Netflix Nugget: Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies

Leave it to The Asylum to keep my interest held in major releases. Founded in 1997, the privately owned company shoots “mockbusters”; films that capitalize on the releases of major studios that will often have a strikingly similar title and subject matter. You might recognize some of their classier “tie-ins:” 3 Musketeers, Snakes on a Train, Titanic II, and, of course, Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. These films are produced on a shoestring budget, and, since I think The Asylum is hilariously awful, I decided I’d watch Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies.

Bill Oberst stars as the troubled sixteenth president who is engaged in the midst of the American Civil War. While the battle for independence rages, Lincoln undertakes a far more important task: saving the Union from the Confederate undead while armed with a harvesting scythe. None of the preceding sentence was a typo. There’s not much more to say than that, except that John Wilkes Booth shows up near the end of the film.

I honestly couldn’t even begin to describe the story, because I was far too preoccupied watching a man who looks freakishly like Honest Abe slaughter the undead. The make-up and special effects people actually did a surprisingly good job on the zombies here. Shoestring or not, the budget for this film had to be pretty high by Asylum standards.

Let me be clear by saying that this is a terrible film. Besides Oberst, it is poorly acted, poorly written, and messes with what little semblance of historical accuracy it possessed by introducing J.W. Booth. But, it is an hour-and-a-half escape of gory fun, and sometimes, that’s all you need. It’s not like watching this film costs you anything on Netflix, so take a chance on Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies. Or, if you’re sick of the zombie trend, find another Asylum film on Netflix. They’re not great, but they’re trying damn it. The effort, at least, is worth my money.

Kyle Leitch
A&C Writer