Van Helsing has truly kinetic, high-speed action a la Spiderman-- a modern interpretation of such old standbys as the stagecoach chase. The effects are excellent, in particular a couple of very cool vampire-cam shots while flying and while hanging upside down in the dark.

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Unfortunately, it earns its bread via lots of flavorless, hoary, old horror movie cliches of the Igor / Tesla coil / 'It's alive!' variety. It's homage via fromage. It's by the director of The Mummy, who's trying to clone his old work and its profits. To top it off, the Transylvanian accents sound recycled from the Russians in Red Storm Rising. It's a pleasant but unmemorable evening.