Van Helsing (2004) - 21 questions

Directed by Stephen Sommers, starring David Wenham, Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh (add more)

The "questions" section is for any random questions that occurred to you while watching this film, or anything you didn't entirely understand, and which Google or the IMDb can't help with. Submit them as a question, and hopefully someone will answer (the bold comments in brackets) - check back regularly. If the answer is wrong, or missing information, please use the "clarify answer" option. Don't feel limited - want to know what music played in a certain scene? Whether this was the first film to use a certain effect? Here's the place to ask!

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Entry In the beginning of the film, where Dracula is talking to Viktor vonFrankenstein, he slams the chest shut and begins yelling at him. Before this, Viktor was looking over his shoulder and his attention immediately snaps back to Dracula, but he then turns once more to look behind him before staring at Dracula again, can someone explain why he looks over his shoulder a second time? [During their conversation Dracula is able to move around the room without Viktor noticing it. Then Dracula is standing on top of the fireplace behind Viktor, that's why he turns his head the first time. When Dracula suddenly slams the chest Viktor is surprised to see Dracula suddenly standing in front of him so he instinctively turn his head to look at the fireplace to believe his own eyes.]
Answered by Mortug Time
Entry Does anyone know what kind of an accent Dracula (and most of the other characters) have? I've googled Transylvanian, and it gave me quite a few countries. [Well, no one really knows what type of accent they were trying to achieve - but Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) was born in Transylvania in the middle ages. Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia were joined together later to form Romania. Therefore, it would historically correct to say they had Romanian accents.]
Answered by Zwn Annwn Time
Entry Where exactly is Castle Dracula located? Is it somewhere within Transylvania or in some unknown place? [If you are interested in the true location of the real Castle Dracula, you should visit http://www.infohub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=152&postcount=3. It gives you are clearer answer than you can find in the movie itself.]
Answered by Mortug Time
Entry In the credits it lists the name of the dark haired bride as Verona - it does this in the game as well - but I can't find that name spoken anywhere in the film. Where is it, if anywhere? [Her name is never spoken, but the two other brides' names, Aleera and Marishka, are spoken.]
Answered by Mortug Time
Entry I'm still not sure how Anna died, all I saw was the werewolf leaping on her. Then when we see her body I couldn't see any bite marks or wounds that would explain exactly how he killed her. [There are two things I can think of that possibly killed her. The first is that when the werewolf jumped and smashed her into a piece of furniture (or whatever it was) it's possible that she was crushed and was killed by it. But, the second (and more likely cause) is that it was shock. A sudden blow of something much stronger, bigger and heavier than you could easily be fatal.]
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Entry Exactly how did Van Helsing and Carl get out of Draculas' Castle? When Carl tried to back out shortly after arriving he just bounced off the wall, so how did they get out later? [The spell's objective was to keep Dracula prisoner; once he is dead, the spell is broken, so everyone could have left the way they came in.]
Answered by Sereenie Time
Entry I know it's an answer to a previous question, but I've just been so confused about the answer I had to ask again: Can Dracula's Werewolf Antidote work after 12 times of midnight on their first full moon? If it could, why did Van Helsing order Carl to kill him? If it couldn't work, why would Dracula even have it? Can someone please answer this question who is 100% sure they have the right answer? [Dracula's antidote would turn the werewolf into a normal human but only if they recieved the antidote before the 12th chime of midnight. If they were too late he would not be able to turn back into a normal human. After seeing the picture in the house they were staying at Carl discovered that only a werewolf could kill Dracula, so when Van Helsing turned into a werewolf he told Carl to kill him if they were too late so that he would not remain a werewolf and do to people what he had spent his life fighting against. But Dracula also knew that was the only way for him to be killed, so he kept an antidote so if a werewolf turned against him he would be able to cure them and save himself.]
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Entry Why does Dracula do that dance that involves placing his hand on his chest and slowly spinning around while Velkan is being strapped to the device while screaming "Never"? [His LONG awaited plans are coming into fruition, and he is showing a little happiness. As well as gloating and taunting Velkan, of course.]
Answered by Twotall Time
Entry Does anybody know what reaction/comments/impressions Anne Rice had about this film? [I'm not sure if she has given any public comments about the movie, but you can go to her official homepage and contact her personally: http://www.annerice.com/ac_LeaveAMessage.htm.]
Answered by Mortug Time
Entry How could Dracula's werewolf antidote work on regular werewolves? I thought it could only work the first night they became a werewolf, and it had to be before the twelfth chime of midnight? Or did I miss something? [There is a lot of confusion about Dracula's control of werewolves and the antidote. After the twelfth stroke of midnight, a werewolf is under the complete control of Dracula. This is why Velkan couldn't kill Dracula: He knew a werewolf could kill him, even tried telling this to his sister, but couldn't consciously kill Dracula. Dracula keeps the antidote as a safety measure: If any werewolf summons enough will to get out of his control, he can make them human again.]
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Entry If the werewolf antidote could work at anytime, then why did Van Helsing order Carl to kill him if Dracula was not dead by the twelfth stroke of midnight? [The antidote can't work at anytime; it must be administered to the bitten person before the twelfth stroke of midnight of the first full moon after they were bitten. Because only a werewolf could battle Dracula, Van Helsing ordered Carl not to give him the antidote unless he had killed Dracula before the twelfth stroke (if by which time, he hadn't killed Dracula, Carl was to kill Van Helsing, as the antidote would be useless and Van Helsing would remain a werewolf).]
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Entry When Van Helsing was on the carriage on the way to Budapest and the horses were about to go over the broken bridge, how did the horses fly over a considerably huge gap like that and land on the other side of the bridge? Why didn't Van Helsing try to stop the horses? [Because having them jump the gap looked really cool. In reality, horses are not stupid. If they see a huge drop off like that, they will stop by themselves!]
Answered by Grumpy Scot Time
Entry When Velkan turned into a werewolf it was at the night of a full moon. The exact same thing happened to Van Helsing. Why is it that when Velkan was attacked by a werewolf it happened in the morning? Werewolves only appear on the night of a full moon. [The werewolves of Van Helsing change to wolf form whenever the full moon is shining. Sometimes the moon is up during the day.]
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Entry If Van Helsing is the Left Hand of God, wouldn't he, the mighty archangel, be too powerful to be affected by a werewolf curse? And wouldn't he be able to crush Dracula without the extra powers? [He probably lost some powers and became more human (thus being affected by the curse), all of which will probably be explored in a sequel.]
Answered by Xofer Time
Entry When Gabriel killed Dracula 400 years ago, what turned him into a vampire? Because if he was already a vampire, obviously Gabriel didn't kill him. [After being killed - "murdered" as Dracula stated several times - by Van Helsing, Dracula made a deal with the Devil to regain his life. Carl tells his story when telling Van Helsing and Anna everything that he has learnt.]
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Entry Does anyone know why Dracula calls Van Helsing "Gabriel" throughout the film? [Gabriel is the true name of the character described elsewhere as the Left Hand of God, responsible for Dracula's original death. Dracula uses this to try to remind Van Helsing of their history together. The implication is that Van Helsing is actually the archangel Gabriel, credited with (among other things) announcing the pending birth of Christ to Mary his mother, Joseph his father, and Elizabeth mother of John the Baptist.]
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Entry What's the name of the "Van Helsing theme"? I'm talking about the song that plays three or four times during the movie in scenes heavily featuring Van Helsing (the beginning scene in France or the very end, for example). It's the one that has something similar to a Spanish guitar very noticeably playing from time to time. [There are actually two tracks on the soundtrack you can choose from. "Journey to Transylvania" and "Transylvanian Horses" both feature the Spanish Guitar and are featured in the movie. Both songs are by Alan Silvestri. Just note that "Transylvanian Horses" is longer than "Journey To Transylvania" seeing as though the "Journey" track is only approx 1.5 min long.]
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Entry Why did Van Helsing blow that knockout dust into Anna's face? It seemed to have no connection to the plot of the movie. [To prevent her from going off to find Dracula or his brides - she was refusing to wait until the next day to go with Van Helsing as he had repeatedly asked.]
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Entry If Van Helsing murdered Dracula 400 years or more ago and took his ring, how come he is still alive. Dracula is 'alive' because he is one of the undead, but what about Van Helsing? [Carl reveals that Dracula was originally killed by "the Left Hand of God." Dracula refers to Van Helsing as Gabriel. Put together, the two facts imply that Van Helsing is actually the Archangel Gabriel, responsible for informing Mary of her pregnancy with Christ among other things. So Van Helsing is not a mere human, he is also supernatural and not subject to human lifespan.]
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Entry When Van Helsing is freeing Frankenstein's Monster from the roof, he can't unbuckle the restraints. He says, "This is going to hurt." and then yanks on something. What exactly does he do? It just looks like he's undone the straps. [VH says 'I can't loosen the bolts' - the straps have been bolted into the monster's flesh. You can see a small blood spurt if you look carefully off to the left of the screen as he pulls the strap.]
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