Line #82 Film/AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bnjy2mzc0mda4nv5bml5banbnxkftztcwotg5otcxnw_v1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TagLine President by day. Hunter by night.]]'']]
3
4	->''"History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet deeds. History remembers the battle, but forgets the blood. Whatever history remembers of me, if it remembers me at all, it shall only remember a fraction of the truth. For whatever else I am - a husband, a lawyer, a president - I shall always think of myself first and foremost as a hunter."''
5	-->-- '''Abraham Lincoln'''
6
7	''Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'' is a film adaptation of [[Literature/AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter the book of the same name]]. It was released in 2012 and directed by [[Film/{{Wanted}} Timur Bekmambetov]], produced by Creator/TimBurton, and starring Creator/BenjaminWalker in the title role. Seth Grahame-Smith adapted the screenplay himself.
8
9	Young UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln sees his mother die when he is just a boy. He soon discovers that a vampire is responsible. Swearing [[YouKilledMyFather vengeance]], Lincoln embarks on a personal campaign to [[VampireHunter hunt and slay the Undead]], with help of Henry Sturges.
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11	----
12	!!Tropes:
13
14	* AbnormalAmmo:
15	** A horse. ''Thrown'', but still pretty abnormal.
16	** Also Henry suggests using a silver watch when short on ammunition, and [[spoiler:Mary uses the silver sword her son had.]]
17	* ActorAllusion: When Abraham goes after the Vampire who killed his mother, the latter announces that it's 'Abraham fucking Lincoln' in much the same way that UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson announces that he's 'Andrew fucking Jackson' in ''Theatre/BloodyBloodyAndrewJackson''. Benjamin Walker (who plays Lincoln) originated the role of Jackson.
18	* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Inverted. Henry in the book is brooding and continues to mourn his loved ones but the movie's Henry is quite TheHedonist as Abe first officially meets him while he's having sex in the bath.
19	* AdaptationDistillation: Unlike in the book, the film never lets us know the extremely important, historically ''crucial'' issue of whether or not John Wilkes Booth was a vampire.
20	* AdaptationExpansion: Seth Grahame-Smith has admitted making changes to his book's story to make it a better fit to the screen, including creating a specific antagonist and some larger-scale action sequences.
21	* AdaptationalWimp: Vampires fight each other regularly in the book, but the movie demonstrates that vampires cannot harm each other, as "only the living can kill the dead."
22	* AdrenalineTime: Half of all the action scenes alternate between slowing down and speeding up.
23	* AllOfThem: Abe's response when asked [[spoiler:how much silver they should collect to forge into ammunition? "All of it."]]
24	* AncientConspiracy: Slavery. A means for Southern plantations to obtain cheap labor? No, that's just what they ''want'' you to think. Slavery was ''really'' a ploy by vampires to obtain a steady source of nourishment all along. When Lincoln's Gettysburg Address mentioned "government of the people, by the people, and for the people," he wasn't talking about democracy, he was talking about wanting a country run by human beings instead of the undead.
25	* ArtisticLicenceHistory: Considering this is a film about President Abraham Lincoln fighting vampires, this is to be expected.
26	* AssholeVictim: A thug is trying to rape a woman when he is killed by Sturges, [[spoiler:who is revealed to be a vampire himself]].
27	* AsTheGoodBookSays: Biblical quotes and references abound. In particular, the trailer quotes the book of Revelation[[note]]or for our Catholic friends, The Apocalypse [[/note]] (by way of Music/JohnnyCash) concerning [[TheGrimReaper Death]] appropriately enough.
28	* AttemptedRape: A thug does this to a woman in an alley.
29	* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Adam, presumably thanks to 5000 years of experience. His sister Vadoma as well.
30	* AutomatonHorses: Speed's carriage [[spoiler: running straight through a wall.]]
31	** Also, horses that get ''thrown'' apparently don't get injured and can still be used for riding immediately after that.
32	* BackToBackBadasses: Abe and Will during the TraintopBattle.
33	* BadassLongcoat:
34	** Abe wears his famous longcoat at various points in the film, usually to conceal his ax.
35	** Adams also wears one.
36	* TheBaroness: Vadoma, of the "sexpot" variety. (Watch her moan as she pins Abe down between her legs.) True to the trope, since she [[spoiler:never [[VillainessesWantHeroes falls for the hero]], she dies.]]
37	* BashBrothers: Abraham and his friend [[Creator/AnthonyMackie Will Johnson]].
38	* BatmanGambit: Speed [[spoiler:tells the vampires about the train carrying silver weapons the Union Army, claiming he's trying to get back at Abe for tearing the country apart over slavery. Adam and a mass of other vampires ambush the train, but it turns out to be carrying a cargo of rocks. Speed, Lincoln and friends soon turn the tables on their attackers. Meanwhile, the real silver is transported to the Union camp by a group of freed slaves. As Will puts it, "There's another railroad"... the Underground Railroad.]]
39	* BigBad: Adam, the apparent leader of all the vampires in America.
40	* BigDamnHeroes:
41	** Speed's saving Will and Abe from [[spoiler:Adam and Vadoma by means of smashing through their front door with a horse and carriage]]!
42	** A more minor example happens between Will and Abe. Will is out of ammo and is just frantically working to release the brakes when a vampire closes in and gets ready to lunge. Cue Abe shooting the vampire with his [[MixAndMatchWeapon axe-gun]].
43	** Henry has one too, arriving in the nick of time [[spoiler:saving Abe from being bitten by Adam]].
44	* BigNo: Lincoln when [[spoiler: Adam kills Speed]].
45	* {{Bookends}}: Lincoln's opening narration about history preferring myth to men is repeated during the end of the movie. Likewise, [[spoiler:the final scene is set in the present day, with Henry's first meeting with Lincoln being repeated with a new potential hunter]].
46	* BoomStick: [[spoiler:Abe's axe, the handle of which is converted to a single-shot muzzle-loader.]]
47	* CassandraTruth: When Abe reveals to Mary Todd on their first date that he is a vampire hunter, she thinks he's just joking.
48	* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Abe, after Henry trains him. Not quite as exaggerated as you might think, since the historical version was already noted for his great strength and athleticism.
49	* ChekhovsGun: Early on, Henry tells Abe that the blunderbuss is the best gun to use, since even if you drop the shot, the gun is large enough that you can still load it with something else. He suggests that Lincoln load the blunderbuss with his pocket watch if he loses his ball. [[spoiler:Guess what Lincoln later uses to kill Adam?]]
50	* CoolShades: Wearing these is a telltale sign that someone's a vampire, since their eyes are sensitive to sunlight. [[spoiler:Yes, that includes Henry.]]
51	* CreatorCameo: Grahame-Smith admitted the potential vampire hunter at the end is played by him in an interview with Time Magazine.
52	* DaywalkingVampire: Thanks to the sun screen the vampires can walk in daylight.
53	* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Joshua Speed]].
54	* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Both Adam and Vadoma are killed by silver {{Tragic Keepsake}}s.]]
55	* DecoyConvoy: Abe and a few crewmen are securing a train that carries silverclad things to be used against the Confederacy vampires in the Civil War. Predictably, the vampires -- including Adam -- try ambushing the train. [[spoiler:Only to find out that the train contains no silver, except for Abe's pocket watch (which he uses to kill Adam). The real silver stocks are being carried by freed slaves, and that convoy goes safely, allowing the Union side to decisively win the war with silver bullets.]]
56	* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: After Jefferson Davis [[spoiler:recruits the vampires into the Confederate Army]] and things start to go sour at Gettysburg, Lincoln devises a plan to [[spoiler:gather up all the silverware in Washington and melt it down to produce silver ammunition.]] This ends up being the focal point of the final battle between Lincoln and the bad guys.
57	* DiscOneFinalBoss: You didn't expect [[spoiler:Jack Barts]] to get killed off so early, did you?
58	* TheDragon: Adam's sister Vadoma.
59	* DragonTheirFeet: When Adam [[spoiler:is killed by Lincoln in their final fight, Vadoma goes after Mary... and ends up shot right in the forehead.]]
60	* TheEmpire: The vampires effectively control the South, using the slave system as an endless supply of food. [[spoiler: With Adam's death and the end of the slave system, the empire collapses and most of the vampires flee the country.]]
61	* EurekaMoment: Lincoln comes up with the idea of making [[spoiler:silver ammunition after declaring the Union's bayonets as useless as a (silver) fork.]] You can see the gears in his head starting to turn even as he finishes saying it.
62	* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: Realistically speaking, Lincoln's distinctly {{Wuxia}} fighting style, learned from Henry, couldn't have been mastered in the year or so he spent training. Though there's no mention of anything superhuman about it, the vampire-hunting trade seems to almost be treated like some kind of special superpower, with Lincoln "learning" to pull off feats that reach [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Charles Atlas-levels]].
63	* EvilIsHammy: All the vampires are this.
64	* EyeScream: In his first duel with his mother's murderer, Abraham puts a bullet right in his eye. Being a vampire, he survives, but is rendered partially blind. [[spoiler: During their rematch, Abe shoots him in the ''other'' eye, downing him long enough to finish him off.]]
65	* FakeDefector: [[spoiler:Speed pretends to sell out Lincoln in order to lure Adam into a trap.]]
66	* FatalFamilyPhoto: A Union soldier kisses a picture of his wife/girlfriend before a battle. [[CurbstompBattle He's going up against vampires.]]
67	* FightingForAHomeland: A rare evil version: the vampires want, "a nation of their own".
68	* ForegoneConclusion: Any American who paid attention in history class would know from the start that [[spoiler:William was gonna die]]. Also, the film ends with [[spoiler:Abe going to the theater after having won the war]].
69	* {{Main/Foreshadowing}}: Lincoln's father says to his boss, Barts: "You get another penny from me, Mister Barts, it will come with a fist, wrapped around it." [[spoiler:Lincoln kills Adam by gut-punching him with a silver watch-chain wrapped around his fist.]]
70	* GoryDiscretionShot: Despite being rated R, the film has a few of these when Lincoln decapitates vampires, including [[spoiler: when he finishes off Barts]].
71	* GunsAkimbo: Will wields two pistols to great effect in the final battle.
72	* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: Abraham Lincoln is not just an abolitionist politician, but a vampire hunter who kicks ''major'' ass with his axe.
73	** There's no historical evidence that Willie Johnson, Lincoln's valet, could fight with pistols atop a moving train.
74	* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Most of the historical characters if we go by the casting. Somewhat justified in that half the plot takes place when characters were younger, and the later period uses aging prosthetics.
75	* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Lincoln and the Union aren't just fighting to abolish slavery and keep the United States together, but also to rid the country of the vampires who have been perpetuating slavery all along. In terms of comparisons to RealLife, Abe in the movie is shown to be a vocal and physical protester of slavery, being best friends with the former slave and the real Lincoln's valet William H. Johnson and getting into fights on his behalf since childhood. Even in the book, Lincoln worked to abolish slavery mostly to cut off the vampiric population's food supply.
76	* HunterOfHisOwnKind: [[spoiler:Sturges]]
77	* ImprovisedWeapon: During Abraham's rematch with the vampire who killed his mother, said vampire throws a ''horse'' at him. Abe himself pulls off a pretty impressive move in response. The thrown horse hits him dead on, but in the ensuing tumble, he manages to cling to its back and resume the pursuit riding that very horse.
78	* LargeHam: Dominic Cooper as Henry has his moments.
79	* LikeCannotCutLike: Usually this trope applies only to weapons, but due to a "one of {{God}}'s little tricks", vampires can't kill each other. (They can still fight and do harm to each other, but SomeKindOfForceField prevents anyone from landing killing strikes.) [[spoiler:This is why Henry trains hunters like Abe to act as proxies.]]
80	* MamaBear: Mary Lincoln. [[spoiler:Bet you regretting killing their son now, don't you Adam/Vadoma?]]
81	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Mary Todd.
82	* MeaningfulName: Adam is the first vampire of the New World.
83	* MixAndMatchWeapon: Abe's axe starts as a normal axe, but gets [[spoiler:a gun hidden in the handle]] in time for his rematch with Barts. And soon after that, we see a [[spoiler:bayonet]] on it in the train.
84	* TheMountainsOfIllinois: A literal example. While Abe rides after his mother's killer during the horse stampede, they both fall down a large cliff into a valley. Illinois is perhaps one of the flattest states in America. Finding a cliff is more than a little difficult. And to top that off, the events leading up to this involve them starting at some waterfront and then bounding across the great plains before tumbling down said cliff.
85	* TheNecrocracy: The Confederate States are in fact run behind the scenes by a vampire oligarchy led by the first vampire, Adam, and the system of slavery is there to provide them with a regular food source.
86	* NotWearingTights: Seth Graham-Smith and Timur Bekmambetov have both likened the movie to a superhero origin story.
87	* OhCrap: In one scene, Lincoln is fighting vampires within a thick cloud of train steam. He cuts down vampire after vampire, and the music fittingly grows triumphant, when he takes one last swing... and the ax stops mid-swing. Some of the steam then blows aside to reveal the BigBad standing right there, grasping the handle and giving Lincoln the DeathGlare. Along with the ominous bell toll.
88	* OminousFog: The climax of the film, though it's technically steam and smoke billowing out from the train's chimney. The effect is the same, though as the end result is a scene engulfed in water vapor. On top of the ominousness, it also happens to give the fight scene a [[RuleOfCool slick visual style]].
89	* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: While Lincoln gives up vampire hunting after he settles down with Mary Todd and becomes president, he winds up personally leading the defense of the [[spoiler:fake]] convoy of silver along with his two closest advisers.
90	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: In addition to the differences established in the book, the film has vampires being able to turn invisible, and also making it so that they're physically incapable of killing each other [[spoiler:(which is why Henry trains disciples like Abe; they can do what he can't).]]
91	* PapaWolf: At the beginning of the film, Abe's dad gets an epic moment when he [[CurbStompBattle beats the crap out of]] a slave hunter who was whipping Will and Abe. Given the relationship between Lincoln and his father in RealLife, this could also count as a HistoricalHeroUpgrade.
92	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Adam and lesser vampires indulge in FantasticRacism and promote slavery.
93	* PrecisionFStrike: Barts (the vampire who killed Lincoln's mother) upon realizing Abe's come back for a rematch:
94	-->'''Barts:''' Abraham ''fucking'' Lincoln.
95	* RealEventFictionalCause: UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar was caused partly because the vampires want to support the Confederacy's racism policy against the black people, as the vampires feed from those people. The war also has vampires becoming the Confederacy's troops.
96	* Really700YearsOld: Adam claims he has lived for nearly 5000 years, and flashes back to the pyramids being built.
97	* SarcasticConfession: During a dinner date with Mary Todd, Lincoln dozes off into his tea. His justification? He spends his nights hunting vampires.
98	* SiblingTeam: Adam and Vadoma, the leaders of the American vampires.
99	* SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness: Biologically they're pretty much in the middle of the scale, leaning a bit to unfriendly. Other than a bite that inevitably turns or kills the victim, vampires have no innate compulsion towards evil.
100	* SouthernGothic: the Old South is full of vampires who [[spoiler:attack and Kill Lincoln's family, incite the civil war and eventually have Lincoln murdered]].
101	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: If you've seen ''any'' trailer for the film, you'll know that the climax takes place on top of a train -- and that it'll eventually come crashing down on a burning bridge.
102	* TraintopBattle: The film's climax has one of these between Lincoln and his allies and Adam and his {{Mooks}} atop the train carrying [[spoiler:silver ammunition to the Union troops in Gettysburg. Except the silver is actually somewhere else]]
103	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: The plan is to [[spoiler:produce silver ammunition and ship it over to Gettysburg with the vampires being none the wiser,]] which the audience is made well aware of in advance; naturally, the vampires find out about it and make their strike. [[spoiler:This is then {{subverted}} when it turns out that there was in fact a crucial unspoken part of the plan, and the vampires played right into it.]]
104	* VampireMonarch: Adam is the ruler of all the vampires in America.
105	* VulnerableConvoy: The train full of [[spoiler:(supposedly) silver ammunition that's vital to the war effort.]] The entire climax of the movie centers around Abe and co. defending it.
106	* WeHaveReserves: Adam sacrifices an entire ballroom full of his minions in order to test how powerful Lincoln is.
107	* WeirdHistoricalWar: UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar - with vampires!
108	* WeirdWest
109	* WhamShot: When [[spoiler:Sturges is revealed to be a vampire]].
110	* WorldOfBadass: There is not a single character in this film who isn't a badass.
111	* WouldHurtAChild: Vadoma [[spoiler:kills Abe's son Willie]].
112	----

Context Film / AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter