Van Helsing

Rating:
Summary: Van Helsing strikes!
Review: Gabriel Van Helsing was the most wanted man in Europe. Some called him a murderer and yet others a holy man. For he wandered the world on his mission to track down and eliminate the most profound metaphysical evil and perversion. And in this mission the laws of mankind meant little to him.

Yet not even Van Helsing himself knew his true identity. Indeed, he had no memory beyond the night seven years before when he crawled broken and bleeding through the gates of the Vatican. It was on that night that the Knights of the Holy Order admitted him to their secret brotherhood. And so he became the legend, Van Helsing, trained by monks and mullahs from Tibet to Istanbul.

Now, seven years later he has finally been summoned to enter Transylvania, the focus of supernatural Evil in the world. He has been sent to find and destroy Count Dracula, son of Satan, Prince of the Earth, and sworn enemy of human kind. For Dracula has made unholy alliance with the greatest scientific mind of his day, Victor Von Frankenstein- and secret of the life force itself would soon be at the service of the King of the Undead and his unholy spawn.

I have not seen the film that this novel is based upon, but by itself this is one of the best supernatural fictions that I have read in years. The writing is tight and skillful- especially the action scenes. This is a big step above the usual quality of movie novelizations.


Rating:
Summary: Almost hyperventilated
Review: I got so excited and I felt the blood rushing to my face when I was reading Van Helsing that I almost hypervenilated!!! It's THAT prodigious! I was like thinking that it's even scarier because it's a true story, too or something. One word: intense.

Rating:
Summary: Van Helsling At His Best!
Review: I really enjoyed this novel. The writer has a very vivid grasp on his audience and what they enjoy. Within this novel, Van Helsing makes a life of chasing monsters. Anything from werewolves to vampires. Van Helsing is a mysterious character even to himself. He doesn't remember his beginnings, but he finds out when he meets Count Dracula. The Frankenstein monster is finally given his just place in fiction. Never a dull paragraph, this writer keeps you reading and entertained. You gotta' read it!

Rating:
Summary: Van Helsling At His Best!
Review: I really enjoyed this novel. The writer has a very vivid grasp on his audience and what they enjoy. Within this novel, Van Helsing makes a life of chasing monsters. Anything from werewolves to vampires. Van Helsing is a mysterious character even to himself. He doesn't remember his beginnings, but he finds out when he meets Count Dracula. The Frankenstein monster is finally given his just place in fiction. Never a dull paragraph, this writer keeps you reading and entertained. You gotta' read it!

Rating:
Summary: Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Review: Novelizations of films start with several strikes against them. The first is that they are written from the screenplay, often before the movie is actually filmed. Which occasionally leads to a phenomenon that I call plot jitters, where the script and the writer go one way and the director and the film go another. The other challenge is that most of the readers have already seen the film and look at the book as a piece of memorabilia. Keeping the reader's interest when they already know what is going to happen is a tough assignment. One that depends for the most part on how well the writer does what a 2 hour film cannot - in depth character development.

Occasionally, magic happens, and the book turns out to be an improvement over the film. 'Van Helsing' which is mostly a string of acts of violence or derring do interspersed with just enough dialog to keep the plot moving. Given that Van Helsing himself is much larger than life, and the majority of the remaining cast are creatures like Dracula, Frankenstein, and various werewolves, the film sometimes resembled a grand opera noir rather than a horror film. Kevin Ryan, by filling in the interior space of the characters - human and otherwise - does indeed outdo the film, which I found a bit tedious.

If the book fails to completely capture the atmospherics of the film, it does an excellent job of bringing Van Helsing, Anna, Dr. Frankenstein and several other characters to life. And this makes the story more meaningful than a simple display of acrobatic feats. I would almost suggest that you read the book first and then see the film, since having a clearer understanding of the motivations involved makes some of the dramatic foibles less irritating. Besides, the book is cheaper than a trip to theater and if you don't like the book, you are going to hate the film.

Rating:
Summary: Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Review: Novelizations of films start with several strikes against them. The first is that they are written from the screenplay, often before the movie is actually filmed. Which occasionally leads to a phenomenon that I call plot jitters, where the script and the writer go one way and the director and the film go another. The other challenge is that most of the readers have already seen the film and look at the book as a piece of memorabilia. Keeping the reader's interest when they already know what is going to happen is a tough assignment. One that depends for the most part on how well the writer does what a 2 hour film cannot - in depth character development.

Occasionally, magic happens, and the book turns out to be an improvement over the film. 'Van Helsing' which is mostly a string of acts of violence or derring do interspersed with just enough dialog to keep the plot moving. Given that Van Helsing himself is much larger than life, and the majority of the remaining cast are creatures like Dracula, Frankenstein, and various werewolves, the film sometimes resembled a grand opera noir rather than a horror film. Kevin Ryan, by filling in the interior space of the characters - human and otherwise - does indeed outdo the film, which I found a bit tedious.

If the book fails to completely capture the atmospherics of the film, it does an excellent job of bringing Van Helsing, Anna, Dr. Frankenstein and several other characters to life. And this makes the story more meaningful than a simple display of acrobatic feats. I would almost suggest that you read the book first and then see the film, since having a clearer understanding of the motivations involved makes some of the dramatic foibles less irritating. Besides, the book is cheaper than a trip to theater and if you don't like the book, you are going to hate the film.

Rating:
Summary: Van Helsing a book that you can't put down.
Review: Van Helsing has a lot of detail and an overwhelming villian in Count Dracula. It keeps you wanting more, but the ending truly is one of a kind. The Wolfman and Frankenstein are part of this well written adventure that takes place at the end of the 19 century. Mr.Hyde makes an appearance,but this could been have longer and more a part of the story. But overall I think Van Helsing gets a thumbs up from me.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Very interesting and hard to put down. It really helps you understand the movie better.