Van Helsing (2004)

Van Helsing is an American feature film of the action and horror genres. It is based on the character of Abraham Van Helsing, who was first made famous in the 1897 novel Dracula by author Bram Stoker. The film is also inspired by the classic "Universal Monsters" monster mash-up films of the 1930s and 1940s. The film was written and directed by Stephen Sommers and produced by Universal Pictures. It was released theatrically in the United States on May 7th, 2004.

The film stars Hugh Jackman as Gabriel Van Helsing, who is a decidedly younger and more physically capable version of the Van Helsing character than the dottering middle-aged scholar that audiences are familiar with seeing from previous works. Co-starring in the film is Kate Beckinsale as ass-kicker Anna Valerious, along with Richard Roxburgh as the fanged one, Count Dracula hisself, Shuler Hensley as the Frankenstein Monster, Kevin J. O'Connor as Igor, and David Wenham as Van Helsing's monk sidekick, Carl. Rounding out the cast is Will Kemp as the werewolf, Velkan.

Notes & Trivia

 * Copyright holder: 2004, Universal Studios.


 * The tagline for this film is "The one name they all fear".


 * Production on Van Helsing began in December, 2002. Principal photography commenced in January, 2003 and concluded in June, 2003.


 * Interior scenes were filmed on stages at Universal Studios in California. Exterior shots were filmed on-location in Prague, in the Czech Republic and in Rome, Italy.


 * Van Helsing was released on Blu-ray by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on September 15th, 2009. Special features included the Van Helsing: The Story, The Life, The Legend featurette, "The Music of Van Helsing", "The Art of Van Helsing", as well as bloopers and featured audio commentaries by director/screenwriter Stephen Sommers, editor/producer Bob Ducsay, as well as actors Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley, and Will Kemp.


 * The film was tied with the home video release of Universal Classics: The Legacy Collection, which included separate collections relating to the six major Universal properties of the time, Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Individual sets were packaged with a tintype relating to Van Helsing.


 * Van Helsing closed out of theaters on August 26th, 2004. At its widest released, it had been screened in 3,580 theaters. It had been in release for a total of sixteen weeks (112 days).


 * This film yielded an animated prequel film titled Van Helsing: The London Assignment, in which the main character has to rescue a young Queen Victoria. The movie was released direct-to-video by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on May 11th, 2004 and a had a 33-minute running time.


 * There are a total of twenty-four credited cast members in this film.


 * Actor Stephen Fisher is credited as Stephen H. Fisher in this film.


 * Director/screenwriter Stephen Sommers had already made a notch in the Universal Monsters re-imagining concept when he helmed the 1999 remake of The Mummy, along with its 2001 sequel, The Mummy Returns. Following that, Sommers decided to give the same treatment to the remainder of the classic Universal Monsters, and put them together in one film, which became Van Helsing.


 * Samantha Sommers, who plays a vampire child, is the daughter of director Stephen Sommers.


 * This is the first form of visual media to employ the trope of a werewolf transformation wherein the wolf tears itself from the inside of its human form. This technique is also employed in the Netflix television series Hemlock Grove.

Keywords
1887; 19th century; Budapest; Burn victims; Castle; Castle Dracula; Castle Frankenstein; Cemetery; Church; Coffin; Corpse; Cows; Crossbow; Crucifix; Dancer; Disfigurement; Dracula; Edward Hyde; Electrocution; Fangs; France; Frankenstein; Frankenstein Monster; Full moon; Grave robber; Gunshot victims; Henry Jekyll; Horses; Hunchback; Hungary; Hunter; Impalement; Italy; Laboratory; Lynch mob; Monster; Paris; Psychopath; Rats; Reanimate; Rome; Scientist; Severed limbs; Singer; Slit throat; Stabbings; Torture; Transformation; Vampires; Van Helsing; Victor Frankenstein; Villager; Werewolves