Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1451 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-19
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.com
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

From The New Yorker
One of the year's strongest contenders for a Complete Waste of Space. The omens were far from grim; the writer and director, Stephen Sommers, proved himself capable of a certain retro cheerfulness with "The Mummy," and the star, Hugh Jackman, is by common consent the best thing in the "X-Men" franchise. Together, sadly, they have churned out a cacophonous mess, which not only aims squarely at teen-agers but itself seems painfully adolescent in its squirming refusal to decide what it wants. Thus, we get Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh), who takes over from Dr. Frankenstein in the care and maintenance of monsters; we get a cameo from Mr. Hyde, doing a Quasimodo at the top of Notre-Dame; and we get Van Helsing himself (Jackman), who is employed by the Catholic Church to hunt down these unsociable creatures, presumably in the hope of reward in the world to come. One set piece follows howling on the heels of another, slowly draining all lifeblood from the claims of narrative logic. Of true and lingering horror there is no sign; if this is the cinema of homage, it's the kiss of death. With Kate Beckinsale as a vampire-hater of noble birth and David Wenham as a sexually active friar, plus the usual supporting cast of werewolves, underdressed throat biters, growling rustics, and so on. In English, just. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Popcorn movie
This not a great movie; it doesn't try to be and doesn't take itself too seriously either. But its basically made well enough to qualify as light comedy/action/horror entertainment. However, there is an intense 5 minute scene that comes close to being great and that I re-watched 5 times because it was a really well done action scene. Its the part early in the movie where Helsing arrives into the village is attacked by 3 vampires flying down at him while he fires back with his machine gun cross bow - Great Fun!!! The girl Vamps were sexy, and the Count delivered a few good lines also. The movie is definitely better than average on every level.

(zero stars) 'video games are better'
I saw some geek on TV -no, wait, "geek" is now a positive term- some arrogant dork on TV proclaim that video games are superior to movies. NOT in some *specific* way, just better overall. I was not sympathetic to this. Of coarse the show was about video games and how awesome they are and cool it is to spend all your time buying and playing them. If your inclined to agree with this nerd's opinion what is there left to say? Thing is, this thing here, VAN HELSING, is the best possible argument for video games being better entertainment than movies you could ever come up with. This is one of the most horrible, absurd pieces of junk I've ever come across. The whole thing is like a stupid video game. But you don't get to play. It's like when your hanging out with friends and stuck sitting there watching people play a game all afternoon. And the game is lame and nobody has any stuff and your just sitting there.

Horror/Fantasy James Bond -- Shaken, Not Stirred -- Bloody Likely
Since Universal Studios practically began the horror era back in the 30's with the Mummy and Frankenstein and Dracula, Boris Karloff, et al., I thought it would be a kick to see Van Helsing.

Steve Sommers made quite a tongue in cheek movie that plays with the past Hollywood mythology of horror films and adds some of his own. I didn't know that if Dracula is killed then that somehow reverses everyone he's ever bitten. Hmm, don't remember that one with Bela Lugosi.

And Jackman is a kind of James Bond 007 and Robert Conrad of the old TV show Wild, Wild West! The Wild Wild West - The Complete First Season He works for a secret Vatican enclave whose mission is to wipe out all evil. And Van Helsing's forgotten past makes him the perfect Left Hand of God, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Kate Beckinsale, Vacancy as well as being easy on the eyes, does pretty well as the vengeful Transylvanian noblewoman, out for Dracula's blood (so to speak) to confirm nine generations of her family to wipe this guy out. Can Van Helsing do the deed?

The special effects are amazing and have been used so often in other films as to be almost boring. Just keep a fresh outlook. I mean what the ancient men of filmland could have done with CGI!

Music was especially spooky and ghoulish. The script was deliciously campy and corny, just the way I like my Universal.

Much liberty is made of the old Wolfman, Frankenstein, Dracula and even Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde mythology. Take it all with a grain of salt and you'll be fine.

The DVD itself is a marvel. A self-guided tour through Drac's Castle is fun. The legend of Van Helsing, complete with original film clips from the original Lugosi classic film. Dracula (75th Anniversary Edition) (Universal Legacy Series) Bringing the Monster to Life reviews the special effects artists and interviews with them and on the set. The "You are in the Movie" is a film within a film, seeing the movie through various different views. They hid cameras on the set and it's almost like seeing a newly edited version.

Not bad at all. Hokey, campy and cheesy, but purposely so. Good job.

Three stars for the film as I felt it was too heavy on effects and not enough on story. One more star for the DVD specials! Nice package.

Better than "Dead & Loving It!" Dracula: Dead and Loving It [Region 2]

** SPOILER ** The irony of Wolverine becoming a Wolfman was too cool to miss.

Better Sommers flick: The Mummy (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)