From Dracula to Van Helsing, & Everything In-between

Van Helsing  2004 Movie Poster

When it comes to movies that are offspring of the famous Dracula, there was one that I found that was different from the rest. Directed, produced, and written by Stephen Sommers, Van Helsing stars Hugh Jackman as a famous monster hunter, Van Helsing. Painting Van Helsing in a completely different light, this film goes into the lives of some of the more prominent characters from Bram Stoker's Dracula, along with other fictional characters such as Frankenstein.

Touching right away on a whole new outlook of what Bram Stoker might have imagined for this story, Van Helsing started with black and white in Frankensteins "lab". Immediately showing Dracula played by Richard Roxburgh, the movie soon moves on to focus on Van Helsing in his demon/monster hunting glory. After making his way to Transylvania, the film unfolds to show Draculas brides, Van helsings mission, and Draculas plans. The film shows all of this unfold while going over the top in some places, and adding love to the mix as well (1).

While this movie focused on Van Helsing, the references and pieces of plot that were taken from Dracula were constantly in play. Whether it was talking about setting, characters, or the general plot, the movie still had many ties to the book that it was based off of. One of the main points that crossed from the book to the film was that of Dracula trying to take over with his "children" (2). Throughout Bram Stokers novel Draculas overall goal was to spread his control to all over Europe; in the film this is along the same plot despite him going about it in a more fictional manner. A twist Sommers put on Draculas plans was that of his undead children. Instead of following in the path of Stoker and getting Dracula to bite people, Sommers had almost what could be called cocoons filled with the undead (1).

Draculas Brides, Van Helsing 2004

One of the points that attracted me most to this film was that of Draculas brides. Throughout Dracula, they were only mentioned once or twice, never really getting to truly shine in the novel. Readers also didn't really get a detailed description of them, despite simply knowing that they were beautiful. In Van Helsing we see the sisters around the 25 minute mark in the film. The brides were able to change from beautiful women into pale, bat like monsters that you would imagine a vampire to look like (if they lived in a cave all day). It was interesting to see how Sommers used what we knew from the book and turned it into something more creature like, yet was able to keep them beautiful (2). During the rest of the movie the brides came and went (with most of them simply being killed by Van Helsing) but having them play bigger roles compared to how they were talked about during the novel was surprisingly nice. Below is a video clip of the fight that occurred after meeting the brides, where you see them in both their true vampire form along with their "human" form. 

Van Helsing Vs. Draculas Brides

Overall this film was not what someone would expect when looking for something adapted from Bram Stokers Dracula, but Stephen Sommers did a great job of not only incorporating different points from the novel but putting his own spin on all of it with his imaginative and over the top ideas. While this movie could easily be looked at as any other fiction movie that touches on Dracula, I like to believe Sommers did more than that, letting his creative side flow seamlessly with that of Stokers.

Work Cited

(1) Ebert, Roger. “Van Helsing Movie Review & Film Summary (2004) | Roger Ebert.” RogerEbert.com, 7 May 2004, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/van-helsing-2004.

(2) “Van Helsing (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Helsing_(film).

(3) “Van Helsing.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 5 May 2004, www.imdb.com/title/tt0338526/.

     Movie poster arena. “Van Helsing Movie Poster.” IMBd, 2004, www.imdb.com/title/tt0338526/.