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Make Dracula mysterious and have a good motive. What was Dracula's motive originally suppose to be?
To infiltrate British society, make an army of vampires and take over the world. Essentially.
I'm not entirely against a remake/relaunch/reboot/re-do/re-whatever of Van Helsing. The basic idea behind the plot was okay. It was just very poorly executed by bad writing, over done/poor CGI, and a director with very little understanding of how to make a movie, let alone make a good one (let me guess, a music video director taking his first crack at a major motion picture). Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale were the only bright points in the movie for me, and even they couldn't get me to watch it all the way through.
I went into Van Helsing very much excited about the plot. I walked out further believing that it's impossible to do a monster mash-up and do it seriously.
And it wasn't a first time director. It was Stephan Sommers who did the Mummy films. Not that I'm defending him(though I enjoyed The Mummy). He's just way beyond a first time filmmaker. I also felt Kate Beckinsale was wholly unnecessary to the film. She's there for eye candy, nothing more. She spends most of the movie being the damsel in distress and getting her ass kicked until she eventually dies.
The high point of the film was the opening recreation of the burning windmill scene from the 1931 Frankenstein film. That's about it.
If written and directed by someone with at least half a clue on how to do this type of film (after watching The Avengers, twice, my vote goes to Joss Whedon as writer AND director) it could turn out very well. I'm a little uncertain on Tom Cruise in the title role though. For one thing, I think the film might carry more weight if they were to cast a Brit in the title role. I have a feeling Cruise won't even be ASKED to fake a British accent for the role, which to me takes away from the film. Maybe get Daniel Craig to play Van Helsing instead? He has the same rugged look as Jackman, a British accent, and is a VERY good action star (who can also ACT).
Disagreed on all points. Start small. This doesn't need to be Van Helsing vs Every monster Universal has in it's stable(though the Mole People would be interesting to see, though I digress). I also don't really feel this has to be some huge CGI spectacle blockbuster. I think something closer to The Raven would be an apt model to use. Just do it better.
Brit, American...makes no different. Van Helsing in the novel DRACULA was Dutch. Just don't turn him into this Victorian era James Bond with Wolverine's memory loss problems. The Dracula connection is crucial to the character.
I agree with this. Van Helsing had a vendetta against the Prince of Darkness. They really need to delve deep into that relationship and make it more of a war of wills between the two. Who is willing to go the furthest to eliminate the other.
I always thought Van Helsing was most compelling when was obsessed to the point of crossing the line into villainy in order to beat Drac.
In addition, they need to make Dracula a badass, not the Count Chocula clone we go in the last movie.
This. Though the Van Helsing/Dracula rivalry is more a product of pop. culture. In the novel, Van Helsing is the go-to guy for the main group of protagonists. He's an expert on rare diseases, the supernatural, and the occult. He advises and guides John Harker, Quincy Morris, Jack Seward and Arthur Holmwood in their efforts to track down and kill Dracula.
Van Helsing doesn't really become the enemy of Dracula until the 1931 Lugosi film.
But that rivalry, since obviously they're not going to adapt the book, is something that needs to be played up. Both Van Helsing and Dracula need to push each other further and further. Who will go furthest? And they should play up the idea that that's all Dracula wants...to push Van Helsing past breaking point. That's just how evil Dracula is. And it also plays into an idea presented in the novel about how Dracula's mind functions. He's like a child, trying out new abilities and pushing the authority figures as much as he can, like a child baits adults.
The fact of the matter is, Dracula needs to be one EVIL mo-fo. Not sympathetic. Not cool. Not badass. He needs to be flat out EVIL.
What era would you like the Van Helsing film to take place in? And I never saw the original films, what was Van Helsings personal vendetta against Dracula? He kill someone he loved or turned into a vampire?
Should be a period piece. Preferably before the Victorian era, simply to give the characters more of a history before the events of DRACULA occur.
Van Helsing had no real personal vendetta against Dracula, other than that Dracula was responsible for killing the love interest of several characters in the novel and acted as an advisor to his defeat. The first time this changes is in Horror of Dracula, I believe...the 1958 Hammer film. The film takes liberties with the source material in that it makes Jonathan Harker a partner of Van Helsing, sent to infiltrate Castle Dracula and destroy him. He fails. Dracula takes his revenge out on Harker's fiance and Van Helsing has to destroy him before Dracula can take out the rest of Harker's family(Mina and Arthur Holmwood).
Since they aren't going to adapt the novel, they can do whatever they want though.
I've seen the argument made many times that Bride of Frankenstein is the best horror movie of all time and while I disagree with that, it is a plausible one. It certainly one of the very most innovative, ambitious and creative. Those were truly A-picture masterpieces, while the Hammer films were always to me, at best, very well made entertaining B-flicks. I also prefer Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man on the same schlocky B-level more than I do the Hammer Frankensteins. I mean I enjoy Peter Cushing's (usually) pure evil Baron, but those movies I find can be a bit too slow. Kind of how I can understand the argument for Horror of Dracula being better than Bela Lugosi's Dracula because it's more exciting. I think it's fair, I just like the Lugosi film's atmosphere more and the performances by Lugosi and Frye.
