Honest Abe Hated Serial Killers, and Rufus Sewell Dares Not

Rufus Sewell, Erin Wasson, and Benjamin Walker as Adam, Vadoma, and the titular Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter/ 20th Century Fox
Rufus Sewell, Erin Wasson, and Benjamin Walker as Adam, Vadoma, and the titular Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter/ 20th Century Fox

Hopefully it’s not a spoiler to suggest that most probably Abe, clean-shaven in the image above, somehow makes it out of this jam to arrive in 1865. We don’t think it’s that alternate a history.

Based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also co-authored the screenplay, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is being produced by aesthetic visionary Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, who directed this film as well as the lively assassin-action flick Wanted. The featurette below gives you snips of the trailer, interspersed with jawing, however, we include it specifically for the Rufus Sewell, an actor of which—we know from Zen— crime fans are inordinately fond.

Be warned, if you’re looking for another heroic turn, Sewell’s back to earning his daily bread, or blood, by being a villain in this one. Though Sewell told the UK Press Association it can occasionally get boring playing baddies, this film is actually a novelty as it was his first vampire role. And not just any vampire, mind you, the PRESIDENT of vampires. If you’re going to go bad, be the Boss.

If we at HQ consider vampires serial killers (certainly, we ought) and any effective vampire hunter as a kind of crimefighter (surely, we must), then this movie leaps and spins right into our arena of historical thrillers. But really, how much intellectual justification do we need when we simply crave seeing goodness swing its axe in 3D against the forces of darkness?

Comments

  1. Christopher Morgan

    “Goodness swing its axe in 3D against the forces of darkness” is now one of my favorite sayings. Though would have preferred “axe of justice”.

  2. Teresa Nielsen Hayden

    Oh, I hope this is as good as its trailer. The interstitial secret history of Abraham Lincoln filmed by Tim Burton, plus vampires, plus Rufus Sewell (I’ve never quite gotten over his turn as Seth Starkadder in Cold Comfort Farm) — what’s not to like?

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