Van Helsing all bark and no bite

Van Helsing

Director: Stephen Sommers

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham

Cert: 12.

Much is expected of this blockbuster, in which Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula gets another screen outing.

It is an expectation built on sand.

The film probably will appeal to audiences not aware of some excellent past attempts to chill our blood with a trip to darkest Transylvania and its even darker castles, but for all its hype it lacks most of what made the earlier films memorable.

The plot is simple enough. Our hero - a curiously miscast Jackman - is sent to the faraway land to do battle with the fanged one (Roxburgh).

There is nothing terribly new on offer here. What is on offer is an overblown horror film which doesn’t raise many of the small neck hairs.

It looks good but the female performers, particularly Beckinsale, have been given nothing much to do.

Fangs for the memory, but no fangs!

Star Rating: 2/5