A bloody spectacle to feast on

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Barry C Chung
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Barry C Chung |
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Toss historical accuracy out the window. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a work of fiction. It takes slivers of history - mainly parts of Abraham Lincoln's life and his opposition to slavery - places them in a civil war setting, and injects a high dosage of action and drama. And, of course, it's chock-full of scares.

In the process, the film fumbles accepted vampire lore. Typically, once you're bitten by a vampire, you become one. Not according to Seth Grahame-Smith, writer of the source novel and movie script. It's something that's hard to overlook. That aside, the film is entertaining.

As a child, Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) witnesses the death of his mother after a vampire attack. From that point forward, he devotes his life to eliminating evil (not all; there's a distinction) vampires off the face of the Earth.

He's trained by the do-good vampire Henry (Dominic Cooper). Vampires purchase slaves for feeding, and Lincoln, with a few swoops of his axe, manages to emancipate them while fending off vampire boss Adam (Rufus Sewell) and his southern army.

As expected, director Timur Bekmambetov, the man that helmed Wanted, adds major flair to the action scenes. Lincoln's weapon of choice is a silver tipped axe that he twirls like a baton and uses to slice and dice vampire flesh. Heavy use of special effects make this an action-packed visual spectacle very much in line with other highly stylised action flicks.

Contains frightening scenes

YP Rating: 3/5



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