Van Helsing (2004)

Van Helsing stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale.  Van Helsing begins with the creation of Frankenstein (Shuler Hensley), who we find to be needed by Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) so that he can make his children live. 

When we first see Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) he is fighting Mr. Hyde (Robbie Coltrane) on the London rooftops.  In a straight to DVD animated movie, called Van Helsing: The London Assignment, we see all the events that led up to Van Helsing fighting Mr. Hyde.

After the death of Mr. Hyde Van Helsing goes back to the Vatican to get his new assignment.  Here the movie makers use anachronisms (the best example of an anachronism would be the chiming clocks in Julius Caeser even though chiming clocks hadn't been invented when the play takes place.) such as the projector.  There Van Helsing is told of the Valerious, a family who has pledged itself to killing Dracula.  Only two member remain: Anna (Kate Beckinsale) and Velkan (Will Kemp).  However, before Van Helsing and companion Carl (David Wenham) can reach Transylvania, Velkan is attacked by a werewolf being controlled by Dracula, leaving only Anna.

As I said in my review for Serendipity, Kate Beckinsale is one of my favorite actresses, and I think she does an amazing job as Anna Valerious.  I think the mixture of the famous monster stories is amazing, and turning Van Helsing into a superhero type figure was a great idea for this superhero engrossed generation.  What makes this movie lose points is his backstory.  It takes far to long to unfold, and then it didn't quite get explained well enough.  Also, the ending was not choice either.  Three and a half stars, all in all.

Stay Alive (2006)

Stay Alive stars Jon Foster, Sophia Bush, and Samaire Armstrong.  The movie begins with the death of Loomis (Milo Ventimiglia) and two of his friends after they died in a game they were beta testing.  The game is called Stay Alive and follows the story of Elizabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess,  a woman who killed young girls and bathed in their blood because she thought it kept her young and beautiful.

After Loomis's funeral, the game falls into the hands of his best friend Hutch (Jon Foster), who decides to play it with his girlfriend October (Sophia Bush), her brother Phineus (Jimmi Simpson), annoyingly smart friend Swink (Frankie Muniz), Hutch's boss and friend Miller (Adam Goldberg), and newcomer Abigail (Samaire Armstrong) that he met at the funeral.  While playing Miller's character dies in the game.

When Hutch goes to work the next morning, he discovers that Miller has been killed.  This causes everyone to become suspicious of the game, after discovering that Miller, Loomis, and his two friends were all killed the exact same way as they died in the game.

To me, most horror movies have the exact same plot line, with different actors playing the same parts.  Doesn't make those movies bad, it just makes them predictable.  Stay Alive is not one of those movies.  Sure, there's the goofy friend, and the somewhat slutty girlfriend, but the horror movie cliches pretty much end there.  Stay Alive is a refreshing movie that will keep viewers glued.  I give it four and a half stars.

Serendipity (2001)

Serendipity stars John Cusack as Jonathan Trager and Kate Beckinsale as Sara Thomas.  The two have a clandestine meeting in a Bloomingdale's department store when they both try and by the last pair of black cashmere gloves.  They hit it off immediately, despite the fact that they are both in serious relationships.

Sara, being a big believer in fate, decides to leave their possible romance to serendipity.  In the end she writes her name and phone number in a copy of Love In The Time Of Cholera, and he writes his on a five dollar bill.  She spends the five, and sells the book, and proclaims that if they ever get back to them, fate wants them together, then leaves when she mistakenly thinks he didn't pick the same floor in an elevator as her.

I must admit that I am a bit biased in making this review since Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack are two of my favorite actors.  But I believe that anybody that believes in fate, or simply likes a good rom-com, will enjoy this movie.  The acting, aside from Beckinsale and Cusack, is superb, especially that of the best friends of Sara and Jonathan, played by Molly Shannon and Jeremy Piven.  All in all, I give this movie four out of five stars.