Save Your Money!!

Rating: 2/10 (9 May 2004)

I am a long-time fan of horror movies, and I like Hugh Jackman. The previews for this film looked pretty good, and the premise sounded interesting as well: monster hunter takes on some of film's most notorious bad guys. I figured this would be a fun ride, so I plunked down my cash for an opening-day matinee. I wish I hadn't....
Unfortunately, Van Helsing is one of the worst films I've seen in years. The plot is surprisingly uninspired, character development is weak, and the major conflict of the story is so dull that I couldn't wait to get out of the theater. The action is like a bad video game, packed so full of miraculous stunts and escapes that it is utterly absurd. Any sense of tension when the main characters face monsters is lost fairly early in the film and never recovers. Halfway through the movie I was checking my watch and counting down the minutes left in this 2 1/2 hour long disaster.
Was anything good? Well, some of the special effects were OK. There were a couple funny lines. That's probably about it. Frankly, it's not even worth a rental. Save your money, or use it for a better breed of horror film like Bram Stoker's Dracula or even Fright Night.