History Film / VanHelsing

* BarbieDollAnatomy: The vampires when in monster mode, have no nipples and genetalia on their seemingly nude bodies.

-->'''Minor:''' Dracula and his brides can all turn into harpylike humanoid bat creature.\\

* TooDumbToLive: Anna and her brother Velkin tend to LeeroyJenkins when they attack things, such as werewolves, despite knowing if they die their entire family won't be allowed into Heaven. Presumably the Knights realised this, which is why they sent Van Helsing in, in the first place.

* ActorAllusion: Kate Beckinsale's character hunts [[{{Underworld}} vampires]] and Hugh Jackman's character turns into a [[{{Wolverine}} werewolf]].

* AnimeAnatomy: The vampires when in monster mode, have no nipples and genetalia on their seemingly nude bodies.
** ''{{Justified}}'' in that all the creatures that transform have their ''clothes'' transform too. The lone exceptions are [[spoiler:Velkan and Van Helsing, who retain their pants when transforming, even as they rip off their upper clothing and ''[[BodyHorror skin]]''.]]

* BadassFurry: The werewolves. [[spoiler:Especially Van Helsing.]]

* YouAreTheDemons: Oh, look, vampires are weak to werewolves. Looks like Van Helsing has a new way to make Dracula DeaderThanDead.

** [[spoiler:Kinda ironic how they get killed in that order as well.]]

* SuperpoweredEvilSid: Mr. Hyde.

* StillbornFranchise: a sequel and a TV series had been planned.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Mr. Hyde.

* LargeHam:

** Velkan hams it up the best he can in the few scenes where [[spoiler: he's human]].

* MotivationalKiss: When Van Helsing and Anna split up before the climactic battle, he to face down Dracula [[spoiler: using his werewolf power to defeat the vampire]] and she to retrieve the werewolf cure serum.

* FanService: You've got HughJackman for the ladies, and Anna (Kate Beckinsale) & the Brides for the men. And, of course, the MonsterMash premise is probably meant as fanservice of a non-sexual sort.

* FightOffTheKryptonite: Dracula vs. Crucifix. It's a tie, really. He screams, ''[[CrossMeltingAura it melts.]]''

** TheBigBad - Vladislaus Dracula.

** TheEvilGenius - Igor.

* HoYay: Between Dracula and Van Helsing. Dracula seems a hell of a lot more interested in seducing Van Helsing than killing him. Especially when he calls him by his first name and drops hints about how close they used to be. It is also made worse by the videogame and the original script (turns out, they actually toned down on the Ho Yay...)

* FightOffTheKryptonite: Dracula vs. Crucifix. It's a tie, really.

* FanService: You've got HughJackman - I mean Van Helsing - for the ladies, and Anna (Kate Beckinsale) & the Brides for the men. And, of course, the MonsterMash premise is probably meant as fanservice of a non-sexual sort.

*** Then there's the fact that Purgatory is Catholic dogma, and thus wouldn't have been referenced by a member of the Greek Orthodox Wallachian nobility.
**** This Troper is still pretty sure you can't just vow your whole family into eternal Purgatory. Or even yourself, probably. (Incidentally, why ''would'' anyone do that?)
**** That could have been something to do with the fact that the Vatican was the headquarters for the monster hunters.
** Also, friars ''are'' bound by vows of chastity. The only difference between a friar and a monk is that monks are cloistered. This is intentional, though; Friar Carl just made that up.
*** Well, he still uses that ruse on Van Helsing who should know the monastic organizations quite well, being raised in one. All Carl needed was to use the term 'novice' instead of 'friar' (which would have been quite appropriate for such an unruly yet [[GadgeteerGenius extremely competent]] character).

** Not to mention that after one of Carl's inventions blows up, after his repeated "Sorry!"s, someone can be heard saying "What in the name of Allah is wrong with you?"
*** To be fair, a lot of Christian Arabs refer to God as "Allah", it being the Arabic word for god.
** Granted, it's never actually stated that the HQ we see is the ''only'' hidden base that the Holy Order operates from. There could be others in places like Mecca.
** Additionally, the film basically basically assumes that the main setting for most the action is Catholic, when it is actually over 90% non-Catholic.

* ActorAllusion: Kate Beckinsale's character hunts [[UnderWorld vampires]] and Hugh Jackman's character turns into a [[{{Wolverine}} werewolf]].

At least, that's the theory behind ''VanHelsing'' (2004), which stars Jackman as fabled [[Literature/{{Dracula}} vampire hunter Van Helsing]]. In this incarnation, he works as an agent of the Knights of the Holy Order in the Vatican to hunt down monsters and other abominations. Aiding him is Friar Carl, a slightly irreverent tinkerer and inventor that supplies him with the speciality equipment and comic relief he needs to take down the creatures of the night.

** ''Justified'' in that all the creatures that transform have their ''clothes'' transform too. The lone exceptions are [[spoiler: Velkan and Van Helsing, who retain their pants when transforming, even as they rip off their upper clothing and ''[[BodyHorror Skin]]'']]

* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Anna Valerious and one of Dracula's brides, Verona.

** TheBigBad: Vladislaus Dracula.
** TheDragon: Verona, then Aleera takes over when she dies.
** TheEvilGenius: Igor.
** TheBrute: The WolfMan [[spoiler:Velkan.]]
** TheDarkChick: All the three brides.

** TheHero: Gabriel Van Helsing.
** TheLancer[=/=]TheSmartGuy: Friar Carl.
** TheChick: Anna Valerious.
** TheBigGuy[=/=]TheSixthRanger: Frankenstein's Creature.

* FranchiseKiller: There were plans to launch a spinoff [=TV=] series, ''Transylvania'', but they were scrapped in light of the lower-than-expected box office and mostly bad reviews.

* LecherousLicking: A LesbianVampire licks Anna's face with her very long tongue.

* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: Van Helsing must be cured by the last strike of midnight -- fortunately in [[{{Uberwald}} Transylvania]] the clocks can take twenty minutes to strike midnight.

* CompleteMonster: Mr Hyde just like his couterpart in the famous novel and Dracula of course. Actually these are the only two pure evil monsters (literally) unlike the werewolves who are just innocent cursed people and the GentleGiant Frankestein Monster.

* FemaleSuccessIsFamily

* LargeHam: Dracula is contractually required to be like this.

* ArtisticLicenseReligiousStudies: Van Helsing must kill Dracula to prevent the Valerious family from "passing into Purgatory" and never reaching Heaven. Yeah, except that, according to Catholic dogma, passing into Purgatory means eventually ending up in Heaven.