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Word-of-mouth was toxic and the stupidity came across in reviews, as critics described the film with words such as dumb, inept and cacophonous. After opening, the film suffered heavy drops every weekend till it was out of the top ten, its lowest being a 49% drop on its third week. Earning $120 million in the US, with an additional $180 million internationally, it was enough for Universal to scrape back what they had spent, but they wisely chose to leave Van Helsing as a franchise non-starter.

A TV series spin-off, Transylvania, was to be in the works for NBC, with Sommers producing and writing some episodes (Universal had merged with NBC the same month that the film opened). Supposedly canceled because of the box office, the then-president of NBC Entertainment, Jeffrey Zucker said, “The box office has no bearing whatsoever on our plans to move forward or not. It’s a creative decision based on content and concept.” Although it never went ahead on NBC, other networks were said to be interested.

I remember Van Helsing being one of the films I was most looking forward to in 2004, and was left disappointed after viewing it upon its opening night. In the looks department there are great costumes, reasonably good effects and a gothic production design. Alan Silvestri’s bombastic musical score is probably the best thing about it; however, there's just something empty and senseless about the film. Even at over two hours, the film moves quickly, with rushed explanations making way for extravagant set pieces.

Van Helsing still has some untapped potential and I would watch a sequel if it ever went ahead. The other problem, which might explain why there isn’t one, was that Sommers had already used up all the iconic monsters. If there is some creativity left, it’s possible to make one up (Blade II invented Reaper vampires), but it would obviously pale in comparison when you’ve already used the big bad that is Dracula. With TV schedules and multiplexes already over-saturated with vampires, and Joe Johnston’s big budget reworking of The Wolfman also failing to deliver the goods for Universal, we probably won’t be seeing any more gothic action blockbusters set centuries in the past, unless a Castlevania movie ever gets into production.

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