In the vein of the recent barrage of gimmicky novels where classics are twisted into modern horror genre works, we have a new movie coming soon to a theater near you: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Two trailers premiered for the movie this week, and I think the first one, the international trailer, is slightly better:
What I see from the novel is what is not there. That voice-over is the late Johnny Cash from an old audio recording. We don’t get a good look at young actor Benjamin Walker speaking as Lincoln and I think there is a reason–he doesn’t look or sound anything like Lincoln. Once you get past the title you realize that all this has going for it is a title. Whereas making a book like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies mixes up classic characters with strange modern horror ideas, this one deals with a real human. I think that will be jarring for audiences, even though Lincoln is many generations removed from us. What we see of Lincoln is very strange, especially his movement. I think the Sacagawea ad showing her as a museum exhibit, or the robot Lincoln at Disney World, are more animated than this guy (and look better):
The strange slow motion dance moves remind me of Gary Oldman’s creepy vampire minions in Dracula mixed with The Matrix. Aren’t we all bored by that slow motion action by now?
Here is the American version of the trailer:
It doesn’t look like a Tim Burton picture, but more like he lent his name to help the film, much like all those “Steven Spielberg Executive Producer” films that never are of the calibre of true Spielberg movies. The fact that they had to use Johnny Cash’s voice makes me think the actor playing Lincoln doesn’t have the voice well enough to show us in a preview. And where are all the vampires? I see guys in 1800s suits swinging stuff around but no clear vampires.
What’s with the image of modern day Washington, DC?
Wouldn’t it be cooler to show DC in a preview as it looked in 1861-1865?
The only thing I see going for this one is Rufus Sewell, our past best candidate for the next James Bond after Daniel Craig leaves the role behind. He doesn’t get high billing or featured in the trailer, either. Just too many oddities lend some real doubt to this movie going anywhere beyond its catchy title.
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
