Van Helsing Appearances
The concept of a career monster hunter clearly has legs, because while he's often a part of the original story, he's almost become a more prolific character all on his own.
The very first film interpretation of the story of Dracula was 1922's silent film Nosferatu, where Van Helsing he was called Professor Bulwer, and was played by John Gottowt.
Of course, The story of Dracula will always have the 1931 Bela Lugosi movie in it's DNA. Edward Van Sloan played Van Helsing here, and in it's 1936 sequel Dracula's Daughter.
If ever there was an actor that made a character his own, It's Peter Cushing's run as Van Helsing in the legendary series of Dracula movies by Hammer Films from 1958 to 1974.
Dracula from the Hammer Films also appeared in the 1970 film Count Dracula by Harry Alan Towers, an attempt at telling the original novel's story. Herbert Lom played this version of Van Helsing..
Another adaptation of the original book (this was a bigger deal in the seventies, when most people knew Dracula from the Hammer Films which... let's say they took liberties) aired on the BBC in 1977. This was ALSO called Count Dracula, and starred Frank Finlay as Van Helsing.
Van Helsing in the 1979 version of Dracula starring Frank Langella is played by none other than stage and screen legend Laurence Olivier.
This one is a guilty pleasure, but it's also very much a movie that shares some DNA with Labyrinth, if only because they were playing to the same 80's kid audience. 1987's Monster Squad was a shared universe monster movie before shared universes were cool. Van Helsing was played by Jack Gwillim.
This is probably what most of us think of when we imagine a TRADITIONAL Van Helsing; Anthony Hopkins take on the character from the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula by Francis Ford Coppela.
Of course, it's hard to mention Bram Stoker's Dracula without also evoking Mel Brooks 1995 spoof, Dracula Dead and Loving it.
I am probably one of the last living fans of the movie Dracula 2000. Van Helsing is featured early in the movie, where he's played by Christopher Plummer.
If you're going to mention Dracula 2000, there is of course also the 2004 sequel Dracula 3000, where a character named Van Helsing is played by Johhny Ricco himself, Casper Van Dien.
The 2006 Canadian/German film The Last Sect features a story about an all-female clan of vampires that hunt using an online dating service. It features David Carradine as Van Helsing.
The 2012 movie Dracula 3D, features Rutger Hauer as Van Helsing, which is just great.
Vamps was a 2012 romantic horror/comedy featuring Kristen Ritter & Alicia Silverstone, and is actually much better than it sounds. One thing it definitely has going for it is the fact that it's Van Helsing is played by national treasure Wallace Shawn.
the 2013 TV series Dracula featured Thomas Kretschmann as it's Van Helsing...
...and while we're on the subject of television, the TV series Penny Dreadful's Van Helsing was played by David Warner.
Finally the GND Van Helsing is clearly based on the 2004 film Van Helsing, where the character was played by Wolverine himself: Hugh Jackman. He also reprised the role in the animated movie Van Helsing and Van Helsing The London Assignment.