Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2011) Dir: Timur Bekmambetov

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My main reason for watching this rather absurd sounding action horror film, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, was because it sounded like it would be a fun mixture of very dumb and very funny. I was not expecting this to be a genuinely good film, not one bit, but I was hoping that it would be one of those 'so bad it's good' films that I could have a good time with.

From a cinematography perspective, this film looked pretty ugly. The colour palette was so inconsistent and unsatisfying to look at, and the lighting was often so dim that it was hard to see what was going on a lot of the time. The CGI wasn't great either, particularly the fully CGI horses, which looked absolutely horrendous. This was extremely evident during the absurd chase sequence.

The narrative was a hot mess, but I can't pretend like I didn't find it rather amusing all the same. The clumsy mashing together of vampire monster film and vague presidential biopic made for a convoluted and ridiculous story, which was pretty abysmally written. I can't pretend that I didn't find myself laughing on numerous occasions, although how much that was by design and how much was because of the sheer audacity of the film is up for debate.

Benjamin Walker's portrayal of Abraham Lincoln was commendable, if not actually very good. I appreciated his commitment to the character, even in spite of the film's undoubtedly terrible writing. Yes, his acting was very over-the-top and dramatic, and not altogether great, but, much like the film as a whole, there was still plenty of entertainment to be had watching him perform as one of the most famous American men in history.

Dominic Cooper's performance was pretty terrible, if I'm being honest. It felt like he had watched 'Twilight' and 'The Lost Boys' for his character prep, and decided to wing it from there. It's safe to say that he did not sparkle. Meanwhile, the likes of Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Jimmi Simpson, tried and failed to give their supporting characters life and purpose, despite their characters feeling like a near total waste of space, thanks to some awful writing.

Rufus Sewell and Marton Csokas combined to provide the film with two equally terrible, tropy and forgettable villains that left next to no positive impression upon me in the slightest. They had very little personality, and certainly nothing original to work with. The only other names worth briefly mentioning, at least for attempting to provide something of note, were John Rothman and the wonderful Alan Tudyk.

Overall, I think this film is about as good and bad as I expected, in that, it was decidedly terrible, but in a fairly entertaining way. It certainly made me laugh a few times, which is about as much as I was hoping for. I think everyone should pretend that this film is fully factual, because, quite frankly, it's hilarious. It's the kind of film someone comes up with while under the influence. The only difference is, this one was actually made.