Van Helsing is a 2004 American horror film written and directed by Stephen Sommers. It stars Hugh Jackman as vigilante monster hunter Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious. The film is an homage and tribute to the Universal Horror Monster films from the 1930s and '40s of which Sommers is a fan. The eponymous character was inspired by the Dutch vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing from Irish author Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film includes a number of monsters such as Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Mr. Hyde and werewolves in a way similar to the multi-monster movies that Universal produced in the 1940s, such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, and House of Dracula.
Plot[]
In 1887 Transylvania, Doctor Victor Frankenstein creates a monster with the aid of Count Dracula, who reveals that he intends to use the creature for his own evil plans. Dracula kills the doctor as a mob of villagers storms the castle. His assistant Igor escapes, but the villagers chase the monster to an old windmill and set it ablaze. The villagers are scared off by Dracula and his brides, who witness the monster and the doctor's research apparently destroyed by the fire.
One year later, after killing the elusive Mr. Hyde at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, monster hunter Van Helsing returns to the Vatican in Rome. He learns that his mission to destroy Dracula and his amnesia are penance for unremembered sins that cause nightmares. He is tasked with helping the last of an ancient Romanian bloodline, Velkan and Anna Valerious, who must kill Dracula so that their ancestors may enter Heaven. Carl, a friar, provides Van Helsing with aid and weapons. In Transylvania, Velkan is apparently killed during an attempt to trap and kill a werewolf, and Anna is attacked by Dracula's brides shortly after Van Helsing's arrival. He saves Anna and kills Marishka, one of the brides, but as the last of her line, Anna becomes more determined to kill Dracula. In order to protect her, Van Helsing knocks her out to prevent her from leaving. She awakens that night and encounters Velkan, who reveals Dracula has a dark secret, but to her horror, he becomes a werewolf, having been bitten by the original one earlier, and attacks. After she and Van Helsing track him to Frankenstein's castle, they discover that the vampires are attempting to give life to their born-dead children, using Velkan as the source of the power. Van Helsing, dubbed "Gabriel" by Dracula, realizes they had ties in the past. Van Helsing refuses Dracula's offer to return his memory and escapes. The experiment fails, and the vampire children die, but Velkan turns on Anna as he is consumed by his curse. Van Helsing and Anna escape together.
Under the remains of the old windmill, Van Helsing and Anna encounter Frankenstein's monster. Because he is not evil, Van Helsing cannot allow him to be killed, even though he claims to be key to Dracula's experiment. The werewolf witnesses the conversation and escapes to inform Dracula. Meanwhile, Carl discovers a painting that comes to life, depicting a werewolf and a vampire battling. The group travels by carriage to Budapest, luring the remaining brides into a trap and killing Verona. The werewolf ambushes the real carriage and bites Van Helsing before being killed. Anna is captured and held as a bargaining chip in exchange for Frankenstein's monster. They hide him in a crypt, but he is taken by the count's undead underlings while Van Helsing and Carl rescue Anna. Returning to the Valerious' castle, Carl discovers an inscription and creates a doorway to the castle. After failing to free Frankenstein's monster from his imprisonment, he lets them know of a cure to lycanthropy that Dracula possesses. Carl determines that the bite of the werewolf is the only way to kill Dracula. He and Anna take Igor to find the cure while Van Helsing goes to free Frankenstein's monster. Igor escapes while the final bride, Aleera, beats Anna. Carl tries delivering the cure to Van Helsing. Igor confronts Carl on a bridge, but the confrontation sends Igor falling to his demise. Frankenstein's monster saves Anna and urges her to help Carl and Van Helsing. She kills Aleera and arrives at the castle. As the werewolf, Van Helsing battles Dracula and, despite the vampire's attempts to reason with him, manages to bite him, causing him to dissolve into a skeleton. Anna bursts in, causing her to be attacked and accidentally killed by Van Helsing, but not before she delivers the cure. After narrowly stopping Carl from killing him, Van Helsing returns to normal, stricken with grief over what he has done.
At a funeral pyre, Van Helsing witnesses the spirits of Anna and her family ascending into the afterlife while Frankenstein's monster rows away on a raft out to sea. Van Helsing and Carl ride off into the sunset.
Cast[]
- Hugh Jackman as Gabriel Van Helsing, a legendary hunter of monsters.
- Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious, the last descendant of an ancient Romani family.
- Richard Roxburgh as Count Vladislaus Dracula, the ruler of Transylvania.
- David Wenham as Carl, a friar of the Holy Order.
- Shuler Hensley as Frankenstein's monster.
- Kevin J. O'Connor as Igor, a former servant of Frankenstein's, now working for Dracula.
- Will Kemp as Velkan Valerious, Anna's brother, who is turned into a werewolf.
- Elena Anaya as Aleera, the most sadistic of Dracula's brides.
- Alun Armstrong as Cardinal Jinette, Van Helsing's superior in the Holy Order.
- Silvia Colloca as Verona, the oldest of Dracula's brides.
- Josie Maran as Marishka, the third of Dracula's brides.
- Tom Fisher as Top Hat, a Transylvanian grave digger.
- Samuel West as Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
- Stephen Fisher as Dr. Jekyll.
- Robbie Coltrane as the voice of Mr. Hyde.
Advertising and Marketing[]
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