Van Helsing (2004)

"...succeeds magnificently as compulsively watchable spectacle.  Gregory Weinkauf, Dallas Observer
"This creature feature is exhilarating fun, a richly designed and often quite funny re-exploration of the movie past.  Kirk Honeycut, Hollywood Reporter
"Non-stop action...a breathtaking thrill ride.  Jeffrey Lyons, NBC-TV
"...exhilarating fun, a richly designed and often quite funny re-exploration of the movie past.  Kirk Honeycut, The Hollywood Reporter
"Silly and spectacular, and fun.  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"The dark, desaturated imagery perfectly complements this vampires and werewolves tale...  Widescreen Review

Features

DVD, Widescreen, Dolby, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1

Technical Info

Release Information
	Studio: Universal
	Release Date: 9/18/2007
	Running Time: 132 minutes
	Original Release Date: 2004
	Catalog ID: 23266
	UPC: 00025192326622
	Number of Discs: 1
Audio & Video
	Original Language: English
	Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English
	Available Subtitles: French, Spanish
	Video: Color
Aspect Ratio
	Anamorphic Widescreen  1.85:1

	Alun Armstrong
	David Wenham
	Elena Anaya
	Hugh Jackman
	Kate Beckinsale
	Kevin J. O'Connor
	Richard Roxburgh
	Shuler Hensley
	Will Kemp
	Robbie Coltrane
	Alan Silvestri - Original Music By
	Allen Daviau - Cinematographer
	Bob Ducsay - Producer
	Bob Ducsay, et al. - Editor
	Stephen Sommers - Producer
	Stephen Sommers - Screenplay
	Stephen Sommers - Director
	Allan Cameron - Production Designer
	Bob Ducsay, et. al. - Editor
	Sam Mercer - Executive Producer
	Stephen Sommers - Writer
	Steve Arnold, et. al. - Art Director

USA Today
"The best part is the moodily handsome look of the sets..." 05/07/2004 p.2E

Chicago Sun-Times
"The movie is like a Greatest Hits compilation; it's assembled like Frankenstein's Monster, from spare parts stitched together and brought to life with electricity, plus lots of computer-generated images." 05/07/2004 p.39

Widescreen Review
"The dark, desaturated imagery perfectly complements this vampires and werewolves tale, with lots of cold bluish-gray exteriors and warm firelit interiors." 06/01/2006 p.67

James Berardinelli's ReelViews 2 of 10
Most monster movies are entrenched in the horror genre, but so little about Van Helsing is sc

Rolling Stone 3 of 10
Here's a shrieking bore of a horror flick that's meant to sex up an anemic genre by casting X-Men - Peter Travers

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
The screenplay by Sommers has humor but restrains itself; the best touches are the quiet ones, as wh - Roger Ebert

ReelViews 5 of 10
Before I start mercilessly shredding this movie, let me offer a silver lining. Those who delight in bad movies and enjoy producing their own unfilmed versions of Mystery Science Theater 3000 may gain a measure of semi-masochistic enjoyment out of Van Helsing. There are quite a few unintentionally funny moments, although the overall experience was too intensely painful for me to be able to advocate it as being "so bad, it's good." (The length is part of the problem - boredom eventually overwhelms cheesiness.) Some, however, will doubtless view it as such. More power to them, since sitting through this movie requires something more than a strong constitution and a capacity for self-torture...Most monster movies are entrenched in the horror genre, but so little about Van Helsing is scary that Sommers is forced to rely on action. There's plenty of that, but each set piece outlasts its welcome, and the exposition that fills the interludes is hollow and boring. 15 minutes into the movie, we're already tired of the artificiality of the fights and chases, but there's still two hours to go. Van Helsing quickly becomes an exercise in repetition, which leads to tedium. Watching a movie about vampires, werewolves, and other assorted monsters is supposed to be fun, not drudgery. - James Berardinelli

Variety 7 of 10
A monster mash on steroids, Van Helsing takes Universal's hallowed horror cycle to a new level. Whether that level is the pinnacle or the nadir will be a matter of distinctly divided opinion, depending very much on viewer age, respect for genre tradition and appetite for being pummeled by nonstop CGI effects and a thunderous soundtrack. Fans of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr. will be appalled...Packed with nothing but "big scenes" and breathlessly paced in a way that suggests panic at the idea the audience might get bored if things were slowed and toned down even for a moment, pic opens in voluptuous black-and-white with a nine-minute Transylvanian prologue, set in 1887, in which Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) puts the bite on Dr. Frankenstein in an attempt to adopt the monster for his own private purposes...Overdone as they are, the effects are superbly rendered, delivering the thrills and shocks the intended audience will pay to see. Same is true of Allan Cameron's spectacularly dark production design, Allen Daviau's superbly judged shadowy cinematography (if only he could have shot the whole thing in black-and-white), the coolly inventive costumes by Gabriella Pescucci and Carlo Poggioli and the innumerable visual, special and makeup effects by a team so large the end credits take 10 minutes to unspool. - Todd McCarthy