From scholar to Slayer: Video explores how Van Helsing has evolved in the last hero of action of cinema

Dr. Emily Zarka, presenter of PBS MonstrumHe recently explored the fascinating transformation of Abraham Van Helsing, a character who was introduced to Bram Stoker Dracula As a measured intellectual academic and ended up in films as an action hero that brandishes vampires.

In the novel of 1897 by Stoker, Van Helsing is a doctor and scientist, a man of reason who uses logic, knowledge and medical skills to face the supernatural. There is nothing flashy in him. It is stoic, methodical and deeply rooted in the traditions of the Victorian scholarship. But as Dr. Zarka points out, Hollywood had other plans.

“As Van Helsing went from the Accademica in Dracula At the action hero icon? This episode explores its evolution from the Victorian scholar to the legend of the hunt for monsters, unveiling his role in the novel, Pop Culture Legacy and because he remains the last supernatural murder. “

When the films started adapting Dracula And other horror stories, the character has been reinvented to adapt to new tastes. In the mid -twentieth century, the public wanted a show and a physical confrontation, not only academic debates on folklore and diseases. The Archetype of Monster Hunter himself has moved to pop culture, fueled by pulp magazines, adventure serials and the rise of successful cinema.

Zarka also examines the history of the real world of monsters of monsters and the way in which the role of that profession in society has changed. “In the 20th century, traditional monsters are largely vanished in darkness, replaced by explorers, scholars, scientists, hobbyists and journalists who chase stories of cryptids and unidentified air phenomena that newspapers have printed stories of regularly.”

When Van Helsing appeared in great budget films like 2004 Van Helsing With Hugh Jackman, it was less a reserved intellectual and more a supernatural action star, a character capable of jumping on roofs, fighting the werewolf and taking an army of vampires.

It is very different from the professor in Stoker’s novel, but it is a transformation that speaks to the adaptiveability of the character and the lasting appeal.

Whether it is a calm academic and pipe smoker or a fearless and gadget hero, Van Helsing remains one of the most lasting vampire hunters of fiction, a figure who fills the gap between the wisdom of the old world of folklore and the appetite of cinema for the exciting monster monster.