Van Helsing (2004)

WHAT THE HELL ARE DWERGY?

Starring: Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale.

We start this film in Black and white (don't worry, we get colour later!) in Transylvania where Dr Frankenstein has been up to no good creating a monster using body parts from the villages deceased, but worst of all he has resided in none other than Count Dracula's castle...tut tut, stupid boy! Anyway, the monster escapes, the towns folk attack with pitch forks and all hell is let loose basically. But why is Dracula so sad, why is he after Frankensteins monster? Hmmm. Cool exit from the flames though from Dracula!

Now a glimpse into what Van Helsing (Jackman) does for a living, his curse as he calls it is to vanquish the supernatural, the weird and the wonderful or monsters to you and me. So here he is in Paris having a little fun at Notre Dam with Mr Hyde, the alter ego of Dr Jekyll. The effects of this film are pretty good to say they didn't really have a big budget. Poor Van Helsing, he does his job and he gets no thanks, just blame and hate.

On to the Vatican then, where of course the headquarters are located. It's a little bit 007 with a department for gadgets and gizmo's to help Van in his battles with the unholy. We meet the trusty side kick here in the form of a monk, sorry a friar by the name of Carl who is reluctantly recruited to join Mr Helsing to Transylvania in the hunt for...yep, you guessed it Dracula!

Cut to a dark and mysterious clearing in a forest where a bunch of gypsies are setting up a trap. Something is lurking. Long story short we meet Anna (Beckinsale), and Velkan Volerious who have a bit of a scuffle with a werewolf. Not going to spoil it for you as i would give it all away but silver bullets seem to be used in this film as well for the purpose of killing werewolves. I love it when certain rules become law and are carried on in newer films.

Characters such as Van and Anna meet in her village, after a fight with vampires of course, they get acquainted, she instantly dislikes him, they talk about Dracula then they argue.

There is then a major hunt for Dracula as it is realised that he is trying to start a family...aaah, no it really isn't aah, it's more eeew! We find out that Dracula controls werewolves and is trying to kill off the Valerian family as only they can vanquish him. An interesting fact occurs when Dracula and Van Helsing meet and have a little chat at Dracs castle. Meanwhile Carl rescues a girl before they rush off for a bit of nookie, glad he's only a friar then!

I love the Halloween ball, it's amazing. Apparently it was filmed in a cathedral in Prague and the temperature in the building when they were filming was freezing (just thought you would like to know).. But where would we be without a massive fight scene between good and evil? Good effects again and a few good twists and turns to keep the suspense and limited plot going.

This is a good film, i have watched it a dozen times, i like the fact that there is a mixture of characters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, his monster, Jekyll and Hyde and the wolfman all in one film. It can get a bit mushy at times but there are some good one liners..All in all watchable and fun.