Filthy Review - Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies

Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (2012)

Review by Chris MacGibbon

A few things come to mind when you think of the name Abraham Lincoln, for some he's the president who guided our country through the Civil War and freed the slaves, to others - he's that guy on the five dollar bill. The one thing folks don't usually bring to mind when they hear name, Abraham Lincoln, is zombies - to get even more specific, said man fighting said zombies. Of course, that is until now.

Step in The Asylum.

The newest addition into the famed studio's infamous "mockbusters" concerns President Lincoln as he joins up with his new secret service men to fight a ghastly new enemy during the midst of the ongoing Civil War between the northern and the southern United States. Turns out good ole' Abe has a bit of a history with the flesh-eating undead which is going to come in handy since they are now seem to be running rampant threatening the lives of the locals and soon, the entire US of A! Since Lincoln has some experience with the ghouls, he appoints himself to lead a mission to go to where the undead are beginning to fester and destroy them before it's too late.

When sitting down to watch one of these flicks, you expect certain things; bad acting, atrocious writing, shoddy effects, zero grade CGI, scripts loaded with dialogue that attempts to pass off as "witty", cliché characters, and to be honest; very little effort made to make anything other than a quick cash-in to whatever is churning out at the box office. At any rate, one cannot argue that most of what The Asylum manages to flush out is crap; but for the most part, it manages to be entertaining crap...mostly.

So when I popped this flick in I expected nothing more than anything what I listed above, what  I didn't expect was to see a film with surprisingly good acting, well written dialogue, accuracy and attention to historic detail and some pretty above average CGI effects. I can't believe those words just left my mouth, but they did so let's move on shall we?

ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. ZOMBIES manages to do what a lot of The Asylum films don't seem to ever quite achieve; to be a good AND entertaining film at the same time. I know, I'm just as shocked as you are but I'm telling you - this film was actually pretty damn good!

Now was it a classic by any means? Of course not, I'd have a hard time swallowing those words and having The Asylum's name in the same sentence, but is this the best film they've done thus far? That I've seen? Hell to the yes.

With the good we do always have to take the bad, hence the not so quite classic status, there is some - I want to emphasis on the "some" - questionable CG, it can't all be perfect, the beards glued onto Abraham Lincoln and well, pretty much everyone else, would be obvious to a blind man with a one legged dog and there is of course some questionable dialogue that bogs a scene or two down, but honestly; that's where it ends. There really isn't much else bad to say about this film - you expected this to be much longer didn't you? I know! Me too!

Now this could all come off as someone who was just as surprised as the next guy that these folks managed to put out a film that was above their standard fare, so I'm simply being over joyous that I didn't just want to claw my eyes out with a wooden spoon or stick a fork in my ears 'till they bled; well that may be but I've never been one to give points to a film from a company that manages to be decent just because their others haven't quite gotten there yet.

Some real money looks like it was spent here, the director actually appears to have taken his time to craft and get certain scenes a certain way, the writers seem to have taken their time in making sure that the history here is as accurate as can be and the actors have definitely put their best foot forward in bringing these characters to life. There's even a kid character in the film that doesn't make you want to reach for the mute button every time he opens his mouth. This flick is just full of surprises.

For zombie fans, there's plenty of guts and gore to go around; decapitations abound, several juicy bites, and some over all effective make up on the zombie hordes. Oh and for you female horror fans out there - there's two very strong minded and zombie busting female characters that can match wits with any of their male partners in crime.

All in all, if you're a zombie fan, I can't see you being disappointed with what the film has to deliver. Hell, if you a genre fan in general - I'd recommend this one for a Saturday matinee with a few cold ones and a couple of friends. It's a give em' what fer' zombie epidemic flick that hits most of the right notes, again there are a few minor missteps here and there so it's not perfect by any means, and is sure to at the very least entertain and entice its eager viewers. Give it a go. 

Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies hits Blu-ray and DVD on May 29th from The Asylum.