Wrath Of Van Helsing

As long as i can remember, i have always been fascinated in the historical story of Vlad The Impaler, known as one of the most important rulers of Romania. Vlad III was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death 1476/77. I remember reading about him in the high school library, and this was also the first time i encountered the famous novel by Bram Stoker known as Dracula. I did not read the novel in High School but put it on my list of books i must read, at some point. Author Bram Stoker was inspired by the story of Vlad The Impaler when he wrote Dracula and it is not hard to understand why. I finally did read the novel of Dracula back in the year of 2001, and i remember how much i enjoyed the story and the characters in the novel. Bram Stoker managed to capture you as a reader and make you fascinated in his story telling. If you have not read this novel i think you should pick it up, no matter if you borrow it from a library or buy a physical book. We have had a lot of movies inspired by the novel of Dracula or the historical person known as Vlad The Impaler, and i especially love the 1992 film version of Bram Stoker´s Dracula from legendary director Francis Ford Coppola. When it comes to the character of Van Helsing, the vampire slayer, we also have films based on this character. One of the films i think a lot of you have seen ( unless you have missed it for some reason? ) is of course the 2004 horror film known as Van Helsing. Directed by Stephen Sommers ( who directed The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, both worth checking out ), this film is a crazy horror adventure where Hugh Jackman plays Van Helsing. Looking back at this film today in 2023, you can tell that the special effects have aged and it may not be as entertaining as it was in cinemas back then. Even if this film have issues i still have fun with this film today, and appreciate the crazy characters and the good sense of humour. The female flying winged vampires are definetely one of the highlights, a different approach on traditional vampires. If you just want to be entertained by a vampire movie, i think Van Helsing from 2004 is worth checking out. So when i saw that a independent horror film called Wrath Of Van Helsing was released late autumn last year, i was curious to check it out. Not knowing anything about the plot of Wrath Of Van Helsing, is this a surprisingly good film adaptation on the legendary character, or should you stick to the 2004 version with Hugh Jackman instead?

A group of friends go underneath some tunnels together, not knowing that they are not alone. The only way to survive is with vampire hunter Van Helsing ( Michael Hoad ), who knows how to slay these beasts.

When you go into a film such as Wrath Of Van Helsing, you know it is made on a limited budget. So if you expect a lot of big budget vampire scenes, this is not the film you are looking for. However, if you appreciate independent horror films that try to go more old school and rely on classic horror ingredients, this might be something for you. I will be honest though and say that Wrath Of Van Helsing is struggling with several problems and i have some things to say. First of all the design of the vampires themselves that looks like some kind of mask. They honestly don´t look that cool to look at, or scary either. It feels like this was something they did to make the vampires look more like a mutant version, but without any effort to make them look good. It is like when they attack and bites someone, they barely move any teeth at all, so it does look quite strange how they can suck blood out from someone when the teeth doesn´t seem to work. The vampires are definetely a bit clumpsy as well, as a scene when a woman hides behind a wall, just move over to another side of another wall in a big hole ( where the vampire would have easily seen her ) and the vampire doesn´t notice anything, even if she can be seen from a distance. Either they have eye problems or they are simply not that clever. The lead vampire beast does look a little bit better, but doesn´t help the film become more enjoyable. We have to talk about the Van Helsing character played by Michael Hoad. I would not say he is terrible in the role, but he does not look like the bad ass Van Helsing we want to see. His small crossbow that is supposed to make him look like a vampire hunter looks too small, they would have needed a much bigger version of the crossbow to make the character work better. The sword he does have should have been used more than the small crossbow for sure. He would have needed better dialogue as well, such as:- Feast on my arrow you rotten bastard. The female cast is at least the highlight of this film, you get a sense that they at least made an effort to feel like a group of friends, and i do like some of the underground scenes with the different colors along the walls. Other than that there isn´t much left to be pleased about. I have seen plenty of vampire films worse than Wrath Of Van Helsing, but considering the great location that this film was made with a great idea for a Van Helsing story, i feel like they missed out a lot of potential here. Director Scott Jeffrey ( who directed a film i actually really enjoy called The Curse Of Humpty Dumpty, worth checking out ) have some great ideas with Wrath Of Van Helsing, but doesn´t manage to make the film as good as i was hoping it would be. If you are a fan of films such as these, you can always give it a chance, but i definetely prefer the 2004 version with Hugh Jackman over this film.

Rating: DD

If you want to see the film, just copy the link underneath and you can watch it on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/NM7w_whlsoU