Van Helsing

Watched Van Helsing for the first time last night, recorded from when it was on at Christmas.  I'd heard quite a lot about it already from Buffy fans, due to the vampire connection, so I knew not to expect too much, but honestly, it really was pretty awful!

OK, the effects were fairly good, though all the CGI monsters looked like CGI monsters which I find very distracting; I'd rather see a man dressed up in a werewolf suit  like in Buffy's 'Phases', for example, because at least the actors are then acting with them.

And there was some witty repartee and funny references, which lifted you briefly from the total boredom.

But apart from that, the only thing going for it was the gorgeousness of Hugh Jackman (who I first noticed in 'Oklahoma' - he made a brilliant Curly - but hasn't done anything great since) or of Kate Beckinsale if you're of the other persuasion :-)

There was no character development, or personal story for the characters, so you didn't really feel much for them.  When Kate died at the end, the only reaction I managed was "Oh."  And Dracula was neither attractive nor scary - nor funny, if he was meant to be.  Frankenstein's monster was quite sweet, though.

I found the whole thing very disappointing.  It could have been so much more!