Van Helsing: Encyclopedia II - Van Helsing - Notes

Van Helsing - Notes

The film contains numerous homages to the Universal Studios horror films of the 1930s and 1940s, particularly those featuring Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolf Man. A poem/legend specifically written for The Wolf Man is quoted verbatim in this film.

Although this film is an homage to the Universal monster series, it breaks a cardinal rule by referring to Frankenstein's Monster directly by the name "Frankenstein", although in the context of this film, The Monster clearly considers himself to be Frankenstein's son. This difference is further borne out in an additional scene in the film's tie-in novel, in which the Monster specifically tells Van Helsing to call him Frankenstein.

Shuler Hensley, who plays Frankenstein's Monster in the film, also provided motion capture reference for the CGI-animated Mr. Hyde in the opening sequence.

The film is promoted to be the first that features all three monsters simultaneously. However the 1987 teen move The Monster Squad also featured them, plus the mummy.

This film's Mr. Hyde looks very similar, but smaller than, to that shown in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. (In the original novel, Hyde was 'smaller' than Jekyll, though as he slowly took over, Hyde grew in size.)

In Bram Stoker's original novel, Dracula, and many subsequent films based on it, it is Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, an elderly anthropology professor from the Netherlands who does the vampire hunting.

The heroine's family name, Valerious, may or may not be an indirect reference to the novel Phantom of the Opera, which has two minor supporting characters, a deceased music professor and his wife, with a family name of Valerius (spelled without the "o"). The novel was adapted by Universal Studios into a silent film released in 1925.

Many fans have noted that Dracula refers to Van Helsing as "Gabriel" several times during the film, strongly implying that Van Helsing's real first name is Gabriel, and in both the "London Assignment" animated prequel and in the film's tie-in novel, Van Helsing introduces himself as "Gabriel Van Helsing". In addition, there are a couple of hints during the movie (even Dracula implies it during the final battle) that Van Helsing may be the angel Gabriel. In the film, the one who murdered Dracula four hundred years ago is not named, but merely referred to as the "Left Hand of God", a title that is ascribed to the archangel Gabriel in some Christian traditions. Notice that this change of name would allow filmmakers to keep the rights of this new, different character for any possible sequel.

Kate Beckinsale is becoming an old hand at fighting vampires, as she played a very similar character (albeit a vampire) in 2003's Underworld.

Fans of the Japanese manga comic Hellsing, which was published several years before Van Helsing was produced have noted numerous similarities between it and the movie -- for example, both feature Van Helsing/Hellsing as an action hero fighting Dracula and both worked for the church despite different denominations (Anime Hellsing fought for the Protestant Church, possibly Anglican but Van Helsing fought for the Catholic church) -- but it appears the similarities are coincidental.

Despite a production budget of over $160 million, plus an estimated $50 million spent on marketing, and a U.S. box office of $120 million (presumed somewhat poor by industry standards), the film might be considered a bomb. However, the film did well overseas, with an international box office of $180 million, for a total of just over $300 million worldwide. It was also a surprising success in its DVD release, making over $65 million in unit sales the first week alone, and over $140 million in total DVD and video sales thus far. As a result, the film has actually made a respectably large profit. A sequel is reportedly in talks for 2007 or 2008. However, Hugh Jackman is currently occupied with the production of X-Men 3, as well as a spin-off film, which is also centered around his character Wolverine.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Notes", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki