By William Pattison Aka Eric Morse
For The Horror Bob Blog
The production company The Asylum has gotten a bad reputation over the years with the horror community. After all they are the people who put out the horrid mockbusters that a person might grab by mistake or order by mistake via streaming. They are also are the people that pollute our horror movie viewing with tacky monster films like Sharktipus or Two Headed Shark Attack. But, every bad production company has the potential to create one truly good film among the masses of crap they produce. Such a film is the one I’m reviewing this time. That glowing jewel in The Asylum’s crap pile is Abraham Lincoln VS Zombies…
What? You say. But it’s just another of their damned mockbusters! Actually, no. This is not just one of their damned mockbusters. This is a well written and well acted film with incredible authentic locations.
This film tells the story of how while President Lincoln is laboring over the Gettysburg Address he finds out that a horror from his childhood has resurfaced and is threatening his war torn nation. A single survivor of a failed attempt to take a Confederate fort informs Lincoln, before succumbing to the zombie plague, that he and his men were attacked by hoards of enemy soldiers and civilians who proceeded to rip them apart and eat them. Fearing for the future of the nation President Lincoln along with a group of Federal agents, include his future assassin John Wilkes Booth, make their way deep into enemy territory in order to deal with the undead threat. Upon entering the fort and securing it Lincoln finds that there are only four Confederate soldiers alive, including, amusingly, General Stonewall Jackson and a soldier named Pat Garrett. Taking a few agents with him Lincoln heads to the nearby town to look for survivors. He finds after he and his men have to take shelter in the town’s bordello that only three prostitutes and a young boy named Teddy Roosevelt have survived. One of the prostitutes, Mary Owens (played by Baby Norman) is also the woman Abe Lincoln was once in love with. Now both Union agents and Confederate soldiers must work together to defeat the hoards of the undead before the zombie plague can spread.
This is an amazingly well done film for its modest budget of $150,000. It was shot on location in Savannah, Georgia, thus giving it a very authentic look.
The story by Karl T. Hirsch and J. Lauren Proctor, and screenplay by Richard Schenkman, wonderfully melds historical events with the fantasy situation. They include Lincoln giving is legendary Gettysburg Address and even put in situations leading up to the President’s assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth.
The performances in this film are top notch. Actor Don McGraw gives a wonderful performance as General Stonewall Jackson. Young actor Canon Kuipers proves his acting chops as Young Teddy Roosevelt. Jason Vail provides a quiet menace as Federal agent John Wilkinson aka John Wilkes Booth. But, it is Emmy Award winning actor Bill Oberst Jr’s stunning, and once in a lifetime, portrayal as President Abraham Lincoln that steals the show. Bill brings Lincoln to life and causes the viewer to feel honest emotion at the conclusion of this film.
Honestly, though I do await the big budget Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter film I doubt it will have the heart this film has. If you are a fan of films like Bubba Ho-Tep or Shadow of the Vampire, you need to add this film to your collection.
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