10 Great Movie Monsters Trapped In Awful Horror Movies
4. Frankenstein's Monster -- Van Helsing (2004)
Stephen Sommers' (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns) gothic horror Van Helsing promised horror fans a smorgasbord of creatures from across the literary canon and beyond, and boy did it deliver.
With so many good monsters to choose from, it's hard to know which to settle on, but the crowning achievement of this film's rogues' gallery is surely creature-cum-anti-hero Frankenstein's Monster. Unlike the hammy, green headed Hammer horror Frankensteins of old, Shuler Hensley's incarnation of the creature feels raw, powerful and, quite unlike Robert De Niro's disastrous appearance in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), very well cast.
The physical design feels authentic to the period setting and yet modern at the same time, looking as sharp today as it did in 2004. And that's to say nothing of Hensley's performance, which perfectly captures the pain and tragedy of the part, for at his core Frankenstein's Monster is a deeply misunderstood creature, cast out by a society that fears him based on his appearance and origins -- a timely theme.
Unfortunately for Sommers, Hensley and the Monster, Van Helsing is just a Hugh Jackman vehicle -- and a weak one at that. Visually flat while also overloaded with CGI, Frankenstein's Monster winds up being one of the few things ever really alive on screen.