To begin with, the title is a misnomer. Not in the literal sense as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter does deliver on a bit of the ol’ uber violence, but in the expectation a title like that conjures. Taking an historical legend and filling in any blank spaces in his back-story with a ham-handed vampiric slasher really promises fun. Who didn’t instantly fantasize Abe Lincoln, beset with top hat and iconic beard, cleaving his way through beasts and spouting one-liners? Like the action films of old, where farcical titles like Die Hard 2: Die Harder delivered exactly what you expected: mindless fun. There’s been an unwelcome shift away from the tropes of your treasured seminal action flicks (granted this may have something to do with a certain day in September 2001), but that’s not to say the dynamic isn’t still fun, because that’s all it is. It takes an otherwise jarringly ludicrous scenario and makes it relatable and humane. It resonates with that pre-teen 90’s kid who gawked at the mind-numbing idiocy of explosions, sweaty shoot-outs and genuinely enjoying every minute of it.
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