Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (film)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a 2012 American
action fantasy horror film based on the 2010
mashup novel of the same name. The film was directed and co-produced by
Timur Bekmambetov, along with
Tim Burton. The novel's author,
Seth Grahame-Smith, wrote the adapted screenplay, and
Benjamin Walker stars as the title character. The real-life figure
Abraham Lincoln, the
16th President of the United States (1861–1865), is portrayed in the novel and the film as having a secret identity as a
vampire hunter. Filming began in Louisiana in March 2011 and the film was released in
3D on June 20, 2012 in the United Kingdom and June 22, 2012 in the United States.
Plot
In 1818,
Abraham Lincoln (
Benjamin Walker) lives in
Indiana with his parents,
Nancy (
Robin McLeavy) and
Thomas (
Joseph Mawle), who work at a
plantation owned by Jack Barts (
Marton Csokas). There, Lincoln befriends a young
African American boy,
William Johnson (
Anthony Mackie), and intervenes when he sees Johnson being beaten by an overseer. Because of his son's actions, Thomas is fired. That night, Lincoln sees Barts break into his house and attack Nancy. She falls ill the following day, and dies shortly afterwards. Thomas tells Lincoln that Barts poisoned Nancy.
Nine years later, a vengeful Lincoln attacks Barts at the docks, but Barts, who is actually a
vampire, overpowers him. However, before Barts can kill him, Lincoln is rescued by Henry Sturgess (
Dominic Cooper). Sturgess explains that vampires exist, and offers to teach Lincoln to be a vampire hunter. Lincoln accepts and, after a decade of training, travels to
Springfield, Illinois. During his training, Sturgess tells Lincoln that the vampires in America descend from Adam (
Rufus Sewell), a vampire who owns a plantation in
New Orleans with his sister, Vadoma (
Erin Wasson). Sturgess also tells Lincoln of the vampires' weakness,
silver, and presents him with a silver pocket watch.
In Springfield, Lincoln befriends shopkeeper
Joshua Speed (
Jimmi Simpson), and meets
Mary Todd (
Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Though Sturgess warned him not to form any close relationships, Lincoln develops romantic feelings for Mary.
Lincoln successfully finds and defeats Barts. Before dying, Barts reveals that Sturgess is also a vampire. Lincoln confronts Sturgess, who reveals that, several years ago, he was attacked and bitten by Adam. Because Sturgess' soul was impure, he became a vampire, and that prevented him from harming Adam or any other vampire (since "Only the living can kill the dead"). Sturgess has since been training vampire hunters, hoping to destroy Adam.
Disappointed, Lincoln decides to abandon his mission. However, Adam learns of his activities and kidnaps Johnson to lure Lincoln into a
trap at his plantation. Adam captures Lincoln and tries to recruit him, revealing his plans to turn the United States into a nation of the undead. Speed rescues his friends, and they escape to
Ohio.
Lincoln marries Mary and begins his political career, campaigning to abolish slavery. Sturgess warns Lincoln that the slave trade keeps vampires under control, as vampires use slaves for food, and if Lincoln interferes, the vampires will retaliate. After Lincoln's election as
President of the United States of America, he moves to the
White House with Mary, where they have a son,
William Wallace Lincoln (
Cameron M. Brown). William is later bitten by Vadoma and dies.
Confederate President
Jefferson Davis (
John Rothman) convinces Adam to deploy his vampires on the front lines. Lincoln orders the confiscation of all the silverware in the area and has it melted to produce silver weapons. Speed, believing that Lincoln is tearing the nation apart, defects and informs Adam that Lincoln will transport the silver by train.
On the train, Adam and Vadoma, who have set fire to the upcoming trestle, attack Lincoln, Sturgess, and Johnson. During the fight Adam learns that the train holds only rocks. Speed reveals that his betrayal was a ruse to lure Adam into a trap, and Adam kills Speed for this. Lincoln uses his watch to stab Adam, killing him, and the three escape the train before it explodes. Meanwhile, Mary and the ex-slaves have transported the silver to Gettysburg through the
Underground Railroad - it is here that Vadoma is killed by Mary.
The now leaderless Confederate vampires stage a final, massive
assault and are met head on by the Union. Armed with their silver weapons, the Union soldiers destroy the vampires and eventually win the war.
Nearly two years later, on
April 14, 1865, Sturgess tells Lincoln that the remaining vampires have fled the country. Sturgess tries to convince Lincoln to allow him to turn Lincoln into a vampire, so that he can become immortal and continue to fight vampires, but Lincoln declines and leaves for the theater with his wife, apparently implying he is soon to be assassinated by
John Wilkes Booth.
In modern times, Sturgess approaches a man at a bar in
Washington, D.C. as he once approached Lincoln.
Cast
- Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln, a secret vampire hunter, who serves as the 16th President of the United States and the main protagonist.[3]
- Dominic Cooper as Henry Sturgess, Lincoln's mentor in vampire hunting and a vampire who lost his wife and humanity to vampires.
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln's wife.[4]
- Anthony Mackie as William Johnson, Lincoln's valet and friend.[5]
- Jimmi Simpson as Joshua Speed, Lincoln's friend and assistant.[6]
- Rufus Sewell as Adam, the powerful leader of an order of vampires and the movie's main antagonist.[7]
- Marton Csokas as Jack Barts, a plantation owner and the vampire who killed Lincoln's mother.
- Joseph Mawle as Thomas Lincoln, Lincoln's father.
- Robin McLeavy as Nancy Lincoln, Lincoln's mother.[8]
- Erin Wasson as Vadoma, Adam's sister.
- John Rothman as Jefferson Davis
- Cameron M. Brown as William Wallace Lincoln, Abraham and Mary's son.[9]
- Frank Brennan as Senator Jeb Nolan
- Jaqueline Fleming as Harriet Tubman
- Alan Tudyk as Stephen A. Douglas, an American politician from Illinois.[8]
Production
The film
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was first announced in March 2010 when
Tim Burton and Bekmambetov paired to purchase film rights and to finance its development themselves. The book's author, Seth Grahame-Smith, was hired to write the script.
[10] In the following October, Fox beat other studios in a bidding war for rights to the film, having made a detailed pitch about the film's production, marketing, and release.
[11] In January 2011, with Bekmambetov attached as director, Walker was cast as Abraham Lincoln. He beat
Adrien Brody,
Josh Lucas,
James D'Arcy, and
Oliver Jackson-Cohen for the role.
[3] Additional actors were cast in the following February.
[12][4][6] Filming began in March 2011 in
Louisiana.
[3][12] The film had a budget of
$69 million and was produced in 3D.
[13] Release
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was originally scheduled to be released in 2D and 3D on October 28, 2011, but was later pushed back to
June 22, 2012.
[13][14] The movie premiered in
New York City on June 18.
[15] Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter also made an unconventional debut with a screening for troops deployed in the Middle East. The movie was screened to over 1800 sailors aboard the Navy aircraft carrier,
USS Abraham Lincoln, which is stationed in the Middle East. Several of the film's stars attended the screening, including Anthony Mackie, Erin Wasson and Benjamin Walker, who dressed in character as Abraham Lincoln. The screening marks the first time that a major motion picture made its debut for United States servicemen and women.
[16] Reception
As of June 24, 2012,
Rotten Tomatoes reports a "rotten" approval score of 35%, based on 169 reviews, with an average score of 4.9/10 and with an audience rating of 57%. The consensus reads that the film "has visual style to spare, but its overly serious tone doesn't jibe with its decidedly silly central premise, leaving filmgoers with an unfulfilling blend of clashing ingredients."
Emanuel Levy of EmanuelLevy.com wrote that "Though original, this is a strenuous effort to combine the conventions of two genres."
[17] The movie also garnered a "mixed or average" score of 42 out of 100 on
Metacritic, based on 35 reviews.
[18] Richard Corliss of
Time magazine elaborates, saying that "The historical epic and the monster movie run on parallel tracks, occasionally colliding but never forming a coherent whole."
[19] Christy Lemire of
Associated Press meanwhile, comments on the film's tenor and visual effects, saying "What ideally might have been playful and knowing is instead uptight and dreary, with a visual scheme that's so fake and cartoony, it depletes the film of any sense of danger," awarding the film a rating of 1.5 out of 4.
[20] Joe Morgenstern of
The Wall Street Journal agrees, saying, "Someone forgot to tell the filmmakers ... that the movie was supposed to be fun. Or at least smart."
[21] Joe Neumaler of
New York Daily News gives the film a rating of 1 out of 5, writing, "This insipid mashup of history lesson and monster flick takes itself semi-seriously, which is truly deadly."
[22] The title is praised by
Manohla Dargis of
The New York Times, who adds, "it's too bad someone had to spoil things by making a movie to go with it."
[23] The title is further commented on by Barbara VanDenburgh from the
Arizona Republic, who says, "The problem with movies based on a single joke is that a single joke is rarely funny enough to sustain the running time of a feature-length film".
Positive response meanwhile, came from Marc Savlov of the
Austin Chronicle, "
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has heart to spare, and the occasional silvered bayonet to run it through."
[24] USA Today reviewer Scott Bowles remarks, "A stylish slasher of a movie, a monster flick that does its vampires right, if not their real-life counterparts," giving the film 2.5 out of 4.
[25] Further acclaim came from
Joe Williams of
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who calls it, "The best action movie of the summer," and praising the film for presenting "a surprisingly respectful tone toward American values and their most heroic proponent", calling "the battlefield scenes [...] suitably epic" and finally commending leading star Benjamin Walker, "a towering actor who looks like a young Liam Neeson and never stoops to caricature."
[26] Box office
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has gross receipts as of September 4, 2012 of $90,673,371. Domestic receipts were $37,473,371 (41.3%) and $53,200,000 (58.7%) from outside the US.
[27] Home media
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States and Canada on October 23, 2012.
[28] Soundtrack
The soundtrack to
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter as composed by
Henry Jackman was released digitally on June 12, 2012 and set to be released physically on July 3, 2012.
[29][30] In addition,
Linkin Park's song "Powerless", from their 2012 album
Living Things premiered in the official trailer to
Abraham Lincoln and was the first song to be played over the closing credits, followed by "The Rampart Hunter".
[31] However, the song was not featured in the soundtrack.
[32]
|
| 1. | "Childhood Tragedy" | Henry Jackman | 0:54 |
| 2. | "Vampires" | Henry Jackman | 3:06 |
| 3. | "What Do You Hate?" | Henry Jackman | 1:15 |
| 4. | "Power Comes from Truth" | Henry Jackman | 2:29 |
| 5. | "You Are Full of Surprises" | Henry Jackman | 1:15 |
| 6. | "Mary Todd" | Henry Jackman | 1:56 |
| 7. | "The Horse Stampede" | Henry Jackman | 3:15 |
| 8. | "Henry Sturgess" | Henry Jackman | 0:55 |
| 9. | "Adam" | Henry Jackman | 1:28 |
| 10. | "Rescue Mission" | Henry Jackman | 1:15 |
| 11. | "Inauguration" | Henry Jackman | 1:52 |
| 12. | "All Slave to Something" | Henry Jackman | 2:49 |
| 13. | "Emancipation" | Henry Jackman | 0:45 |
| 14. | "Haunted by the Past" | Henry Jackman | 3:00 |
| 15. | "Battle at Gettysburg" | Henry Jackman | 0:49 |
| 16. | "Forging Silver" | Henry Jackman | 1:40 |
| 17. | "80 Miles" | Henry Jackman | 1:52 |
| 18. | "The Burning Bridge" | Henry Jackman | 3:41 |
| 19. | "Not the Only Railroad" | Henry Jackman | 1:38 |
| 20. | "The Gettysburg Address" | Henry Jackman | 2:22 |
| 21. | "Late to the Theater" | Henry Jackman | 2:00 |
| 22. | "The Rampant Hunter" (iTunes exclusive) | Henry Jackman | 5:30 |
Total length: | 45:32 |
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