Van Helsing (film) Van Helsing (film) Van Helsing is a 2004 American horror film written and directed by Stephen Sommers. It stars Hugh Jackman as vigilante monster hunter Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious. The film is an homage and tribute to the Universal Horror Monster films from the 1930s and '40s (also produced by Universal Studios which were in turn based on novels by Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley), of which Sommers is a fan. The eponymous character was inspired by the Dutch vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing from Irish author Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula". Distributed by Universal Pictures, the
Dacre Stoker Dacre Stoker Dacre Calder Stoker (born August 23, 1958) is a Canadian-American author, sportsman and filmmaker. Stoker was born in Montreal, Quebec. He is the great-grand nephew of Irish author Bram Stoker, the author of the 1897 Gothic novel "Dracula". He lived in his childhood in Montreal, Quebec and attended the Bishop's College School. He taught for several years at Appleby College. Stoker is a former member of the Canadian men's pentathlon team. He coached the team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Because of the Stokers' frustrating history with "Dracula's" copyright, Dacre, with encouragement from screenwriter