Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: June 22, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
14
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJun 21, 2012
A blast, the best action movie of the summer. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn LevyJun 21, 2012
When Bekmambetov is in full stride and the gore, oaths and silver bullets are flying, it's a kick. The title may sound like a joke, but Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is serious fun. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovJun 20, 2012
Benjamin Walker, as Lincoln, may not have the gangly gravitas of Raymond Massey's "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" – he looks like a young Liam Neeson doing a younger Bruce Campbell, frankly – but he does have a sly, self-effacing sense of humor that feels ever so Lincoln-esque Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 21, 2012
Instead of getting smirky and campy and blowing out the joke in the first few scenes, Grahame-Smith and director Timur Bekmambetov straight-face it. They ask themselves, well, what would it be like if the main struggle of Lincoln's life were with vampires intent on taking over the new world? And they answer the question as realistically and soberly as they can within this loony framework. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJun 20, 2012
Without a doubt the best film we are ever likely to see on the subject - unless there is a sequel, which is unlikely, because at the end, the Lincolns are on their way to the theater. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirJun 25, 2012
There's definitely some empty-calories, summer-movie fun to be found in this ludicrous genre mashup, most of it courtesy of maniacal Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, who stages hilarious, imaginative, almost free-form action sequences like nobody in the business. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweJun 20, 2012
Genre enthusiasts will lap up the mixture of action and fantasy, while history buffs who don't mind a bit of rewriting will dig into an alternative spin on the Civil War period. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangJun 20, 2012
A Civil War-era actioner of questionable taste and historical accuracy but surprisingly consistent entertainment value. Read full review
63
USA TodayScott BowlesJun 21, 2012
A stylish slasher of a movie, a monster flick that does its vampires right, if not their real-life counterparts. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 21, 2012
Both terribly silly and a lot of fun. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 21, 2012
One expects a movie called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to be rich in wit and black humor, but writer Seth Grahame-Smith and director Timur Bekmambetov opt to play things reasonably straight. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick SchagerJun 21, 2012
The script leaps forward with an absurdity almost as great as Lincoln's own strength. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 25, 2012
Bekmambetov directs with gusto, and the forthright absurdity of the story, combined with its weirdly heartfelt self-belief is winning. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumJun 22, 2012
With so much flesh crunching and bloodletting, it could have been scary as all Walking Dead get-out. Instead, the movie plays safe by cutting every theme down the middle - a swing that's effective when splitting wood or vampire skulls, but dull when applied to filmmaking. Read full review
50
Boxoffice MagazineKate ErblandJun 21, 2012
It's not nearly as snappy or campy as it should be-though its self-seriousness is its own kind of entertainment. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 21, 2012
It sounds fun. It's a little fun. For a while. But Bekmanbetov shoots every killing spree like an addled gamer, working that slow-down-speed-up kill-shot cliche like a maniac. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonJun 20, 2012
The training montage where Lincoln learns to twirl his axe around his body like a baton for no apparent purpose is neither the movie's first laughable sequence nor its last, but it sums up the movie's aesthetic: The filmmakers mistakenly think nothing is silly if it's done with a grim enough facial expression. Read full review
40
MovielineStephanie ZacharekJun 25, 2012
It doesn't take long for Bekmambetov to wear out his welcome with a laundry list of generic-looking action sequences: When you've seen one vampire get stabbed in the eyeball, you've seen 'em all. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJun 25, 2012
Unfortunately, there's also a certain artificiality to the whole film, both visually and narratively. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisJun 21, 2012
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is such a smashing title it's too bad someone had to spoil things by making a movie to go with it. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJun 21, 2012
Given the subject matter, an exercise in delicacy and restraint was unlikely, but it's too bad that the film's concept is way more entertaining than what has ended up on-screen. Read full review
40
EmpireDan JolinJun 21, 2012
The grave tone makes it stiff and leaden, the digi-saturated look is a turn-off. Damnable and disordered. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghJun 21, 2012
The problem with movies based on a single joke is that a single joke is rarely funny enough to sustain the running time of a feature-length film. And with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the whole joke is in the title. Read full review
40
TimeRichard CorlissJun 21, 2012
Watching this is like flipping channels randomly between a Masterpiece Theatre drama and a splatter film on Cinemax. If you're like me, you'll stick with the splatter. Read full review
40
Village VoiceNick PinkertonJun 20, 2012
Possible resulting "fun" is only slightly mitigated by contemplation of the wearisome decadence of American popular culture. Read full review
40
Total FilmNeil SmithJun 20, 2012
What [Bekmambetov] doesn't do is offer us any respite from his 3D CGI barrage, an assault on the senses that makes the bullet John Wilkes Booth fired into the real Abe's noggin seem calming by comparison. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)James AdamsJun 21, 2012
The biggest high comes from the images evoked by the title alone, or the title in tandem with the movie poster, doesn't it? Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 21, 2012
The movie deserves a stake through the heart. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 21, 2012
A pox upon history and an insult to the 16th president of the United States. It's that, of course - actually, that's the point - but this joyless, deafening cinematic headache commits a different crime. It's a sin against entertainment. Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 21, 2012
Other than its campy title, not much about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is fun. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJun 21, 2012
Enormous in its scope and colossal in its stupidity. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 21, 2012
What I don't understand is why this extended piece of idiocy chose to sink its stinky teeth into our 16th president. If an axe-wielding hero was required, George Washington would have been the better choice, with the Redcoats as bloodsuckers. Read full review
20
Time OutKeith UhlichJun 21, 2012
This ludicrous CGI extravaganza, based on the comic horror novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, can stand proudly beside the best-worst of Ed Wood and Uwe Boll. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJun 21, 2012
This insipid mashup of history lesson and monster flick takes itself semi-seriously, which is truly deadly. Read full review
0
New York PostKyle SmithJun 22, 2012
I didn't know whether to be more offended as a moviegoer or as an American, but I do know I'd rather gargle nitroglycerine than watch this again, though given that the film looks like it were buried under a log cabin for a century, I barely saw it the first time. Read full review
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