Review of Van Helsing (2004) by Alex R — 23 Aug 2011

Where to begin with Van Helsing? The film lacks anything good, and the film relies purely on special effects to create a striking visual portrait. Unfortunately you cannot hide from the poorly developed, clichéd story filled with every vampire stereotype in the book.

I felt that Van Helsing pure crap. A mindless, action horror film that has nothing going for it. The film breaks tradition, and not in a good way. The acting here is poor, and the script is equally poor.

The story could have been much better and there was potential for this film to be something truly great. But it fails and it doesn't do anything aside from providing a good visual style, and that's not enough to save this lackluster film.

As a diehard fan of vampire films, I thought this film missed the mark; it broke so many rules and made vampires look stupid. Along with Twilight, Van Helsing is a mockery of the vampire lore, and it doesn't try to do anything amazing that will entertain the viewer.

I thought this film was a failure both as a vampire film, and as an action film. Though the film looks good, it's not enough to create something effective on screen. I can't believe some of the praise this film has gotten.

Good visuals should be accompanied by a good story, if this was the case with this film, then it might've worked, but it's a poorly made film with a bad story, bad acting and bad directing. If you love old school vampire and monster films, pass up on this one, there's nothing good about it.