Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter stirs up controversy despite silly origins

The lack of sense of humor regarding ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ astounds me.

To me, the film sounds just stupid enough to be a cult classic – like ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail,’ ‘Heathers’ and ‘Napoleon Dynamite.’

Yet all I see on message boards are people complaining that the film is ruining Abraham Lincoln’s great name and disrespecting his legacy.

Really?

I doubt anyone thinks that he was really a vampire hunter – and those that do aren’t really worth worrying about are they?

‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ is the first “mash-up” to make it to the big screen.

What’s a mash-up? It’s essentially when a current author takes an older book that is currently in the public domain and “adds” a few things to it.

The first mash-up to get any attention was ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ – which actually catapulted onto the best sellers list.

Within a few months, everybody and their brother were trying to cash in on the phenomenon. We were inundated with ‘Sense and Sensibility with Sea Monsters,’ ‘Little Vampire Women,’ and ‘Android Karenina,’ among others.

Most everyone – myself included – expected to see one of these mash-ups make it to the big screen. I think everyone thought it would be ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,’ though.

The fact that ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ comes first was a surprise to everyone. Just to note, though, ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ is slated to hit theaters sometime next year.

When the first trailer for the movie came out a few months ago I thought it looked like a perfect summer movie: brainless and fun.

The problem is, there are actually people taking offense at the premise.

I find that to be the truly absurd thing – not that that Abraham Lincoln has been turned into a vampire slayer but that people are actually offended by it.

Real historical figures are put in movies and parodies all the time – and the celebrities and world leaders taken on by Comedy Central’s ‘South Park’ have a lot more to complain about than Abraham Lincoln fans do.

Quite frankly, Lincoln is being portrayed as the same man, who made the same great speeches and who had the same effect on history as he always was – he just happens to kill vampires on the side.

I guess, what I’m saying, is that people need to let go of the political correctness and have a little fun. Because if you can’t laugh at the thought of Abraham Lincoln being a vampire hunter – then you’re clearly beyond cinema therapy.

'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' stars Benjamin Walker and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The movie, which is rated R, opens in theaters Friday.

 

What do you think? Are people overreacting about ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’?