That's what you'll find out with the latest historical "bio-pic", Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It's based on the "biographical" novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote the film, directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and co-produced by Tim Burton. Sounds like a lot of credentials there.
Feel free to laugh until the undead rise.
As a lad, young Mr. Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) awakens to see his mother murdered. Only later does he realize that her killer is one of the undead. With the aid of the mysterious Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper), the future President slays the undead with his silver coated axe.
The evil King of the Vampires, Adam (Rufus Sewell), won't take that sitting down. He also won't take Lincoln's abolitionism, since slaves are his favorite meal. This all leads to the Civil War between the North and South...I mean, the Living and the Dead.
Rather than historical accuracy, this film aims to have fun with history. Whether in 3D or Flatscreen, there's plenty of stylized action to help in its quest. Among them is the duel between Honest Abe and a Vampire in a horse stampede; the Vampire even tosses a whole horse at Abe for good measure.
Does it succeed in its quest? Its stylized action is incredible, so that's a plus. On the minus side, it's a dark comedy that takes itself a bit too seriously. At least, from the title, one might've expected a dark comedy. But I thought it worked better as a satire of American History. As a result, the tonal clashes didn't bother me that much; but its stylized action was like “that's cool” rather than the expected “whoa! That's cool!”
One can easily enjoy the film if they can also overlook its tonal clashes and historical inaccuracies. It's a decent B-Movie in every sense of the word.
Oh, by the way, if you do want historical accuracy, then wait at least six months until Steven Spielberg's Lincoln comes out.
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