Occasionally good horror homage

Rating: 6/10 (29 September 2005)

The idea of making a homage to the classic Universal horror films of the '30s wasn't bad.Unfortunately,the result is hardly a masterpiece.
The movie is about Gabriel Van Helsing,a monster slayer who works for the Vatican(John Carpenter's Vampires,anyone?)and is sent to Transylvania to kill Count Dracula(Richard Roxburg)with the help of his assistant Carl(David Wenham)and local beauty Anna Valerious(Kate Beckinsale).
The script is interesting,but looks most like an excuse to put Frankenstein's Monster(Shuler Hensley)and the Wolfman(Will Kemp)in the movie,and this is proved by their limited screen time.But what are we supposed to expect,since Van Helsing is Dracula's nemesis? As for the acting,Kate Beckinsale has done much better films;Jakcman isn't that bad,but his character lacks something of what made Wolverine so loved by everyone;Roxburg's Dracula is amusing,although it seems he's parodying Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee.The only actors really worth watching between the endless CG battles are Hensley,Wenham and Kevin J. O'Connor as Igor.
Partially enjoyable,it's good if you want to spend two hours watching a 100% blockbuster whose only goal is to entertain you without providing any emotion.