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| J. Van Helsing | |
| Aliases: | Professor Van Helsing |
| Franchise: | Hammer Horror |
| Notability: | Main character |
| Type: | Occult scholar |
| Gender: | Male |
| Status: | Deceased by virtue of time era |
| First: | Dracula (1958) |
| Final: | Brides of Dracula (1960) |
| Actor: | Peter Cushing |
Professor J. Van Helsing is a fictional vampire hunter and a key character in the Dracula multimedia franchise. He is based on the character of Professor Abraham Van Helsing who first appeared in the 1897 novel Dracula by author Bram Stoker. This version of the character is associated with the Hammer Horror film series and first appeared in the 1958 adaptation of Stoker's Dracula (also known as Horror of Dracula) where he was played by actor Peter Cushing. Cushing reprised the role of this particular incarnation of Van Helsing for the 1960 sequel, Brides of Dracula. He also played descendants of the character in future Hammer films.
Biography[]
Van Helsing meets with the Holmwoods.
J. Van Helsing was an occult scholar who lived in Eastern Europe during the latter half of the 19th century. He was close friends with a librarian and fellow researcher, Jonathan Harker. In May of 1885, Harker went missing and Van Helsing set out to track him down.
He stopped at an inn in Klausenburg and asked the innkeeper for a brandy and a meal and made an inquiry about his missing colleague. The innkeeper was cantankerous and avoided his questioning. Van Helsing took note of the garlic flowers adorned across the windows and threshold. He knew that the innkeeper and the people in this town were scared of a vampire, and Van Helsing promised that the work Harker and he were doing would put an end to this threat once and for all.
While Van Helsing enjoyed his meal, the hostess, Inga, came up to him and handed him Jonathan Harker's journal. She told him that she remembered seeing Harker and that a friend had recovered the journal from the Crossroads. Upon reading the journal, Van Helsing learned what fate must have befallen his friend.
He journeyed to Castle Dracula, but as he arrived, he saw a hearse pulling away from the estate - a white coffin secured in the back of the carriage. Van Helsing inspected the interior of the castle, but found it empty. He then went into the underground crypt where he found the remains of a dead vampire woman. Next to her was a coffin containing the vampire body of Jonathan Harker. Van Helsing grimly looked down at the body of his friend and provided him his final peace.
Studying Harker's journal.
Professor Van Helsing went to the home of Jonathan's friend, Arthur Holmwood. He told Arthur and his wife Mina about Jonathan's unfortunate fate, but neglected to detail the exacting nature of his death. Arthur was furious at Van Helsing for waiting ten days after the fact to deliver such news. Complicating the matter was the fact that Arthur's sister, Lucy, was Jonathan's fiancée. As Lucy had been terribly ill lately, Van Helsing felt that it would be better to break such news to her in person.
Mina later went to the home of Professor Van Helsing and told him about Lucy's illness. He asks to see Lucy at once. When he arrived, Lucy already knew about Jonathan's death. Nobody seemed to know how Lucy learned of this. Van Helsing chalked it up to a premonition. He took Mina aside and gave her strict, albeit unorthodox instructions. He instructed her to decorate her bedroom with garlic flowers and to keep all windows and doors sealed. If she failed to heed these warnings, Lucy would die.
Unfortunately, a house servant removed all of the garlic, enabling Count Dracula entrance to Lucy's room. She was found dead the following morning. Van Helsing criticized the Holmwoods for not following his instructions. The servant, Gerda, tearfully confessed to taking down the garlic and opening the windows. Van Helsing decided to come clean with Holmwood and offered him Jonathan's diary. Inside was a glimmer to the true circumstances behind his death.
Mina meets with Van Helsing.
As suspected, Lucy rose the following evening as a vampire. Arthur and Van Helsing tracked her down and Van Helsing used a cross to drive her back. He placed the crucifix upon the vampire's brow, burning its mark into her face. The sun had nearly risen and Lucy retreated back to her coffin. Afterwrd, Van Helsing entered the crypt and drives a wooden stake into her heart.
Back at the Holmwood estate, Arthur pledged himself towards doing everything he could to help Van Helsing destroy the creature responsible for turning Lucy into a vampire. Van Helsing told him of the hearse he observed leaving Dracula's castle, and suspected that Dracula might have relocated to Klausenburg by way of Ingolstadt. They went to a warehouse facility and bribed the clerk into telling them about the delivery of a specific coffin. The clerk told them that the coffin and its contents were delivered to the morgue of J. Marx at 49 Frederickstrasser.
"It's time ta go, Lucy!"
Early the following morning, Holmwood and Van Helsing went to J. Marx's office. The affable gentleman brought them down into the cellar which was filled with coffins. To his surprise however, the coffin that once contained the body of Dracula was missing. The two men returned to Arthur's house and gathered their thoughts. They tried to determine where Dracula might have sequestered his coffin. Arthur addressed Mina and asked her to wear a crucifix. She reluctantly took it in her hand, but when she did, she collapsed from the pain that it caused. Van Helsing knew that Dracula had somehow gotten to her. He rushed to her side and saw a cross-shaped burn mark upon her hand. He told Holmwood that Mina could lead them to Dracula. The two began patrolling the perimeter of the property.
Van Helsing confronts Dracula.
Later that evening, Dracula appeared in the foyer at the Holmwood estate. He climbed the stairs to Mina's room and bit her across the throat. Van Helsing and Arthur came back inside and found Mina lying in bed, bleeding. Van Helsing performed an emergency blood transfusion. Afterward, the two men tried to relax and collect their thoughts. Arthur told Gerda to bring them a fresh bottle of wine from the cellar. Gerda told him that Miss Mina had expressly forbade her from going into the cellar. Van Helsing suddenly realized that this must have been where Dracula has been hiding -- inside Arthur's own house. He ran down into the cellar and found Dracula's coffin. Dracula barged in, but upon seeing Van Helsing, hissed at him, then ran away. Van Helsing placed a cross inside the coffin, insuring that Dracula could not return to it.
Dracula abducted Mina and began traveling back towards his castle. Van Helsing and Arthur took another carriage and tried to catch up with him. Dracula was losing time however as the sun was threatening to rise soon. When Arthur and Van Helsing got to the castle, they found Dracula burying the still-conscious Mina inside a shallow grave. Van Helsing chased after Dracula who discarded Mina in favor of finding sanctuary in his castle. The two raced about the dining hall and Van Helsing pulled down a pair of drapes, allowing sunlight to come flooding in. Forming a cross from two candlesticks, he forced Dracula to back up into the cone of sunlight. Unable to move, Dracula turned to dust before Van Helsing's eyes. A breeze entered through the open window, scattering Dracula's ashes.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of J. Van Helsing was created by director Terence Fisher and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster based on concepts originally developed by Bram Stoker.