"Actor: Shuler Hensley"

• Van Helsing (2004) Single Disc Edition | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Like a roller coaster ready to fly off its rails, Van Helsing rockets to maximum velocity and never slows down. Having earned blockbuster clout with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, writer-director Stephen Sommers once again plunders Universal's monster vault and pulls out all the stops for this mammoth $148-million action-adventure-horror-comedy, which opens (sans credits) with a terrific black-and-white prologue that pays homage to the Universal horror classics that inspired it. The plot pits legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) against Dracula (the deliciously campy Richard Roxburgh), his deadly blood-sucking brides, and the Wolfman (Will Kemp) in a two-hour parade of outstanding special effects (980 in all) that turn Sommers' juvenile plot into a triple-overtime bonus for CGI animators. In alliance with a Transylvanian princess (Kate Beckinsale) and the Frankenstein monster (Shuler Hensley), Van Helsing must prevent Dracula from hatching his bat-winged progeny, and there's so much good-humored action that you're guaranteed to be thrilled and exhausted by the time the 10-minute end-credits roll. It's loud, obnoxious, filled with revisionist horror folklore, and aimed at addicted gamers and eight-year-olds, but this colossal monster mash (including Mr. Hyde, just for kicks) will never, ever bore you. A sequel is virtually guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon

• Van Helsing | Blu Ray | (25/05/2009) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the director of "The Mummy" comes the tale of a fabled 19th-century monster-hunter summoned to a distant Eastern European land on a quest to vanquish evil.

• Oklahoma! | DVD | (13/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When Mary Rodgers, daughter of the composer Richard Rodgers, was reported as saying she never wanted to see another Oklahoma!, it was her way of paying the highest tribute to Trevor Nunn's production at the Royal National Theatre which was subsequently taken into the studio and filmed. The camera follows the playgoers into the auditorium of the Olivier where in their company we watch the show and applaud the numbers as the real thing. Nunn treats Rodgers and Hammerstein's first collaboration with the utmost seriousness restoring the full text, running to three-and-a-half hours, so that it comes across as a drama indebted to Eugene O'Neill. The documentary, viewed preferably as a preview, with Tim Piggott Smith the penny-plain narrator, allows one to relish in the smallest detail Nunn's scrupulous touch, which according to Maureen Lipman (Aunt Eller) included addressing the cast for two days at rehearsal, an approach that by her account paid off handsomely for the company. Although Oklahoma! unfolds at a leisurely pace, it is extraordinary how one is drawn into the drama under Nunn's direction. There's seldom a wish for true locations as the pace picks up and we move into the claustrophobic company of Judd Fry in his riveting encounter with the cowboy Curly. The close up camera work affords an experience the theatre can't bring and pays handsome dividends too in appreciating Susan Stroman's intricate and lively choreography that was dissipated somewhat on the big apron stage of the Olivier. Her dancers are a fine team, notably Jimmy Johnston who is outstanding as Will Parker leading the Kansas City ensemble. Hugh Jackman as Curly matches him in vocal prowess and looks, and Shuler Hensley sings the tricky role of Judd Fry very well. It's harder to place Peter Polycarpou's Pedlar, a considerably larger role than in the film version, whose accent strays from East End wideboy to the plains of Europe. Maureen Lipman, rightly deemed the lynchpin of the musical by Nunn, is a joy to watch. Laurey and Ado Annie are good but not special. Aside from an abrupt start to Act Two and the occasional voice off microphone, the production sounds good with a larger orchestra present than in the theatre. An Oklahoma! on an epic scale. --Adrian Edwards

• Van Helsing (4K UHD + BluRay + UV) | 4K UHD | (14/08/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Mega-budget action adventure starring Hugh Jackman as the eponymous Gabriel Van Helsing, monster hunter extraordinaire. Van Helsing is sent on a mission by the Vatican to Transylvania to hunt down the evil Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh), accompanied only by the faithful friar Carl (David Wenham). There he meets the beautiful Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale), one of the last remaining descendants of a powerful royal family. She is as determined as Van Helsing to destroy the infamous vampire, who placed an ancient curse on her ancestors that has led to generations of supernatural goings-on and copious bloodshed. Other adversaries including Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man and Dracula's bloodthirsty vampire brides stand in their way - but will the brave and beautiful win through?

• Van Helsing | HD DVD | (04/12/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Hunted as a murderer by those who do not understand his calling Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) travels the globe as a fugitive. Accompanied only by Carl (David Wenham) a friar entrusted with providing Van Helsing's safety and a weapons arsenal to rival James Bond Van Helsing is despatched to the shadowy world of Transylvania. Home to the ravishing Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale) one of the last remaining descendents of a powerful royal family Van Helsing has been sent to terminate the evil and undefeatable Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and his alluring bloodthirsty vampire brides. Herself a fearless hunter Anna joins forces with Van Helsing to confront her family's life long adversary and avenge the deaths of her predecessors. In a stunning showdown Van Helsing comes face to face with his mortal enemy but is also forced to confront his past...

• Van Helsing (Two Disc Collector's Edition) | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Like a roller coaster ready to fly off its rails, Van Helsing rockets to maximum velocity and never slows down. Having earned blockbuster clout with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, writer-director Stephen Sommers once again plunders Universal's monster vault and pulls out all the stops for this mammoth $148-million action-adventure-horror-comedy, which opens (sans credits) with a terrific black-and-white prologue that pays homage to the Universal horror classics that inspired it. The plot pits legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) against Dracula (the deliciously campy Richard Roxburgh), his deadly blood-sucking brides, and the Wolfman (Will Kemp) in a two-hour parade of outstanding special effects (980 in all) that turn Sommers' juvenile plot into a triple-overtime bonus for CGI animators. In alliance with a Transylvanian princess (Kate Beckinsale) and the Frankenstein monster (Shuler Hensley), Van Helsing must prevent Dracula from hatching his bat-winged progeny, and there's so much good-humored action that you're guaranteed to be thrilled and exhausted by the time the 10-minute end-credits roll. It's loud, obnoxious, filled with revisionist horror folklore, and aimed at addicted gamers and eight-year-olds, but this colossal monster mash (including Mr. Hyde, just for kicks) will never, ever bore you. A sequel is virtually guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon

• Van Helsing / Bram Stoker's Dracula / Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Van Helsing (Dir. Stephen Sommers 2004): Hunted as a murderer by those who do not understand his calling Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) travels the globe as a fugitive. Accompanied only by Carl (David Wenham) a friar entrusted with providing Van Helsing's safety and a weapons arsenal to rival James Bond Van Helsing is despatched to the shadowy world of Transylvania. Home to the ravishing Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale) one of the last remaining descendents of a powerful royal family Van Helsing has been sent to terminate the evil and undefeatable Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and his alluring bloodthirsty vampire brides. Herself a fearless hunter Anna joins forces with Van Helsing to confront her family's life long adversary and avenge the deaths of her predecessors. In a stunning showdown Van Helsing comes face to face with his mortal enemy but is also forced to confront his past... Bram Stoker's Dracula (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola 1992): Francis Ford Coppola returns to the original source of the Dracula to create a modern masterpiece. It follows the tortured journey of the devastatingly seductive Transylvanian Prince (Gary Oldman) as he moves from Eastern Europe to 19th century London in search of his long lost Elisabeta who is reincarnated as the beautiful Mina (Winona Ryder)... Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Dir. Kenneth Branagh 1994): It is the late 18th Century. After the death of his beloved mother young Victor Frankenstein leaves his father and Elizabeth the adopted sister he passionately loves to attend university. Here he becomes obsessed with the teachings of Professor Walman who believes that living creatures can actually be created from dead matter. One electrifying night Frankenstein's efforts are rewarded as his Creature struggles to life. Alone despised and driven by a rage of emotional agony it sets off to find its maker. And so begins the nightmare that will engulf Victor Frankenstein...

• Van Helsing | UMD | (05/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Like a roller coaster ready to fly off its rails, Van Helsing rockets to maximum velocity and never slows down. Having earned blockbuster clout with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, writer-director Stephen Sommers once again plunders Universal's monster vault and pulls out all the stops for this mammoth $148-million action-adventure-horror-comedy, which opens (sans credits) with a terrific black-and-white prologue that pays homage to the Universal horror classics that inspired it. The plot pits legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) against Dracula (the deliciously campy Richard Roxburgh), his deadly blood-sucking brides, and the Wolfman (Will Kemp) in a two-hour parade of outstanding special effects (980 in all) that turn Sommers' juvenile plot into a triple-overtime bonus for CGI animators. In alliance with a Transylvanian princess (Kate Beckinsale) and the Frankenstein monster (Shuler Hensley), Van Helsing must prevent Dracula from hatching his bat-winged progeny, and there's so much good-humored action that you're guaranteed to be thrilled and exhausted by the time the 10-minute end-credits roll. It's loud, obnoxious, filled with revisionist horror folklore, and aimed at addicted gamers and eight-year-olds, but this colossal monster mash (including Mr. Hyde, just for kicks) will never, ever bore you. --Jeff Shannon

• Van Helsing | Blu Ray | (25/06/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-14.21 (-111.30%)   |  RRP £12.77

  Like a roller coaster ready to fly off its rails, Van Helsing rockets to maximum velocity and never slows down. Having earned blockbuster clout with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, writer-director Stephen Sommers once again plunders Universal's monster vault and pulls out all the stops for this mammoth $148-million action-adventure-horror-comedy, which opens (sans credits) with a terrific black-and-white prologue that pays homage to the Universal horror classics that inspired it. The plot pits legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) against Dracula (the deliciously campy Richard Roxburgh), his deadly blood-sucking brides, and the Wolfman (Will Kemp) in a two-hour parade of outstanding special effects (980 in all) that turn Sommers' juvenile plot into a triple-overtime bonus for CGI animators. In alliance with a Transylvanian princess (Kate Beckinsale) and the Frankenstein monster (Shuler Hensley), Van Helsing must prevent Dracula from hatching his bat-winged progeny, and there's so much good-humored action that you're guaranteed to be thrilled and exhausted by the time the 10-minute end-credits roll. It's loud, obnoxious, filled with revisionist horror folklore, and aimed at addicted gamers and eight-year-olds, but this colossal monster mash (including Mr. Hyde, just for kicks) will never, ever bore you. A sequel is virtually guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon

• Van Helsing | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the director of "The Mummy" comes the tale of a fabled 19th-century monster-hunter summoned to a distant Eastern European land on a quest to vanquish evil.