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10 Portrayals of Van Helsing in Movies

I recently watched Netflix’s new Dracula collaboration with the BBC in which Doctor Who’s Stephen Moffatt reimagines the character. Loved it, but I actually thought that one of the most interesting characters in the show was the vampire hunter Van Helsing. This is another new imaging of this character with less firepower than we are used to seeing on the screen.

If you want to get a little more Van Helsing time on your screen, check out these ten films and tv shows that feature the unconventional crusader.

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Dracula (1931)

IMDB Score 7.5/10

Few people will have forgotten Bela Lugosi’s portrayal of Dracula in this classic flick that was the first sound and action synced horror film. But what about Edward Von Sloan’s Van Helsing? He was one of the few characters in this classic screamer with the mental fortitude to stand up against Dracula’s mind control techniques.

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

IMDB Score 7.2/10

Jack MacGowran plays Van Helsing in the Roman Polanski adaption which lets Van Helsing be the main character, rather than Dracula, but also casts him in a slapstick role. Here Ven Helsing is a vampire hunter by pure luck, with his blunders saving him again and again from certain death at the hands of the undead.

Dracula (1958-1974)

IMDB Score 7.3/1- (first in the series)

Maybe this one is cheating, since it is in fact a series of six films starring Peter Cushing as Van Helsing opposite Christopher Lee’s Dracula. This Van Helsing is all about brains over brawn and manages to outsmart the vampire at every turn rather than relying on his combat skills, which presumably would be pretty useless against the superhuman strength of the vampire. He even manages to treat a vampire bite to himself, much in the same way as you would handle a snake bite.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

IMDB Score 7.4/10

Anthony Hopkins is one of those actors who can do no wrong, and his turn as Van Helsing in the 1992 adaptation of Dracula is another example of that. He makes his version of the character on the edge of sanity, which might be to be expected, having spent a lifetime chasing vampires. But it is a wonder than anyone else listens to a word he says.

Dracula (2000)

IMDB Score 4.9/10

You get two for the price of one in this admittedly mediocre Dracula flick with Christopher Plummer playing a Van Helsing vampire hunter who has unnaturally prolonged his life in order to kill Dracula, and Jonny Lee Miller as his apprentice. These two are probably the best thing about this film, and you definitely want Plummer on your side if you encounter any vampires!

Van Helsing (2004)

IMDB Score 6.1/10

Probably the first film to make Van Helsing into a modern action character is this one starring bona fide action star Hugh Jackman. While Jackman is charismatic enough to make this film watchable, pretty much everything else about it is bad. Here he is no lone wolf but has a secret church order behind him backing him up on his quest against evil.

Hellsing & Hellsing Ultimate (2001-2002, 2006-2012)

IMDB Score 8.3/10

True fans of the character will adore this anime TV series based on the Japanese manga comics. Rather than being an individual, Helsing is an organization that battles vampires, ghouls and the supernatural in England (with a distinctively Japanese twist).

Dracula (2013-2014)

IMDB Score 7.4/10

When Jonathan Rhys Meyers took an excellent turn as Dracula in the NBC TV series, Thomas Kretschmann played the Van Helsing. In this film, the tables are turned. We are sympathetic to Dracula, who is seeking vengeance on the people that ruined his life, while Van Helsing takes on the role of the antagonist who has little sympathy and sees the world as black and white.

Penny Dreadful (2014)

IMDB Score 8.2/10

Penny Dreadful, with its collection of characters from the supernatural, naturally features its own Van Helsing, played by David Warner. He is a hematologist who finds himself embroiled in the world of the supernatural after a vampire breakout in London. In this show he is more scientist than hunter, and best buds with our Frankenstein.

Van Helsing (2016-)

IMDB Score 6.2/10

This popular television show is set in a post-apocalyptic world where vampires run free. A female descendant of the Van Helsing family, played by Kelly Overton, wakes up after coma to discover this new world, and discover that she is the most wanted person on the planet as something in her blood holds the cure for vampirism.

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