Dracula and Van Helsing Comparisions and Relations

                Dracula the king of all vampires, is sought out by no other than Van Helsing, in not one but multiple stories. In Dracula the novel and Van Helsing the movie, there are multiple relations between each.  The characters of the plots are of similarity, however there are huge differences in the way vampires can use their powers. Where there are wolves in the novel, there are now werewolves that are not only created by the devil, but to destroy the vampire race as a whole.  The movie correlates with the novel in various ways however the Van Helsing movie took the original story of Dracula and gave it a much more modernized glorious twist.

Van Helsing, in Dracula, is all but a mere doctor who moves into a more depth account of examination of vampires and then into hunting of them. It is almost like he is acquiring knowledge on them before he can really do anything to burden or hurt them. Compared to the movie of Van Helsing, where he is explicated as not only a doctor, but a renowned hunter of sorts. In the movie he is trained, in not only a few ways of martial arts, but trained from birthright.  He is knowledgeable on all ways of mediation and battle.  As this is a powerful trait, it creates the stigma around him, as an individual not to mess with.  And so it is renounced not in a positive note in the beginning of the movie.  Where he is confronted by the pope of England to set out to and find and save Anna and Franco of Transylvania.  These two characters are similar to that of Mina and Johnathan Harker.  I will explain this in the upcoming passages. 

Three Brides / Three Sisters of Dracula

 The count and his three brides are a lot more powerful than that of the novel.  The count, has an almost immortal, or G-d like, persona about him.  He has been staked, casted with Holy water, burned, and more but nothing seems to come close to harming him. Is it because he is the first vampire cursed by the devil himself?  But nonetheless, his brides are “even angelic” figures compared to that of the novel.  They can morph into flying bat like creatures, which can sing beautifully, manipulate humans with their beauty, and kill with a sense of devilish qualities.  But these are the least of Van Helsing’s worries as there are creatures created by Dracula himself, that look like they have been morphed together by clay and touched up with clothes, not to mention a huge hairy werewolf on the lurks around Transylvania.

Before I go into further detail about the challenges Van Helsing is up against. The characters of Mina, and Harker from the novel of Dracula have quite a change of persona from start to finish.  In the beginning of the novel, Harker gets trapped into Dracula’s lair. Where he is completely stripped of his freedoms and masculinities. Almost the same way as Franco is in Van Helsing.  Harker who is in complete love with Mina, after release isn’t the same character mentally, as prior. However, Mina steps up to be the one leading the relationship forwards attempting to get Steward back into normal mental mind state.  Harker anytime Dracula is mentioned becomes cowardice towards the fact of a fight. This is similar to that of Franco. Franco, in Van Helsing, is Anna’s brother, who gets captured by Dracula’s servants and stripped of his freedoms as well.  He is than experimented on, with that of the werewolf curse.  This curse has him alter his person into the beast that is hunted regularly.  However, since he was experimented on by Dracula, Dracula has full control over his actions.  Where the count can influence Franco’s overall decision.  Franco can partake in actions of free-will but when converting into the wolf, he is completely obedient, emasculated, and enslaved almost as a pet.  In this same exact sense as Steward is  towards Dracula in the novel.

Anna (Warrior Pose)

Mina (Normal Pose)

                Anna is the warrior version of Mina. She is in charge of Transylvania, and the most respected and feared individual of the town.  Anna loses her entire family to Dracula, as she is in constant battle keeping the townspeople sane from the threats of their vampire neighbors. She keeps charge over the city, holding down the fort more or less.  When Anna and Van Helsing meet the first time, sparks flare. Where she accuses Van Helsing of being an outsider turns out to be the most promising challenge that could be accepted by Van Helsing.  As Van Helsing placed fear into the ready to fight townspeople just by pulling out his guns, they were ambushed by Dracula’s brides.  As they fight Anna is to be seduced by two of them, where the last bride is to be killed by Van Helsing.  The death of the bride, causes petrifying screams that the other brides feel and shake them back into the battle causing them to flee.  Van Helsing showing his ultimate dominance by killing the first vampire in over 100 years.  The townspeople as well as Anna all begin to show Van Helsing the respect and fear he is renowned for.   Anna gives the proper thanks of a drink, but in the process Van Helsing only wants the details on who and what he needs to kill. 

 As the story forwards, they find out that the only way to kill Dracula, is that of a werewolves doing.  In Dracula the novel, this is not the case.  Dracula must perish through that of normal death, head being cut off. In Van Helsing, it is as if this is not plausible.  And that a being of the mystical sort must do the bidding. These stories both intertwine very nicely, as they keep formal similarities between both, Dracula and Van Helsing the movie.  They show both dominant role reversals between that of Anna and Mina. Where both characters are or form into powerful fighting females, that help lead way to saving the day.   The Van Helsing movie leads way into a more mystical path, where Dracula the novel embarks on a hidden realistic point of view behind vampires.