A killer spider terrorises a New York apartment building in a tonally messy horror with some great creature effects. Our review of Sting:
Odd name for a killer spider movie, Sting. For that we can thank Tolkien-loving 12 year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) who chooses it as the nickname for the arachnid she finds scuttling around her dimly-lit New York apartment building. Sweeping the critter into a jar and intent on keeping it as a pet, Charlotte is blissfully unaware that Sting is capable of escaping from its glass prison and, as it dines on other living things roaming around the building, will soon grow to a frightening size.
Written and directed by Australian filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner, Sting is an eclectic mash-up of styles and influences. Its snowbound apartment setting, every floor filled with eccentrics, immediately recalls Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s Delicatessen. Roache-Turner seems to relish in the little...
Odd name for a killer spider movie, Sting. For that we can thank Tolkien-loving 12 year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) who chooses it as the nickname for the arachnid she finds scuttling around her dimly-lit New York apartment building. Sweeping the critter into a jar and intent on keeping it as a pet, Charlotte is blissfully unaware that Sting is capable of escaping from its glass prison and, as it dines on other living things roaming around the building, will soon grow to a frightening size.
Written and directed by Australian filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner, Sting is an eclectic mash-up of styles and influences. Its snowbound apartment setting, every floor filled with eccentrics, immediately recalls Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s Delicatessen. Roache-Turner seems to relish in the little...
- 5/30/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
2024 is half over and while we have seen some brilliant horror films come out this year I don’t think it has been such a great year for the genre. With most horror films flopping at the box office and the dreaded Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey sequel coming out it all felt wrong. But don’t worry because I have picked out the 10 best horror films that have come out this year. I haven’t ranked the films in the article and I will update the list as more films come out.
Late Night with the Devil (AMC+ & Prime Video Add-On)
Late Night with the Devil is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Colin and Cameron Cairnes. The 2024 film is set in 1977 and it follows the story of Jack Delroy, a talk show host on Night Owl which was watched by the insomniacs all around the country.
Late Night with the Devil (AMC+ & Prime Video Add-On)
Late Night with the Devil is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Colin and Cameron Cairnes. The 2024 film is set in 1977 and it follows the story of Jack Delroy, a talk show host on Night Owl which was watched by the insomniacs all around the country.
- 5/29/2024
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
Sasquatch Sunset directors Nathan and David Zellner always wondered what these hairy giants do when they’re not walking – the only Bigfoot footage available has been a minute of a supposed Sasquatch wandering in the northern California woods. They decided to flesh that out in unique dialogue-free comedic imagining of the creatures’ daily life – eating, fighting, etc. Stars Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, Christophe Zajac-Denek and Nathan Zellner are unrecognizable as the hairy tribe of four that entranced Sundance (see Deadline review). Bleecker Street is opening the film, written by David Zellner, executive produced by Ari Aster, in 9 theaters in New York, LA, San Francisco and Austin, ahead of a big jump to about 800 screens next week.
IFC Films opens Nicolas Cage-starring Arcadian on 1,100 screens. Premiered at SXSW, see Deadline review. Eying a low single-digits start. The Benjamin Brewer directed movie follows a father and his...
IFC Films opens Nicolas Cage-starring Arcadian on 1,100 screens. Premiered at SXSW, see Deadline review. Eying a low single-digits start. The Benjamin Brewer directed movie follows a father and his...
- 4/12/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Stars: Alyla Browne, Penelope Mitchell, Ryan Corr, Jett Berry, Kade Berry, Noni Hazlehurst, Robyn Nevin, Danny Kim, Silvia Colloca, Jermaine Fowler | Written and Directed by Kiah Roache-Turner
Sting is the new film from Australian writer/director Kiah Roache-Turner, the man behind the Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead films Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead and its sequel Wyrmwood: Apocalypse as well as the over-the-top ghost hunting film Nekrotronic. All three of them were fun films that made good use of a small budget, so a big bug movie seemed like a good fit for his skills.
This time out, he’s traded his apocalyptic scenarios for the goings-on in the apartment building where an alien spider egg comes to rest after a trip through Earth’s atmosphere. It hatches, and its occupant is found by Charlotte, who dubs the creature Sting,
Charlotte is a rebellious twelve-year-old who lives there...
Sting is the new film from Australian writer/director Kiah Roache-Turner, the man behind the Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead films Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead and its sequel Wyrmwood: Apocalypse as well as the over-the-top ghost hunting film Nekrotronic. All three of them were fun films that made good use of a small budget, so a big bug movie seemed like a good fit for his skills.
This time out, he’s traded his apocalyptic scenarios for the goings-on in the apartment building where an alien spider egg comes to rest after a trip through Earth’s atmosphere. It hatches, and its occupant is found by Charlotte, who dubs the creature Sting,
Charlotte is a rebellious twelve-year-old who lives there...
- 4/2/2024
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Plot: A 12-year-old girl decides to keep a spider as a pet, not aware that the eight-legged creature is not of this world. The more it eats, the more it grows, and soon a giant space arachnid is running loose in an apartment building, snacking on the residents.
Review: Filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner is best known for his wild and crazy zombie movies Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead and Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, which blended inspiration from Mad Max and Dawn of the Dead to tell the story of a unique zombie outbreak where the living dead have flammable blood and exhale methane. I enjoyed both of those movies, and though I haven’t seen Roache-Turner’s action comedy Nekrotronic yet, it sounds like it’s pretty much in line with the tone of the Wyrmwood flicks, as it tells the story of “a man who discovers that he is part of a...
Review: Filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner is best known for his wild and crazy zombie movies Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead and Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, which blended inspiration from Mad Max and Dawn of the Dead to tell the story of a unique zombie outbreak where the living dead have flammable blood and exhale methane. I enjoyed both of those movies, and though I haven’t seen Roache-Turner’s action comedy Nekrotronic yet, it sounds like it’s pretty much in line with the tone of the Wyrmwood flicks, as it tells the story of “a man who discovers that he is part of a...
- 4/1/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
"What kind of spider are we talking about here?" "A big one." Well Go USA has revealed an official trailer for an insanely scary, unsettling horror movie called Sting, arriving in theaters this April. This Australian production comes from a filmmaker named Kiah Roache-Turner, and it looks as scary as any spider movie can. Sting spins a web of thrilling terror when 12-year-old Charlotte’s pet spider rapidly transforms into a giant flesh-eating monster, forcing the young girl to fight for her family's survival. The freaky little creature actually comes from outer space, an alien spider that befriends this little girl before it becomes an enormous killer. This stars Alyla Browne, Ryan Corr, Penelope Mitchell, Jermaine Fowler, Silvia Colloca, Danny Kim, Noni Hazlehurst, and Robyn Nevin. This isn't the only extremely scary spider movie this year - there's also a French horror called Vermin that apparently used real spiders while shooting.
- 2/16/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Kiah Roache Turner came to our attention with the bloody good Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014), then got really wild with Nekrotronic (2018), as well as the sequel Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, now turns his dastardly attention to a humble family pet. As you might imagine, however, Sting is not just about any family pet, as the official synopsis reveals: "Sting spins a web of thrilling terror when 12-year-old Charlotte's pet spider rapidly transforms into a giant flesh-eating monster, forcing the young girl to fight for her family's survival." Ryan Corr, Alyla Browne, Penelope Mitchell, Robyn Nevin, Noni Hazelhurst, Silvia Colloca, Danny Kim, and Jermaine Fowler star. Well Go USA Entertainment will be bringing this tale of domestic horror to North American theaters on April 12....
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/17/2024
- Screen Anarchy
Susan Sarandon, playing the U.S. Secretary of State Alaska Adams, gets the better of Bryan Brown, as the Australian prime minister, in a fast-paced verbal duel that represents the first footage from the Sean Penn-produced satirical comedy series “C*A*U*G*H*T.”
An elite team of Aussie soldiers is sent to an island nation to retrieve a secret file that has gone astray. Mistaken for Americans, they are captured by freedom fighters and produce a hostage video that goes viral. When the soldiers achieve celebrity status on social media, they realize that being caught might just be the best thing that could’ve happened to them.
“C*A*U*G*H*T” explores themes of identity, fame, and the absurdity of the viral age. “Why can’t we comedically deconstruct the intellectual ideas that humanity is facing right now?” says Kick Gurry who directs, produces and stars in the six-part series.
An elite team of Aussie soldiers is sent to an island nation to retrieve a secret file that has gone astray. Mistaken for Americans, they are captured by freedom fighters and produce a hostage video that goes viral. When the soldiers achieve celebrity status on social media, they realize that being caught might just be the best thing that could’ve happened to them.
“C*A*U*G*H*T” explores themes of identity, fame, and the absurdity of the viral age. “Why can’t we comedically deconstruct the intellectual ideas that humanity is facing right now?” says Kick Gurry who directs, produces and stars in the six-part series.
- 8/30/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Co-written with Christos Tsiolkas, Aaron Wilson’s 1970s-set Little Tornadoes depicts a newly-single father’s efforts to weather the turbulence of change – in his life and in the world around him.
Introverted Leo (Mark Leonard Winter) is a steelworker at his small town’s local plant. After his wife abandons him without explanation, leaving him to care for their two young children, he is bereft–barely able to cook a decent meal or keep the household running. So when a recently-arrived Italian colleague suggests that his sister, Maria (Silvia Colloca), act as surrogate homemaker, Leo reluctantly accepts. But can one woman’s warm, nurturing presence fill the void left by another, and can Leo yield to the winds of change?
Producers include Ian Anderson, Katrina Fleming, Christian Pazzaglia, Susan Schmidt and Wilson. Stefan Duscio is the cinematographer, composer Robert Mackenzie, editor Cindy Clarkson and production designer Tim Burgin.
Little Tornadoes...
Introverted Leo (Mark Leonard Winter) is a steelworker at his small town’s local plant. After his wife abandons him without explanation, leaving him to care for their two young children, he is bereft–barely able to cook a decent meal or keep the household running. So when a recently-arrived Italian colleague suggests that his sister, Maria (Silvia Colloca), act as surrogate homemaker, Leo reluctantly accepts. But can one woman’s warm, nurturing presence fill the void left by another, and can Leo yield to the winds of change?
Producers include Ian Anderson, Katrina Fleming, Christian Pazzaglia, Susan Schmidt and Wilson. Stefan Duscio is the cinematographer, composer Robert Mackenzie, editor Cindy Clarkson and production designer Tim Burgin.
Little Tornadoes...
- 7/29/2021
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
I had a choice to see one of two Fantasia films playing at the same time: A Gay American Werewolf In London or Lesbian Vampire Killers. I went with the latter because: 1) The first movie doesn’t exist, and 2) I’m a sucker for catchy titles. However, horror films, like porno flicks, with memorable monikers usually don’t live up to their names. But Lesbian Vampire Killers (which screened at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival this month) does—and not in all the ways you would expect. I was anticipating a bunch of girl-on-girl action with topless, bloodsucking lesbian ladies engaging in titillatingly licentious and raunchy sexual and violent acts, and while Lvk does have its share of girl-on-girl kissing and bloodletting, director Phil Claydon stays away from profligacy and pornography and instead delivers a crowd-pleasing, entertaining horror-comedy in the vein of Shaun Of The Dead.
It’s hard not...
It’s hard not...
- 7/25/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (ALLAN DART)
- Fangoria
This week, Lesbian Vampire Killers debuts in America a the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The comedic horror film has been receiving a lot of buzz, as its male stars are UK television stars, and also because of the women featured in the film.
Total Film Magazine recently profiled the women who play the lesbian vampire killers, asking them their favorite vampire movies (besides the one they're in, of course) and the making of the film.
Let's meet them:
Louise Dylan as Anke
Favorite vampire film: From Dusk Till Dawn
On her character: "She’s one of four Swedish tourists, we’ve all been studying myths and legends in Stockholm and we’ve come over to investigate vampires in our Vw. So, we’re basically fun-loving Swedish students looking for a good time." Silvia Colloca as Carmilla
Favorite vampire film: Van Helsing
On her character: "I am the leader...
Total Film Magazine recently profiled the women who play the lesbian vampire killers, asking them their favorite vampire movies (besides the one they're in, of course) and the making of the film.
Let's meet them:
Louise Dylan as Anke
Favorite vampire film: From Dusk Till Dawn
On her character: "She’s one of four Swedish tourists, we’ve all been studying myths and legends in Stockholm and we’ve come over to investigate vampires in our Vw. So, we’re basically fun-loving Swedish students looking for a good time." Silvia Colloca as Carmilla
Favorite vampire film: Van Helsing
On her character: "I am the leader...
- 3/11/2009
- by Trish Bendix
- AfterEllen.com
What's the time? It's time to get ill! That's right, the 6 films playing at the SXSW midnight lineup courtesy of Fantastic Fest have been announced, and we've reported on quite a few of these, especially The Horseman which we loved. Check em out:
Ong Bak 2 (Thailand)
Director: Tony Jaa. Writer: Panna Rittikrai
Martial-arts superstar Tony Jaa is back in an epic prequel to the 2003 action smash Ong Bak. Cast: Tony Jaa, Sorapong Chatree, Sarunyu Wongkrachang, Nirut Sirichanya, Santisuk Promsiri, Primorata Dejudom (International Film Festival Premiere)
Black (France)
Director: Pierre Laffargue. Writer: Pierre Laffargue, Lucio Mad and Gábor Rassov
A nouveau-blacksploitation adventure awash in black magic, African Mysticism, mutant arms dealers, gargantuan machete-wielding mercenary armies and a truckload of knuckle-sandwiches. Cast: Mc Jean Gab'1, Carole Karemera, François Levantal, Anton Yakovlev (World Premiere)
The Haunting in Connecticut (U.S.)
Director: Peter Cornwell. Writer: Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe
In the tradition...
Ong Bak 2 (Thailand)
Director: Tony Jaa. Writer: Panna Rittikrai
Martial-arts superstar Tony Jaa is back in an epic prequel to the 2003 action smash Ong Bak. Cast: Tony Jaa, Sorapong Chatree, Sarunyu Wongkrachang, Nirut Sirichanya, Santisuk Promsiri, Primorata Dejudom (International Film Festival Premiere)
Black (France)
Director: Pierre Laffargue. Writer: Pierre Laffargue, Lucio Mad and Gábor Rassov
A nouveau-blacksploitation adventure awash in black magic, African Mysticism, mutant arms dealers, gargantuan machete-wielding mercenary armies and a truckload of knuckle-sandwiches. Cast: Mc Jean Gab'1, Carole Karemera, François Levantal, Anton Yakovlev (World Premiere)
The Haunting in Connecticut (U.S.)
Director: Peter Cornwell. Writer: Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe
In the tradition...
- 2/18/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Austin, Texas – February 17, 2008 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival announced the official titles for their new program “SXSW Presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight,” kicking off with the International Film Festival Premiere of Ong Bak 2, the most anticipated new action film of the year. Six films from six countries comprise the lineup, featuring four international premieres, one North American premiere and one U.S. Premiere. From horror to action, to comedy and suspense, these six films collectively represent the spectrum of genre films featured in Austin’s annual Fantastic Fest. All films will play at midnight at the SXSW Film Festival at the Alamo South Lamar, in addition to the traditional SXSW Midnighters section, which will take place at the Alamo Ritz. The program will feature:
Ong Bak 2 (Thailand)
Director: Tony Jaa. Writer: Panna Rittikrai
Martial-arts superstar Tony Jaa is back in an epic prequel to the 2003 action smash Ong Bak.
Ong Bak 2 (Thailand)
Director: Tony Jaa. Writer: Panna Rittikrai
Martial-arts superstar Tony Jaa is back in an epic prequel to the 2003 action smash Ong Bak.
- 2/18/2009
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tim League)
- FantasticFest.com
You’ve either been waiting for this for a while now, or you don’t care, in which case, you probably didn’t click on the link to see me typing this. So, for those who actually did click, here it is, the official trailer for the Brit horror comedy “Lesbian Vampire Killers”. Starring James Corden and Matt Horne as the two sad saps, with able assists from lovelies MyAnna Buring, Silvia Colloca, Vera Filatova, and Ashley Mulheron. Phil Claydon directs. With their women having been enslaved by the local pack of lesbian vampires thanks to an ancient curse, the remaining menfolk of a rural Welsh town send two hapless young lads out onto the moors as a sacrifice.
- 2/17/2009
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
Van Helsing reminds you of the NBA All-Star Game, where basketball superstars take turns scoring with flashy three-pointers or slam-dunks, no one plays defense, and coaches rotate players in and out of the game so fans can see the entire rosters. Van Helsing is, of course, an all-star monster mash featuring Universal's prized horror-film megastars of the '30s and '40s -- Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolf Man and -- for good measure, though strictly speaking he was originally a Paramount monster -- Mr. Hyde.
Writer-director Stephen Sommers' idea to bring the studio's triumvirate of classic monsters together into one epic adventure film is, like an All-Star Game, a mixed blessing. The purposes of the original, high-atmospheric movies get distorted in the struggle to involve all the monsters in a credible tale. And the digital age encourages Sommers to leap from one elaborate sequence to the next without so much as a pause for a glass of blood. Nevertheless, this creature feature is exhilarating fun, a richly designed and often quite funny re-exploration of the movie past.
Sommers, who brought the Mummy back to life for Universal with his past two films, has delivered exactly what the studio wants in this reportedly $148 million production: an event movie capable of attracting a wide audience that could send domestic boxoffice gross north of $150 million and make viable plans already under way for a sequel, TV show and video game.
Ruggedly handsome Hugh Jackman plays the title character with a steady gait and confident demeanor. Originally an aging Amsterdam professor specializing in exotic diseases in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, Sommers has turned Van Helsing into a 19th century monster hunter. He wears a cool broad-brimmed black hat and a sturdy body-length leather coat and carries an implausible rotary-magazine crossbow. (As in The Wild Wild West, Van Helsing's weaponry is both retro and futuristic.) He takes his orders from a secret organization composed of all religions to rid the world of nightmarish creatures but is uncertain and even conflicted over why he does so. For he has no memory of any past life.
In the film's opening in Transylvania, cinematographer Allen Daviau and designer Allan Cameron pay tribute to James Whales' dazzlingly beautiful 1935 Bride of Frankenstein when a frenzied, torch-lit mob armed with pitchforks and scythes surges toward Dr. Frankenstein's castle against a huge night sky.
This sets the tone for the movie's look -- a respectful homage to the Universal classics that contemporary technology trumps with demonic creatures, sets of misshapen weirdness and a fantastical Eastern Europe of such cold darkness that the movie clearly takes place in a world ruled by evil forces.
Val Helsing is sent to Transylvania to confront 400-year-old Count Dracula (a mesmerizing Richard Roxburgh). He aligns himself, after initial and mutual resistance, with Anna Valerious (a luminous Kate Beckinsale), the last of a royal family line nearly eliminated by the vampire. Her brother Velkan (Will Kemp) has already been bitten by a werewolf, so he is fated at the next full moon to turn into the Wolf Man, who will act under Dracula's orders to destroy his own sister.
Dracula and his three vampire brides (Elena Anaya, Silvia Colloca and Josie Maran) desperately need Frankenstein's patched-together Monster (Shuler Hensley) to bring to life thousands of vampire children the three have sired. All, of course, were born dead.
Thus, the all-star matchup begins. There are two attacks on the village by the vampire brides, who can fly and swarm like bats. Van Helsing and Anna rescue Frankenstein's Monster, leading to a chase involving two six-horse coaches with Van Helsing thrown and landing in between two horses. The two monster hunters fight ambivalent battles with the Wolf Man, who after all is still partly Anna's brother. They crash an amazing All Hallow's Eve vampire costume ball with jugglers, flame throwers and circus performers.
Side battles between Anna and the three vampire brides lead to a climactic duel between Van Helsing, now bitten himself by a werewolf, and the Count. Comic relief comes from Carl (David Wenham), a nervous friar who supplies Van Helsing with his gadgets and weaponry, and sneering Igor (Kevin J. O'Connor), a misshapen doer of evil because, in his own deadpan words, It's what I do.
Visually, Van Helsing is a stunner. The morphing monsters -- vampires who assume bat bodies with huge, muscular wings and humans who turn into creatures of the night -- magnificently blend digital with human forms. (Viewers even get a peek at the butt crack of CG creature Mr. Hyde.)
There is more wire work in this movie than any circus as nearly every creature either flies or swings on ropes. The sets add drama but also humor. Consider the half-finished Eiffel Tower in the Paris sequence or Dracula's lair all electronically wired like a huge cappuccino machine to transform his pod "children" into legions of vampires.
Alan Silvestri's music merges choral with symphonic bombast and even a hint of '70s disco. Only the damn soundtrack booms ceaselessly. Which brings up the movie's major drawback: Sommers fears a moment of quiet or a scene dominated by dialogue. Introspection is somehow equated with storytelling weakness, and subtlety is banished. Sommers wants his monster mash to rock nonstop at high-decibel levels. So bring your earplugs.
VAN HELSING
Universal Pictures
A Sommers Co. production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Stephen Sommers
Producers: Stephen Sommers, Bob Ducsay
Executive producer: Sam Mercer
Director of photography: Allen Daviau
Production designer: Allan Cameron
Music: Alan Silvestri
Costume designer: Gabriella Pescucci
Editors: Bob Ducsay, Kelly Matsumoto
Cast:
Van Helsing: Hugh Jackman
Anna Valerious: Kate Beckinsale
Count Dracula: Richard Roxburgh
Carl: David Wenham
Frankenstein's Monster: Shuler Hensley
Aleera: Elena Anaya
Velkan: Will Kemp
Igor: Kevin J. O'Connnor
Running time: 132 minutes.
MPAA rating -- PG-13...
Writer-director Stephen Sommers' idea to bring the studio's triumvirate of classic monsters together into one epic adventure film is, like an All-Star Game, a mixed blessing. The purposes of the original, high-atmospheric movies get distorted in the struggle to involve all the monsters in a credible tale. And the digital age encourages Sommers to leap from one elaborate sequence to the next without so much as a pause for a glass of blood. Nevertheless, this creature feature is exhilarating fun, a richly designed and often quite funny re-exploration of the movie past.
Sommers, who brought the Mummy back to life for Universal with his past two films, has delivered exactly what the studio wants in this reportedly $148 million production: an event movie capable of attracting a wide audience that could send domestic boxoffice gross north of $150 million and make viable plans already under way for a sequel, TV show and video game.
Ruggedly handsome Hugh Jackman plays the title character with a steady gait and confident demeanor. Originally an aging Amsterdam professor specializing in exotic diseases in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, Sommers has turned Van Helsing into a 19th century monster hunter. He wears a cool broad-brimmed black hat and a sturdy body-length leather coat and carries an implausible rotary-magazine crossbow. (As in The Wild Wild West, Van Helsing's weaponry is both retro and futuristic.) He takes his orders from a secret organization composed of all religions to rid the world of nightmarish creatures but is uncertain and even conflicted over why he does so. For he has no memory of any past life.
In the film's opening in Transylvania, cinematographer Allen Daviau and designer Allan Cameron pay tribute to James Whales' dazzlingly beautiful 1935 Bride of Frankenstein when a frenzied, torch-lit mob armed with pitchforks and scythes surges toward Dr. Frankenstein's castle against a huge night sky.
This sets the tone for the movie's look -- a respectful homage to the Universal classics that contemporary technology trumps with demonic creatures, sets of misshapen weirdness and a fantastical Eastern Europe of such cold darkness that the movie clearly takes place in a world ruled by evil forces.
Val Helsing is sent to Transylvania to confront 400-year-old Count Dracula (a mesmerizing Richard Roxburgh). He aligns himself, after initial and mutual resistance, with Anna Valerious (a luminous Kate Beckinsale), the last of a royal family line nearly eliminated by the vampire. Her brother Velkan (Will Kemp) has already been bitten by a werewolf, so he is fated at the next full moon to turn into the Wolf Man, who will act under Dracula's orders to destroy his own sister.
Dracula and his three vampire brides (Elena Anaya, Silvia Colloca and Josie Maran) desperately need Frankenstein's patched-together Monster (Shuler Hensley) to bring to life thousands of vampire children the three have sired. All, of course, were born dead.
Thus, the all-star matchup begins. There are two attacks on the village by the vampire brides, who can fly and swarm like bats. Van Helsing and Anna rescue Frankenstein's Monster, leading to a chase involving two six-horse coaches with Van Helsing thrown and landing in between two horses. The two monster hunters fight ambivalent battles with the Wolf Man, who after all is still partly Anna's brother. They crash an amazing All Hallow's Eve vampire costume ball with jugglers, flame throwers and circus performers.
Side battles between Anna and the three vampire brides lead to a climactic duel between Van Helsing, now bitten himself by a werewolf, and the Count. Comic relief comes from Carl (David Wenham), a nervous friar who supplies Van Helsing with his gadgets and weaponry, and sneering Igor (Kevin J. O'Connor), a misshapen doer of evil because, in his own deadpan words, It's what I do.
Visually, Van Helsing is a stunner. The morphing monsters -- vampires who assume bat bodies with huge, muscular wings and humans who turn into creatures of the night -- magnificently blend digital with human forms. (Viewers even get a peek at the butt crack of CG creature Mr. Hyde.)
There is more wire work in this movie than any circus as nearly every creature either flies or swings on ropes. The sets add drama but also humor. Consider the half-finished Eiffel Tower in the Paris sequence or Dracula's lair all electronically wired like a huge cappuccino machine to transform his pod "children" into legions of vampires.
Alan Silvestri's music merges choral with symphonic bombast and even a hint of '70s disco. Only the damn soundtrack booms ceaselessly. Which brings up the movie's major drawback: Sommers fears a moment of quiet or a scene dominated by dialogue. Introspection is somehow equated with storytelling weakness, and subtlety is banished. Sommers wants his monster mash to rock nonstop at high-decibel levels. So bring your earplugs.
VAN HELSING
Universal Pictures
A Sommers Co. production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Stephen Sommers
Producers: Stephen Sommers, Bob Ducsay
Executive producer: Sam Mercer
Director of photography: Allen Daviau
Production designer: Allan Cameron
Music: Alan Silvestri
Costume designer: Gabriella Pescucci
Editors: Bob Ducsay, Kelly Matsumoto
Cast:
Van Helsing: Hugh Jackman
Anna Valerious: Kate Beckinsale
Count Dracula: Richard Roxburgh
Carl: David Wenham
Frankenstein's Monster: Shuler Hensley
Aleera: Elena Anaya
Velkan: Will Kemp
Igor: Kevin J. O'Connnor
Running time: 132 minutes.
MPAA rating -- PG-13...
- 6/10/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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