OK, so you know I think Seth Grahame-Smith is the laziest, luckiest one-trick-pony of an author, possibly ever? (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was so truly awful I could barely get through it.) And therefore the fact that he was hired to write the script adaptation of his own two-idea novel – where Southern secession is in fact a plot to maintain vampire access to slave blood, and where Abraham Lincoln’s anti-slavery platform is in fact a disguise for his night-time exploits as vampire hunter – did not bode well for me. Nevertheless, Saturday was a loose end and there was nothing else on at the movies that was vaguely interesting, so I swallowed my misgivings and went along for the ride.
And you know what? It was alright. Really. Quite entertaining (although I suppose the bloody killing of slave-trading vampires is a pretty low bar in terms of satisfaction.) I think the most impressive thing is the period styling, which captures the era quite beautifully and is pitch perfect throughout. It’s pretty well acted too, which is testimony in itself given the utter gossamer thin-ness of the plot. I should also say I really don’t like 3-D and some of the decisions here seem to be made with spectacle rather than narrative in mind. It filmed in Louisiana.