"My God, these ninja zombies are going to kill us all." -Abraham Lincoln 1864 A fabled quote from America's sixteenth president... Well, at least that's what Ten Sundays new short feature "Abraham Lincoln" would have us believe. Not that the feature has anything whatsoever to do with the legendary president, much less the civil war or states rights or anything from the era. Instead, it is in actuality a taking up of prejudices and the attitudes of the 1950's and 1960's that are now frowned upon. What you can expect is Reefer Madness with a patently more offensive set of topics that deliver some very genuinely funny moments. I am familiar with director Paul Busetti and Ten Sundays productions through another short that I reviewed a while back called Cannibal Cheerleader Camp. In much the same way, that film took a genre and then flipped it on its head by introducing other various genre fare while at the same time delivering a slick and finely produced short. Abraham Lincoln is impressive in its reproducing of 1950's propaganda, with aged artifacts on the black and white video that actually looks pretty good. Lets face it - a lot of people have done this before. Anyone remember Amazon Women on the Moon? The bit on teenage pregnancy in that film probably nailed this sub-genre of the cinematic spoof better than any follow up probably could, however, Busetti and company save the short by the absolutely BONKERS finale that I'll get to in bit. If there's a single reason to see the short, it's definitely in the final minutes.

Four teenagers meet in one of their basements after school in order to listen to some cutting edge rock and roll music. When the group gets to discussing the love life of one of its own, things get shady as the lead jock discusses his recent romantic rendezvous. When one of their friends, the "geek" who of course has no place even being there in the first place, mentions that what his friend is describing sounds a lot like rape. So, the greaser of the group decides to test out their geeky friend by offering him a marijuana cigarette that he found in his mom's underwear drawer. Will the young man give in to the evils of Marijuana? And if so, will he commit some sort of atrocity whilst smoking the devil weed? The only way to know is to watch and find out for yourself whether or not the Abraham Lincoln quote actually factors back into the movie!

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but I have to admit... yes, this film does indeed feature Ninja Zombies. Ninja Zombies, what a subject. It's one of those combinations where you take two equally loved things and in some very "teenage fantasy" or sure sign of immaturity, some of us just won't be able to think about without getting a raging boner. Ninja Zombies. Dinosaur Pirates. Robot Gorillas. Giant Laser Eyed Fish. Sure, these kind of things aren't going to win over people who take themselves all too serious, but that's what seperates Abraham Lincoln from the average. The film takes a decidedly random twist that delivers some pretty outlandish and bizarre moments that in my opinion make the feature very worthwhile. Which isn't to say that the lead up to the twist is bad or anything, I think the way the film handles its satire turned out to be pretty original. Most of the time you would just expect a lot of drug paranoia or drug related humor, but the film takes on societal morality of the time in its lampooning of the abortion issue and racial stereotypes. It's offensive and politically incorrect (ooh! they said the N-Word!), and decidedly original for taking that route. Overall, It's definitely a fun short and continues to show Busetti can deliver a fairly polished product (as polished as a 1950's serial satire could be) with little to no budget. Although I favored the mix of serious and not-so-serious genre fare that he showed with Cannibal Cheerleader Camp, Busetti still proves to be an intriguing filmmaker and Abraham Lincoln is yet another intriguing project from Ten Sundays Productions. You can find out more about this group by visiting the website at TenSundays.com, definitely keep an eye out for this group.