Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a 2012 American action fantasy horror film based on the 2010 mashup novel of the same name. The film was directed and co-produced by Timur Bekmambetov, along with Tim Burton. The novel's author, Seth Grahame-Smith, wrote the adapted screenplay, and Benjamin Walker stars as the title character. The real-life figure Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States (1861–1865), is portrayed in the novel and the film as having a secret identity as a vampire hunter. Filming began in Louisiana in March 2011 and the film was released in 3D on June 20, 2012 in the United Kingdom and June 22, 2012 in the United States.
Plot
In 1818, Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) lives with his parents, Nancy (Robin McLeavy) and Thomas (Joseph Mawle), who work at a plantation owned by Jack Barts (Marton Csokas). There, Lincoln befriends a young African American boy, William Johnson (Anthony Mackie),
and intervenes when he sees Johnson being beaten by an overseer.
Because of his son's actions, Thomas is fired. That night, Lincoln sees
Barts break into his house and attack Nancy. She dies shortly
afterwards. Thomas tells Lincoln that Barts poisoned Nancy.
Nine years later, a vengeful Lincoln attacks Barts at the docks, but Barts, who is actually a vampire, overpowers him. However, before Barts can kill him, Lincoln is rescued by Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper).
Sturgess explains that vampires exist, and offers to teach Lincoln to
be a vampire hunter. Lincoln accepts and, after a decade of training,
travels to Springfield, Illinois. During his training, Sturgess tells Lincoln that the vampires in America descend from Adam (Rufus Sewell), a vampire who owns a plantation in New Orleans with his sister, Vadoma (Erin Wasson). Sturgess also tells Lincoln of the vampires' weakness, silver, and presents him with a silver pocket watch.
In Springfield, Lincoln befriends shopkeeper Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson), and meets Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Though Sturgess warned him not to form any close relationships, Lincoln develops romantic feelings for Mary.
Lincoln successfully finds and defeats Barts. Before dying, Barts
reveals that Sturgess is also a vampire. Lincoln confronts Sturgess, who
reveals that, many years ago, he and his wife were attacked and bitten
by Adam. She died because her soul was pure, but because Sturgess' was
impure, he became a vampire, and that prevented him from killing Adam or
any other vampire (since "Only the living can kill the dead"). Sturgess
has since been training vampire hunters, hoping to destroy Adam. Disappointed, Lincoln decides to abandon his mission. However, Adam
learns of his activities and kidnaps Johnson to lure Lincoln into a trap
at his plantation. Adam captures Lincoln and tries to recruit him,
revealing his plans to turn the United States into a nation of the
undead. Speed rescues his friends, and they escape to Ohio.
Lincoln marries Mary and begins his political career, campaigning to
abolish slavery. Sturgess warns Lincoln that the slave trade keeps
vampires under control, as vampires use slaves for food, and if Lincoln
interferes, the vampires will retaliate. After Lincoln's election as President of the United States of America, he moves to the White House with Mary, where they have a son, William Wallace Lincoln (Cameron M. Brown). William is later bitten by Vadoma and dies. Confederate President Jefferson Davis (John Rothman)
convinces Adam to deploy his vampires on the front lines. Lincoln
orders the confiscation of all the silverware in the area and has it
melted to produce silver weapons. Speed, believing that Lincoln is
tearing the nation apart, defects and informs Adam that Lincoln will
transport the silver by train.
On the train, Adam and Vadoma, who have set fire to the upcoming
trestle, attack Lincoln, Sturgess, and Johnson. During the fight Adam
learns that the train holds only rocks. Speed reveals that his betrayal
was a ruse to lure Adam into a trap, and Adam kills Speed for this.
Lincoln wraps his silver watch around his fist and punches through
Adam's chest, killing him, and Lincoln escapes the exploding train
alongside his allies. Meanwhile, Mary and the ex-slaves have transported
the silver to Gettysburg through the Underground Railroad - it is here that Vadoma is killed by Mary.
The now leaderless Confederate vampires stage a final, massive assault
and are met head on by the Union. Armed with their silver weapons, the
Union soldiers destroy the vampires and eventually win the war. Nearly two years later, on April 14, 1865,
Sturgess tells Lincoln that the remaining vampires have fled the
country. Sturgess tries to convince Lincoln to allow him to turn Lincoln
into a vampire, so that he can become immortal and continue to fight
vampires, but Lincoln declines and leaves for the theater with his wife,
apparently implying he is soon to be assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
In modern times, Sturgess approaches a man at a bar in Washington, D.C. as he once approached Lincoln.
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