Blu-ray of the Day: Wolfman Week – Van Helsing

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Alun Armstrong, Robbie Coltrane.
Director: Stephen Sommers.
Screenplay: Stephen Sommers.
Score: Alan Silvestri.
Cinematography: Allen Daviau.

Folklore romps don’t come more eye-popping or rib-tickling than The Mummy director Stephen Sommers’ resurrection of Bram Stoker’s fabled vampire slayer. Hugh Jackman plays him as a Victorian 007, complete with ingenious gadgets, droll dialogue and a mad-scientist foil in the guise of a certain Transylvanian count (Richard Roxburgh). The special effects are jaw-dropping and if you think there’s a Lord of the Rings look to them, it’s probably because Weta Digital had a hand in their creation. Older viewers will run out of steam before the movie does, especially with the climax that doesn’t climax soon enough. But at least the monsters inc. marathon is leavened by wit that would do Young Frankenstein proud. Among the exhaustive extras are two commentaries (one by the director and producer, the other by the core creature cast), bloopers, a trivia track, “biographies” of Van Helsing and his foes, time-lapse set constructions, f/x revelations and deconstructions of key scenes, including the brilliant black-and-white homage to Frankenstein that opens the movie. Many of these also can be viewed as part of a picture-in-picture bonus. In short, these supplements leave no gravestone unturned.

Movie: 😀 😀 😀 😀
Image: 😀 😀 😀 😀
Extras: 😀 😀 😀 😀