Van Helsing

This show is all over the place in terms of writing and tone. It starts out fairly grounded: a group of survivors have to make tough decisions to make it in a vampire-infested post apocalypse. The characters are interesting for the most part, although the main character Vanessa is by far the least likeable, though she gets a bit better by season 3/4. The show has a lot of good practical gore effects as well, although I think in the universe of Van Helsing people don't have spines because it is RIDICULOUSLY easy to cut off someone's head in this show, lol.

The show started to lose me in seasons 3/4, however. It seems like the show got more of a budget for season 4 so they started using more bad CGI and adding pointless side locations and characters for no real reason other than because they could. Also, after all the build up of the Dark One, when you actually see it, it is soooo underwhelming. The vampires in the first two seasons (Dimitri and Aleera) were far more terrifying than the campy ones that are in the later seasons. There's a lot more tension in general in the first two seasons, by the second season you're pretty much never worried about the main characters for reasons which will become apparent if you watch. Also, the show just basically replaces the two main characters with younger versions in season 4 because why not?

As for if I'd recommend it, maybe watch the first season a bit. If you like the main characters then maybe give it a go, if not I wouldn't bother.

Being a fan of his plays I thought that perhaps with Neil Labute at the helm this would be an interesting take on the vampire genre, but alas, it's even worse than most. Stilted dialogue, cheap production values, halfway through the first episode I was already fidgeting and eager to move on to something else.

Want something better on SyFy? Watch The Expanse.

Better recent Sci-Fi in general? Check out Humans (BBC/AMC co-production).

Looking for a vampire fix? See the original UK TV show Ultraviolet, the original BBC version of Being Human, or HBO's True Blood.

Whatever you do, don't waste your time with this.

Pros: 1. The storyline is pretty good.

Cons: 1. The acting is "C" at best. 2. The script is waaaay overwritten. The characters do not talk like normal people and especially not like people in a vampire apocalypse. 3. Makeup is not very good. 4. Very obvious that this was not a high-budget series.

Even though the cons outweigh the pros, I am still watching this. I can't explain why, maybe I'm hoping it will get better.

This show has a great premise, but only enough storyline for two seasons, the last three were trash. The vampires read more like zombies and the show goes to witchcraft and time travel and it's all too ridiculous. Main characters are decently acted. Lots of subplots that add nothing and serve only to waste time.

This is never going to win any awards however i found season 1 & 2 watchable although season three completely bombed. When the actors/actresses who themselves are not particularly great start directing episodes then there is only one direction this show is going, combine this with the introduction of the two young actresses who portray the daughters who can't act to save their lives then this show is dead.