Deep in the mountains of Carpathia lies the mysterious and mythic land of Transylvania – a world where evil is ever-present, where danger rises as the sun sets, and where the monsters that inhabit man’s deepest nightmares take form. Innovative filmmaker Stephen Sommers – who so imaginatively re-envisioned Universal’s classic Mummy character in the worldwide blockbusters The Mummy and The Mummy Returns – now widens his cinematic scope and multiplies his creative inspiration by breathing new life into the most time-honored pantheon of classic Universal monsters and setting them in a stunning new world of fantastical reality. Sommers’ all-encompassing vision for a world as tangible, real and visceral as any caught in the stranglehold of inescapable evil blends the recognizable and the unimaginable into a vivid, epic backdrop for his tale of ultimate evil against a lone force of good: Van Helsing.
Audiences will be drawn into a visionary, supernatural but seemingly all-too-real world of Sommers’ singular creation – set in 19th Century London, Rome, Paris and Transylvania – where mankind is in constant danger from incarnate evil in a multitude of forms: monsters that outlive generations, defying repeated attacks from the doomed brave souls that challenge them in their never-ending war upon the human race. In Sommers’ hands, Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf Man and others are effectively reborn as dynamic heirs to the tradition handed down by the filmmakers of the classic Universal monster pictures. Honoring their legacy while propelling them into the next generation of cinema, Sommers turns what was once classic into cutting edge.
Into this world, brought to life and played out on massive sets and sweeping locations, Sommers brings Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman), the legendary monster hunter born in the pages of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In his ongoing battle to rid the world of its fiendish creatures, Van Helsing, on the order of a secret society, travels to Transylvania to bring down the lethally seductive, enigmatically powerful Count Dracula (Richard Roxbough) and joins forces with the fearless Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale), out to rid her family of a generations-old curse by defeating the vampire. Also populating Sommers’ dense canvas are: Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley as Dr. Frankenstein’s misunderstood monster; former Matthew Bourne company leading dancer Will Kemp as Velkan, Anna’s stalwart brother who transforms under the full moon into the Wolf Man; Kevin J. O’Connor as Dr. Frankenstein’s loyal yet treacherous assistant, Igor; David Wenham as Carl, a friar entrusted with ensuring Van Helsing’s safe return; and Elena Anaya, Silvia Colloca and Josie Maran as Dracula’s three bloodthirsty brides who will stop at nothing to help their master in his plan to subvert human civilization and rule over a world of havoc, fear and darkness.
(50 votes)
3.
Legendary monster hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) is summoned to mysterious Transylvania on a mission that will thrust him into a sweeping battle against the forces of darkness! With non-stop action and electrifying special effects, Van Helsing is an adrenaline-powered motion picture event Roger Ebert calls "Spectacular and fun."
(42 votes)
4.
During a time in history when the supernatural still seemed as conceivable as the everyday, when storytellers supplied imaginative reasons for the unexplained and when mythic creatures still crept by night…there was a single figure fighting against the dwindling mysteries hidden in the encroaching darkness: Van Helsing.
Gabriel Van Helsing (HUGH JACKMAN) is a man cursed with a past he cannot recall and driven by a mission he cannot deny. Charged by a secret organization to seek out and defeat evil the world over, his efforts to rid the world of its nightmarish creatures have been rewarded with the title that now follows him: murderer. Van Helsing roams the globe an outcast, a fugitive, a loner, himself hunted by those who don’t understand the true nature of his calling.
When dispatched to the shadowy world of Transylvania, Van Helsing finds a land still mired in its past…where legendary creatures of darkness come to life…a place ruled over by the evil, seductive and undefeatable vampire, Count Dracula (RICHARD ROXBURGH)…and it is Dracula that Van Helsing has been sent to terminate. Anna Valerious (KATE BECKINSALE) is one of the last of a powerful royal family, now nearly annihilated by Dracula. A fearless hunter in her own right, Anna is bent on avenging her ancestors and ending an ancient curse by killing the vampire.
Joined by a common foe, Van Helsing and Anna set out to destroy Dracula along with his empire of fear. But in challenging an enemy who never dies, Van Helsing uncovers a secret he never imagined and comes face-to-face with the unresolved mysteries of his own enshrouded past.
(40 votes)
5.
Like a roller coaster ready to fly off its rails, Van Helsing rockets to maximum velocity and never slows down. Having earned blockbuster clout with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, writer-director Stephen Sommers once again plunders Universal's monster vault and pulls out all the stops for this mammoth $148-million action-adventure-horror-comedy, which opens (sans credits) with a terrific black-and-white prologue that pays homage to the Universal horror classics that inspired it. The plot pits legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) against Dracula (the deliciously campy Richard Roxburgh), his deadly blood-sucking brides, and the Wolfman (Will Kemp) in a two-hour parade of outstanding special effects (980 in all) that turn Sommers' juvenile plot into a triple-overtime bonus for CGI animators. In alliance with a Transylvanian princess (Kate Beckinsale) and the Frankenstein monster (Shuler Hensley), Van Helsing must prevent Dracula from hatching his bat-winged progeny, and there's so much good-humored action that you're guaranteed to be thrilled and exhausted by the time the 10-minute end-credits roll. It's loud, obnoxious, filled with revisionist horror folklore, and aimed at addicted gamers and eight-year-olds, but this colossal monster mash (including Mr. Hyde, just for kicks) will never, ever bore you. A sequel is virtually guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon
(40 votes)
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