2 MINUTES OF VAN HELSING
Longtime reader, first time contributor over at the Creature Corner ‘Dr. Vitus Werdegast’ just so happens to be an employee of Loews Cineplex, and recently a managing directors meeting was held during which they showed what could quite possibly be the first look at next years monster fest, ‘Van Helsing’.
Needless to say, the doctor was a bit excited. He sent in this highly detailed description of what he saw during that fateful two mintues…
‘The first minute had no music and was mostly fighting. Looks like lots of ‘wire fu’ which was obvious as the wires and harnesses were clearly visable. The first shot was Van Helsing using a batarang type grapple gun that he shoots up to a high wall and then repels up. There seems to be a woman character who looks to have a large role. She was dressed in tight, somewhat revealing clothes as was a gypsy type. She looked to get just as much action as Van Helsing and in fact most of the fighting had her in it. A long sword seemed to be her weapon of choice. They showed a few village sets and Van Helsing driving a carriage down a cobblestoned path. I must say it reeked of atmosphere (of the good kind) and the sets as I said looked very detailed and quite large.
Then the ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ music kicked in and the footage got good. It was mostly centered around two things…1) a costume ball that is either at Dracula’s Castle (my assumption) or one he attends with his Brides and 2) shots of the Frankenstien Monster and the villagers. The Costume Ball looked fantastic. Very Phantom of the Opera-ish. Lots of weird shots of people in grotesque-type masks dancing and posing. Shots were a masked head will suddenly turn, showing another more gruesome mask on the other side. Very luxurious and gothic. Dracula looks to be seducing a woman with dark hair (probably the heroine as the scene didn’t seem a throwaway type and indeed Dracula is staring at someone, almost gloating, as he dips her over and is about to bite her exposed neck.) And Dracula’s Brides are here. At least three and there’s a nice close up of one snarling with her eyes fire red and fangs showing.
As for the Creature. He looked pretty cool as well. He is first glimpsed on a cart, his head in someone’s lap (possibly Dr. Frankenstien) and it’s fleeting. I had assumed as it went by that would be all there was of him but I was wrong. The silhouette of him in the concept art was pretty dead on, though only his face and upper body was shown with any detail in the footage shown. He was more DeNiro than Karloff, and of a very large stature. Very ash-faced and scarred. He looked cool. There also seemed to be a glass-like bubble over his heart so that it could be glimpsed inside. The best part though was the shots of the villagers with torches attacking what looked like a very stylized (kinda Burton-ish) windmill with the Creature on top of it holding someones body in his arms. He’s screaming/growling and the windmill is an inferno. It ending with the title and logo and ‘Now Filming”
Check out the official ‘Van Helsing’ site here.
Courtesy of Creature Corner
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