probably not the worst of the year, but i definitely disliked it a great deal.

I read the opinion of two critics, and thought, "Could be a novel idea, all the great movie monsters in one great movie!" Rarely do I nod off in a movie. As a matter of fact, this may have been my first. I usually look for some redeeming value. I got tired of looking. Granted, the special effects were okay; but even they could not rescue a lame story-line. Furthermore, if I see one more romance thrown into a movie in which the two lovers begin in conflict only to win each other over by movie's end I am going to scream. It is never good for a clergyman to scream in the movie theater of the town that is his parish. So, I did the right, moral thing: I nodded off.

This film was one of the worst I have ever seen. I couldn't even sit still and watch it because it was so boring. There too much going on.

Van Helsing (2004)

quote:

mazur posted:

This film was one of the worst I have ever seen. I couldn't even sit still and watch it because it was so boring. There too much going on.

I find it curious to read "so boring" and "too much going on" in the same argument for this movie being the worst of 2004. I'm reminded of another movie, a comedy that a lot was going on: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) directly by Stanley Kramer of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) where there seemed to be a dozen or so different subplots, characters all bouncing off the screen. Yet in was in the multitude of activity with a common theme that the movie was fun and entertaining. I won't say that this movie was as fun and entertaining but as Roger Ebert found saw it, it was "silly and spectacular, and fun." Great movie probably not, but worst movie of 2004, probably not either.

I couldn't find any character to like or feel sorry for in this film. Universal sure has lost their knack for creating interesting creatures that invoke both horror and compassion, as well as skilled actors to portray them. But two good things came from "Van Helsing". To help promote the release of the film, Universal finally got off their lazy butts and released the The Wolf Man, Dracula and Frankenstein Legacy DVD Collections for each character. Good lord! how long I had waited for "Frankenstein Meets the the Wolf Man" on dvd! Then, when "Van Helsing" was released on dvd, Universal released Legacy Collections for The Invisible Man, The Mummy and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I was in heaven, or at least in Transylvania. Keep releasing these classics, Universal, I know there are more Karloff films you have locked up in the vaults. Oh, and toss "Van Helsing" in the vault while you're at it and don't forget the garlic & wolfbane to make sure it doesn't escape.