History tells us that Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, the Great Emancipator, and a man who preserved the Union during the bloodiest conflict on American soil.
Let’s be honest: nobody watches a movie with this title for the political commentary. We watch it to see Lincoln decapitate vampires with a silver-coated pocket watch attached to his axe. abraham lincoln vampire hunter movie
Additionally, the film sidesteps the most uncomfortable implication: Lincoln himself uses vampire blood to heal from a near-fatal wound, making him temporarily “more than human.” Does that mean he cheated history? The film doesn’t explore this. It wants Lincoln to be both a mortal man of great will and a supernatural action hero, and those two ideas clash. History tells us that Abraham Lincoln was the
Wait—the railroad? Yes. The film argues that vampires fear moving water (a traditional trope) and the industrial might of united states. The railroad, built by immigrant and free Black labor, represents a new national economy not based on blood-feudalism. In a startling monologue, Lincoln tells his best friend (a free Black man, played by Anthony Mackie) that killing vampires one by one is “the old way.” The new way is infrastructure, legislation, and total war. Wait—the railroad
Based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2010 novel (who also wrote the screenplay), the film posits that a secret war against vampires underpins the 16th president’s entire life. Young Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) discovers that vampires—led by the elegant, plantation-owning Adam (Rufus Sewell)—are not just monsters but the economic engine of the American slave trade. Lincoln’s personal vendetta (the vampires killed his mother) transforms into a national crusade: to destroy the undead, he must first destroy the institution that empowers them.
Known for his high-energy visual style in Wanted , he brought a signature kinetic energy to the film's many action sequences.