. Overall I was very impressed, having never read the book I did not really know what to expect. Acting was good, nothing Oscar worthy but no poor performances. Everyone did their job well, especially Benjamin Walker and Dominic Cooper. They both excelled in their roles as Lincoln and Henry respectively. Plot flowed well and was easy to follow, and the action was absolutely fantastic. It was over the top, fast paced, bloody, and very well done. If you don't mind seeing vampires getting hacked, slashed, and bashed to death in a wide variety of ways, you'll enjoy this movie.

107 out of 172 people found the following review useful:
A Fun Action Flick That Delivers On Exactly What It Promises, 23 June 2012

Author: UnknownWhiteMale_Rises from United States

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is exactly what you would expect from the title. A ridiculous, over-the-top, and fun action-horror flick. The serious tone and silly premise may turn off some people, but the serious tone actually works to the films advantage and actually made the movie more fun. I actually think a goofy and comedic tone could've hurt the films in some ways by being a bit too tongue and cheek. The action scenes were well done and incredibly entertaining to watch. The final action scene was actually worth the price of admission alone. I also enjoyed how they included actual parts of Lincoln's history into the film. Benjamin Walker also surprisingly did a good job as Lincoln. The dialogue is corny but I actual think that played as a strength to a film rather than a weakness. The 3D effects are also used very well in the film and delivers a good mix of depth and gimmicky moments and really enhanced the action sequences. I would highly recommend seeing the film in 3D if you have the option. If I had any complaints it would be that I did feel like the film dragged a bit in the middle.

Overall, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a fun flick that delivers on exactly what it promises. Abraham Lincoln kicking vampire ass! If you don't go in holding the films premise against it, than you'll have a blast with it!

75 out of 118 people found the following review useful:
Definitely worth watching! Lincoln comes alive., 11 June 2012
Author: AmicusCurie2000 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I too was a skeptic of the title. I got to watch the movie and was surprised by how quickly it hooked me. Cast and director make characters believable and story plausible. Benjamin Walker does a superb job of playing Lincoln. He really makes the character come to life. Great mix of fantasy and reality. The story respects Lincoln the man and Lincoln the president. If your a history buff you won't be disappointed. The movie moves along at a good pace. Plenty of action. The director does a fine job of making a believable story of one of the greatest and most beloved presidents in American history. A lot of the scenes and camera shots are unique and really bring you into the story instead of just being a bystander. The group I was with really enjoyed the movie. The time spent suspending belief is well worth it.

70 out of 116 people found the following review useful:
A Different Side of Abraham Lincoln, 20 June 2012

Author: Prince AJB

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

When I discovered this movie, skepticism washed over me. I mean, Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter? Having one of the greatest presidents of all time as the character of a vampire hunter would be the last thing anyone would expect. When I entered the theater, my initial thought was that this movie would bring me disappointment. But it turned out to be much better than expected and a fun film filled with lots of violence, blood, gore, and vampire decapitations.

So, in the film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's fantasy novel, Abraham Lincoln is a vampire hunter. But before he becomes that, he's just an ordinary boy living in a world consumed by slavery. One night, his mom died from an undiscovered disease and from then on, he's waited and searched for his mom's killer, only to discover a new large world of vampires. There he becomes a vampire hunter under the guidance of Henry Sturges (who has a secret).

However, his vampire hunting career reaches a hiatus in the middle of a movie where Abraham is now interested in pursuing a career in politics. In the end, he becomes the President of the United States, only to have his career troubled by the devastating Civil War where vampires play a part in it somehow. In the 20 or so minutes that focus on his presidency, I felt there was an issue with it as it shifted the focus of vampire hunting and focused on politics and the Civil War instead as nothing about vampires was stated during this 20 minutes.

The vampires are led by a leader named Adam. Although he might appear to be the strongest, I felt that the vampire John Barts (killer of Abraham's mother) was actually the main antagonist of the film and represented a bigger threat. While Adam had a lengthy climax, the fight with John Barts was much longer and was more personal as only the two of them were involved and more engaging. The scene also displayed more of the abilities possessed by a vampire.

Talking about action scenes, they were all great and fantastic. They were energetic, full of blood, full of gore, extremely violent, and dead brutal. Most of them feature decapitations of the vampires and anyone seeking brutality, deadliness, blood, gore, and violence should be satisfied with the action scenes provided here. But what I noticed in the action scenes, particularly the Lincoln-Barts fight and parts of the climax, was that it was quite unclear. In the Lincoln-Barts fight, the two were in a sandy place with many horses galloping. I felt that there was too much sand flying around and the fight became unclear and a bit brownish. This made it hard to see what was going on. It might intentionally done like that to give it more of an old feeling but it may also be a distraction because you don't know what's going on. The same happened in parts of the climax but this time, smoke and sparks caused it.

The script was a bit uneven. While the second half of the film was a bit better, I felt that the first half of the film was a bit lacking in dialog. There was little talk and there was too many decapitations, blood, and gore. I felt that the scenes progressed too fast and they should have taken it more patiently. In fact, most of the talk in the first part of the film comes from Abraham, due in part to the narration of fragments of his diary. The others rarely talk and probably only talk so little and it's only by the second half that they talk more. However, the performances by the actors were okay, not too terrible to burden the overall movie experience.

I also felt there was a bit of a disaster with the make-up. Since the time in the story spans from Abraham's early adulthood to his fifties, we could clearly see a change in his facial appearance (a beard). We can also see this change with Abraham's friend Joshua Speed. The same cannot be said with Abraham's wife Mary Todd, and Abraham's other friend Will Johnson. Mary Todd doesn't appear to change with the exception of very few creases on her face whereas Will Johnson doesn't have a change in appearance at all. His face is exactly the same his hair didn't even turn white.

However, the 3D was excellent. It takes you and makes you part of the scenes and is recommended although some of the scenes would make the 3D a nuisance. But other scenes where there is blood will be enhanced by the 3D and some of the blood may even squirt out to your face. And the visual effects! Oh they're such a wonder. But of course, impressive visual effects and eye-catching stunts would be what you would expect from a movie directed by Timur Bekmambetov.

Overall, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is a film that offers moviegoers a fun time with plenty of bloody and gory action sequences filled with eye-catching stunts, impressive visual effects and excellent 3D effects. Despite the interesting plot, the film is downed by some poor unclear shots, an uneven script that mostly focused on action, not on dialog, and poor make-up. Regardless, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is a movie you should see if you want a bloody fun time.

Rating: 7/10

Final Verdict: Despite the uneven script, some poor unclear shots, and poor make-up, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" promises moviegoers a bloody fun time with gory action scenes, eye-catching stunts, impressive visual effects, and excellent 3D effects with an interesting and somehow peculiar plot line.

70 out of 117 people found the following review useful:
An insulting slap in the face, 1 July 2012

Author: sidereus_jedi from Buffalo, NY

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I didn't go to this movie expecting Oscar winning caliber, I did want to be entertained, even in a "turn your brain off" way. I understand that more often than not when books are adapted into movies, things are changed, cut for time/story, etc. Preserving the main idea of a story can be done even implementing this method without the nuclear meltdown that occurred with this adaptation.

I LOVED the book. I loved the way time was taken to carefully develop the characters & story, & weave them into coordination with true historical facts, & events.

I'm not saying this needed to be "Batman Begins", i'm willing to accept the fact that studios aren't willing to provide unlimited funds for films they might consider "going out on a limb."

This movie would've been great if it had gone one of two ways: A goofy, campy, slaying story in the spirit of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" series (which I thoroughly enjoy). Or, if it had closely followed the tone & story of the novel. This movie did neither of those. The ONLY resemblance to the book are some character's names.

Here are my quarrels:

1.) A completely changed & rushed back story. What was so carefully plotted out in the book & gradually developed both story & character wise (so you can feel for Abe, his plight, motivations, feelings, & destiny) is now a completely different story with omissions of important characters, events, situations, mindsets, emotions, etc. & the addition of characters & situations not in the book.

It's rushed through in approximately 5 minutes, leaving you wondering why you should give a crap at all. You have no connection with Abe, or any other character for that matter. I was actually stunned.

2.) There's a training sequence that's laughable, & approximately 3 minutes long, with some of the worst CGI ever.

3.) Henry. His back story is unfortunately butchered & laughably unbelievable. As is his initial meeting (and ensuing friendship) with Abe. Gone is his meticulous nature, and important contributions to the story, and left is a husk of the character from the book.

4.) And what's this crap about vampires can't kill their own? And how vampires are made vampires? The explanation for how vampires are made vampires is so ridiculous, you'll want to puncture your own eardrums for having heard it.

5.) Continuing omission of key characters & events which continually leave you detached from any characters or the story. Adam, & the female vampire (? name) are a prime example of additional made up characters shoe horned in the movie. If they had followed the original story they would have had more than enough material without needing to invent these two silly, cardboard characters,

6.) Continuous, unemotional, passionless, mind numbingly repetitive "Matrix" like slow motion vampire killing scenes. Silly fight in a herd of wild running horses....horse "tossing".

7.) Silly subplot about silver. It's not ever in the book as being harmful, or the making of weapons from them. (PS: writers...stop putting silver in vampire movies, save it for the werewolves.)

8.) Mary Todd was never savvy to what her husband was up to. But here, less believably, distributing silver weapons out in the battlefield, where she could then have a stupid scene where she shoots the female (name?) vampire, who is running at her with full "Ahhhhhhh!!" battle cry.

But I guess the "writers" figured they needed to amp it up & give her a scene where she does something.

9.) I'm confused as to what happened at the end. Who is it in the bar? Why couldn't they just have had the ending they had in the book? The ending in the film reminds me of that ending from "Interview with the Vampire" with Tom Cruise telling Christian Slater he's going to give him the choice he never had. Cheesy.

Imagine my shock to find out that Seth Grahame-Smith was involved with the screenplay. SHAME ON YOU SETH! Did you have little creative control, or did you not care & sell out completely??!!

Tim Burton should hang his head in shame too (even though he hasn't been involved with a quality flick since "Sleepy Hollow")(with the "possible" exception of "Sweeney Todd".)

In my showing there was a group of gabby tweens who literally burst into giggles every time something happened on screen. Most of the time it was something that wasn't meant to be funny, but due to the nature of this "film" -was. Normally this behavior annoys me, but I couldn't even get annoyed with them, as it was justified.

So what did I like you might ask? If you're still reading. Well, I liked Benjamin Walker as I thought he looked the part, especially in Abe's later years, & he tried. But due to poor writing, and equally poor direction, his performance throughout the film is uneven and shockingly wooden as Abe in his younger years.

I liked Dominic Cooper as Henry, who like Walker, did the best he could with the crappy material and direction, at least he had a little more passion in his performance. It's not his fault the script sucked.

I liked that the vampires didn't sparkle.

If you enjoyed or have any respect for the book this is "based" on, I urge you to refrain from spending your hard earned money on a vastly overpriced ticket. You have been warned.

78 out of 136 people found the following review useful:
Ridiculous, 22 June 2012

Author: thecinnamonkid85 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

It's funny how I created an account for this website just to tell people how awful this movie was. I had the benefit of seeing this movie before it came out last night at my work, and even I felt like I was being cheated out of time and money. I can't imagine paying to see this film.

Now, obviously I wasn't expecting a serious film. With the title, I expected an entertaining film with a lot of blood, gore, and action sequences. This movie however, tried to be so much more, while retaining a ridiculous plot and ludicrous action sequences. Every fight scene was either poorly crafted or so unbelievably stupid I almost walked out of a movie I didn't even have to pay for. The plot itself was also terrible. Characters barely introduced somehow become relevant, and acting was so bad at parts I laughed at the actors/actresses. It seemed like the only character who aged was Abe, characters such as Mary Todd's fiancé just disappear, and every single one liner from the beginning of the film is repeated. You know, that can work. Spider-Man's classic "With great power comes great responsibility" was okay. But when the characters repeat 6 or 7 different lines it gets old. fast.

If you can't help yourself, then go see this film. I was intrigued by the title and hoped to see Abe kick some ass. But this film is just so outright ridiculous. I feel like I've said that word way too many times, but it's the only word to describe it. Abe goes from a frail and tall guy to an axe swinging backflipping badass without anymore training than chopping down a tree (which was also a poorly done scene). I don't even think I can say something good about this film, other than the idea. This movie could have been very entertaining had it not lost total sense of reality and human capability. I found myself yelling "as if" multiple times during the film. If you don't believe me, see it for yourself.

46 out of 77 people found the following review useful:
A complete hoot, 22 June 2012

Author: Neil Welch from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

As a Brit, my knowledge of Abraham Lincoln is limited to stovepipe hat and beard, the Civil War, abolition of slavery, and assassination at the theatre by John Wilkes Booth. I had absolutely no idea that he had enjoyed a career (prior to his entry into politics) as a vampire slayer, nor that there had been a large contingent of vampires within the Confederate army. Thank heavens Lincoln left behind his notebook, or we'd never have known.

Benjamin Walker, an actor I have never heard of, but who looks very much like a young Liam Neeson, plays young Lincoln (and, with old makeup and a sticky-on beard, old Lincoln) in a batch of preposterous nonsense in which our hero become expert at whirling around a silver-bladed axe, surviving horrific physical trauma, decapitating vampires, chatting up Mary Elizabeth Winstead, starting the Civil War, and melting down everyone's silver into musket balls in order to defeat the 1st Confederate Vampire Infantry Regiment. In this he is assisted by a decent roster of support including Dominic Cooper, Rupert Sewell, the afore-mentioned Miss Winstead, Anthony Machie and Jimmi Speed.

All those involved play this nonsense with an absolutely straight face - indeed, it would not work if they played it tongue in cheek - but, notwithstanding the seriousness with which the characters are portrayed, and the slow motion decapitations and vampiric (black) blood sprays, this film is a romp. Like director Timur Bekmambetov's earlier Wanted, it is an unexpected and exuberant batch of utter twaddle, made with an almost palpable glee. And, also like Wanted, it features some beautifully choreographed and eye-boggling action.

This movie is hugely enjoyable and absolutely daft. And the 3D is often very effective.

50 out of 88 people found the following review useful:
So Sad, Great Book...Movie...Not So Much, 23 June 2012

Author: heatherperdigon from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I loved this book! The details in the book about Abraham's younger years, the historical facts and dates - loved it all. The characters around Abraham were very real and important to the story (in my opinion).

Spoilers follow:

The movie was NOTHING like the book. The characters were different except for their names and some didn't show up at all. The events that made it from the book to the move were out of order in the movie. The details mentioned above - non- existent in the movie. The story was so choppy, leaving out huge portions of events. I am aware that not everything can be translated to a movie in a timely manner; however, it can be done far better than it was done in this movie.

I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this movie. Don't waste your time/money. Read the book - it is so much better.

31 out of 51 people found the following review useful:
A complete insult, 2 July 2012

Author: xophr from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Warning: Contains some spoilers, but not anything that would ruin it for you. (This is not to say the movie wasn't ruined to begin with)

I don't even know where to begin with this movie. After wasting money a few years ago on another hyped up movie that turned out to be complete crap, I promised myself I would never spend full price on movies anymore until they came to my local $2 theater. There was one move in which I broke my promise which was The Dark Knight and I was satisfied, but for the most part I avoided movies particular new releases at all costs.

I did all of this until Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was released. I was familiar with the story ever since the book was released many months earlier, and I finally get around to getting the book the Saturday after the movie release and completed it the following Friday. I really loved the book and while a fictional story, the historical information in the book was accurate including Lincoln's family, his sons, birth and dates of death. In addition the Civil War accounts were also accurate in terms of dates and outcomes. The book did a really good job tying in the story of vampires into the real life of Abraham Lincoln and this nation.

I was real excited to see the movie after finishing the book, and while I expected the movie to not follow the book exactly, perhaps omitting some aspects and combining characters, I did at least expect it to be much better than it was. On the contrary I found this movie to be quite insulting and terribly done. Once again a Hollywood movie jumps the shark and completes an utter disaster of overdone action scenes, needless characters and an unbelievable story. Its one thing to deviate a little from the book, but its a complete other thing to throw all of the things that made the book great out of the window and replace it with a steaming pile of crap such as this. The book was tortured, butchered and beheaded just as the unfortunate vampires Lincoln would encounter and destroy during his life.

It only took 10 minutes into the movie to realize that this was going to be a disaster. The only thing they got sort of right was the death of Abraham's mother when he was a little boy, but from that point on, everything was completely different. I don't mind the story being changed somewhat, but if you are going to change something at least make it worthwhile. The producers were so preoccupied with creating needless and overdone action scenes, they completely threw historical accuracy out the window. Without giving away too many spoilers, I must point out that the date of death of Thomas Lincoln (Abe's father) was wrong in the movie, the movie also completely ignored Robert Todd, Eddie, and Thomas (Tad) Lincoln. (Lincoln's other 3 sons). Henry, who was Lincoln's mysterious and one of his strongest allies in the book was reduced so some young Tom Cruise like character who was weak, unconvincing and boring. Mary Todd Lincoln who was psychologically weak in the book (and in real life); and understandably so, due to the death of her sons, turned into some powerful Joan of Arc wanna be which was also unconvincing. The movie also added two completely unnecessary main antagonists who were not in the book. These characters were your typical Hollywood a-hole bada$$es and added NOTHING to the story except to make it even worse than it already was. The story itself jumped around so much and seemed the producers' only goal was to rush through the back stories just so they could get to more action scenes. I could go on all day of how many things I hated about this movie but I will end my many gripes here and only say that the final action scene was complete crap, but what should I expect I suppose.

I guess it was my fault for expecting a quality movie when I should know by now Hollywood treats us American viewers as mindless Neanderthals who can only respond to non-stop action and cheesy overdone special effects and constant violence. This is not to say that the book wasn't violent, but I found the violence in the book to be much more believable than the movie which would just splash CGI blood every time Lincoln encountered a vampire.

I guess if you are a teenager who hasn't read the book or one who can't yet appreciate what it takes to make a movie both exciting and thought provoking, will absolutely love this movie. Older people on the other hand I suspect will find this movie quite insulting not only to the book, but to American history in general. As the crowd sat in complete silence, probably as disappointed and shocked as I was on how bad this movie was, I saw on the screen that one of the executive producers was Seth Grahame-Smith the author of the book. Such irony and such a shame that he can write such a good book, but then contribute to a disaster like this. I'm going to try my best to wipe this movie completely out my mind and from this point on I will re-promise myself not watch another movie in the theater until it comes to the $2 theater.

I don't give out 1 star review for anything too often, but I really can't find any redeeming quality that would push it up to two stars. So I will leave it at one. Probably not the worst movie I've seen, but its pretty close.

24 out of 40 people found the following review useful:
sooooo disappointed, 29 June 2012

Author: savaget from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I fully expect the movie not to be as good as the book. that being said. Wow did this one fall short. I was hoping since the screenwriter and the Author of the book is the same person a fan of the book may become a fan of the movie. I doubt I would have seen this otherwise, and now after seeing this movie I wish I hadn't. I was at first disappointed but after milling it around for a day I am actually a little upset. Mr. Seth Grahme-Smith. why when you have such an opportunity to do a film from book justice did you totally screw this one up? The only character that slightly resembles a character from a fantastically written book is Abraham Lincoln. Henry comes off as weak when he tried to talk president Lincoln out of fighting the civil war He was actually a driving force for the civil war. And Adam where did he come from? where was Edgar Allen Poe? and vampires could kill other vampires. in the end of the book when Abraham Lincoln is still around during the JFK presidency he is still killing vampires. and in the movie Lincoln is supernatural. but in the book he trained very hard and still was only able to kill one vampire at a time and usually with help and the element of surprise. but yet now he is able to hack them down while running on the backs of horses I know vampires aren't real so I shouldn't expect too much realism, but how is it a vampire can grab a horse running full speed and toss him at a mortal man and not kill said man. and then when they are grappling how is it that this same horse heaving vampire should struggle at all to bite Abraham's head off, just ridiculous. you never understand why Abraham Lincoln has such a hatred for vampires it would help if you could add that vampires killed is grandfather, his mother his sister, his first love, his boys, and were responsible for missing children all up and down the Mississippi river all of those things happened before Lincoln even knew about them harvesting slaves. I could go on for days. suffice th to say if you like a good slasher film. put this one down on your list with the likes of all the scream movies, chainsaw massacre, Halloween, Friday the 13th nightmare on elm street etc...

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