braham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is this generation's Billy the Kid vs. Dracula or Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter. Unlike those 1960s low-budget cult classics, this is a summer tentpole from a major studio produced by Tim Burton and directed by Wanted’s Timur Bekmambetov. The movie’s a hybrid horror movie and straightforward biopic with the final result being neither fish nor fowl. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter isn't scary or exciting enough to truly work as a horror flick; it’s not even silly enough to laugh at. Indeed, the movie takes itself so seriously that it never seems like it’s having any fun, so it’s tough to feel much of anything but ambivalence while watching all the bloody mayhem unfold.
The visual effects are fine, with strategically utilized CG dust and mist obscuring some of the more potentially cartoonish touches. The makeup and wigs are hit-and-miss (Winstead’s old age makeup is terrible), and the sets, while period accurate, nevertheless make Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter feel like it was shot at Disneyland.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’s heart may be in the right place -- and any film that makes people interested in reading up on the real Lincoln must be commended -- but overall the film is, ironically, bloodless, chugging along from Great Lincoln Historical Moment to carefully choreographed action set-piece without ever generating much energy or enthusiasm.
