Today’s movie gives us a much different, more fantastical take on Dracula and vampires than most of the other movies on this list so far. It was one of the more recent movies that attempted a Monster Mash of Dracula, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein, and it is a glorious mess. I’m of course talking about Van Helsing.
This movie is like one of those novelty ice cream cones that has everything jammed into it regardless of whether or not it really goes together. It looks good in an Instagram photo, and seems like something you’d want to dive into, but three bites in your stomach is hurting and your teeth are hurting and there’s still so much more to get through and oh my God its just never going to end. Van Helsing is a Steven Sommers movie (you know, the guy who directed The Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser) and in Van Helsing, he’s like a little kid turned loose in a Toys ‘R’ Us and given all the candy he can eat. Every idea he has gets crammed in, no matter how ludicrous or over the top. The acting matches, with everyone swinging for the fences, except Hugh Jackman, who seems a little lost in the role and the ridiculousness. He gives it his best, but Richard Roxburgh takes his Dracula straight through camp and shoots the moon into bombastic ridiculousness. He is the best part of the movie.
I enjoy Van Helsing, but there is nothing to take seriously here. It’s pure fluff, but its a good movie to introduce the kiddos to horror and the Universal monsters. Maybe not the little kiddos, it might be a little too intense for them, but some of the older ones might dig the aesthetic and the gung-ho craziness of the plot.