Tag: gothic
0698 – Van Helsing (2004)
timespace coordinates: 1888 Transylvania

Van Helsing is a 2004 American dark fantasy action comedy 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. The film includes a number of monsters such as Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and werewolves in a way similar to the multi-monster movies that Universal produced in the 1940s, such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.
Spin-offs
Sommers expanded the story of Van Helsing in two direct spin-offs:
- The animated prequel titled Van Helsing: The London Assignment takes place before the main events of the film, focusing on Van Helsing’s mission to try to stop Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from terrorizing London.
- There is also a one-shot comic book, published by Dark Horse Comics, titled Van Helsing: From Beneath the Rue Morgue, that follows Van Helsing on a self-contained adventure that occurs during the events of the film, just after the death of Jekyll/Hyde in Paris but before Van Helsing returned to Rome. In the adventure, Van Helsing deals with Doctor Moreau and his hybrid mutants.
In May 2012, Universal Pictures announced that they would be rebooting the film with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci as a two-year deal to produce a modern reimagining and Tom Cruise to star as the title character and also produce the film. Rupert Sanders is in talks to direct the film. Orci spoken to IGN that he has hinted that both The Mummy and Van Helsing reboots will have a shared universe. On November 11, 2015, Variety reports that Jon Spaihts and Eric Heisserer will write the reboot, but Cruise left the film. However, in 2016, Cruise signed back on to star in Kurtzman’s The Mummy, which was released in theaters on June 9, 2017. (wiki)
309 – The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (2013 video game)
678 – Blood Tea and Red String (2006)

Blood Tea and Red String is a stop-motion-animated feature film, directed by Christiane Cegavske. It was released on February 2, 2006 after a production time of 13 years, having been filmed in various places in the West Coast and in two studios. The musical score was composed and performed by Mark Growden. Cegavske says in the audio commentary to the DVD for this film that it is to be the first in a trilogy.
“A handmade stop-motion fairy tale for adults that tells the tale of the struggle between the aristocratic White Mice and the rustic Oak Dwellers over the doll of their heart’s desire.” imdb
661 – West of Loathing (2017 video game)
spacetime coordinates: 1890’s wild west
West of Loathing is a comedy adventure role-playing video game developed by Asymmetric Publications and released on 10 August 2017.
The game takes place in the universe of Asymmetric’s Kingdom of Loathing, in a Weird Western themed frontier setting. The player character leaves the family farm and heads west to seek their fortune on a trek to the city of Frisco. (wiki)
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM) – OS: Windows XP SP2+ / Processor: 2.8 GHz Intel® Core™2 Duo or better / Memory: 2 GB RAM / Graphics: 512 MB / Storage: 4 GB available space
0531 – The Awakening (2011)
spacetime coordinates: boys’ boarding school in Cumbria 1921
“Maud Hill: There’s no place on earth people understand loneliness better than here.”
The Awakening is a 2011 British supernatural thriller/ horror film directed and co-written by Nick Murphy, starring Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Isaac Hempstead-Wright and Imelda Staunton.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1687901/
Down a Dark Hall (2018)
spacetime coordinates: 2010’s exclusive Blackwood Boarding School
503 – I Sell the Dead (2008)
spacetime coordinates: early 1800s Ireland
I Sell the Dead is a 2008 horror comedy, the feature film debut from Irish director Glenn McQuaid. The film is a period horror comedy about grave robbing and supernatural hijinks inspired by the story of William Burke and William Hare, the famous body snatchers that operated in Edinburgh, Scotland in the early 1800s. the movie stars Dominic Monaghan, Ron Perlman, Larry Fessenden and Angus Scrimm.
A graphic novel of the film has been released, with Glenn McQuaid writing and illustrations by Brahm Revel (October, 2009).
0472 – The Lost Boys (1987)
spacetime coordinates: 1980’s beach town of Santa Carla, California

The Lost Boys is a 1987 American horror thriller comedy film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes.

The film is about two Arizona brothers who move to California and end up fighting a gang of young vampires. The title is a reference to the Lost Boys in J. M. Barrie‘s stories about Peter Pan and Neverland, who, like the vampires, never grow up.
