When I first heard rumblings about the release of this movie my instant reaction was, I am assuming, the same as that of many others: “WTF? Really?”
Image via Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Movie Blogspot
After a short trawl through Google I found that the movie is actually based on a novel also entitled Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Rather than abating my astonishment, this served only to exacerbate it. Someone had taken the USA’s greatest president and wrote a book transforming him into a badass vampire hunter. And it was successful enough to have a major Hollywood movie based on it.
Upon further investigation it turns out that the book was actually very well received by critics and the public alike. This caused me to develop a bit of a fascination with the author, Seth Grahame-Smith. Of course I am aware that the world has an abundance of unhinged authors who write about bizarre, off-the-wall subject matter. However, most of their works tend not to even see the light of day let alone become best sellers receiving critical acclaim. Graham-Smith is indeed a rare and strange beast.
Anyway, according to IMDB the basic premise of the movie is along the lines of “Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, discovers vampires are planning to take over the United States. He makes it his mission to eliminate them.” Expanding on that the Fox Movies site tells us “President Lincoln’s mother is killed by a supernatural creature, which fuels his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers.”
Ahh, now it all becomes a little clearer; I see the point of this. Grahame-Smith is using vampires as a metaphor for slave owners: vampires consume the lives of people as do slave owners. And Lincoln was the president who freed the slaves. I am a little happier now that I know there is some logic to the premise.
Now there aren’t a lot of reviews floating around in the digital ether yet, but what I have managed to turn up sounds quite promising. The general feel I got from the handful of reviews I’ve read was that this is an OTT, stylish, entertaining action movie. That’s not surprising when you consider that it’s been directed by Timur Bekmambetov of Wanted fame and that Tim Burton is a producer.
I must say that I’m rather excited to see this movie, in fact it seems right up my street: it’s got vicious vampires, action, a sense of humour, style and well… a completely bonkers premise that seems to work quite well. Also the original Blade is one of my favourite movies. Bring on the vampire mashing!
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is released in UK and Ireland on the 20th of June and in the USA and Canada on the 22nd June.
What do you expect from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? Is it just too left-field to work. Or does the premise manage to sit in that small place between insanity and genius? Let us know in the comments box below.
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