REVIEW: 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'

Tim Burton presents this action mash-up of American history and horror fantasy directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), following the rise of Abraham Lincoln as both a nation’s leader and a hunter of the undead. Now playing nationwide. Also in 3D.

 --------------------------------------------------

This much-anticipated creative melding of Bekmambetov and Burton has to go down as the big disappointment of the year so far. In their determination to remain historically accurate, the pair have forgotten to have fun with what is essentially a lurid and laughable idea.

The antics of the top-hatted, axe-wielding Civil War-era aspiring American politician as he vows vengeance on the Dixie-siding bloodsuckers who took his mammy (most notably horribly typecast Kiwi Marton Csokas) just cry out for Gettysberg-inspired one-liners. However, instead we just get po-faced multiple beheadings, with grainly special effects rendered almost unwatchable when viewed through Bekmambetov’s gloom-filled palette.

A bizarro combination of The Matrix Revolutions and New Zealand’s own Perfect Creature, this is only worth watching for fans of feral facial fuzz, the winsome Winstead and for the truly surreal sight of Speights’ former Southern Man throwing a horse at our hero during a battle scene.

Lincoln himself once said that “everybody likes a compliment”, sadly it’s hard to find anything good to say about this cinematic stain on his good name.

• Watch trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
• More on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter