Adventures of Young Van Helsing: The Quest for the Lost Scepter

One word: crap. An excellent definition for the most terrible "movie" ever made. The acting was as good as a school play, the special effects were little better than home movies, and the only reason anyone should ever watch this movie is if they want to watch something so stupid it's terribly funny. It is not even close to being as good as Saturday Night Lives sketches, but what's even more funny is that SNL is supposed to be funny! So, I recommend it for widdle kids who have ADD and want to watch it with some pizza. Other than that, it deserves the Golden Turkey Award. And I remind you what I said earlier. CRAP. And more Crap. Nothing more, remember crap and its smell have always been funny to people, and, of course, mostly leetle kindergarten-goers.

If your kids like the "Goosebumps" series, this made for video flick is for them! Decent production values, a likeable lead, a terrific villain (played by Indy "scream king" Joe Zaso!), a few cute chicks (loved the southern belle) and great horror special makeup effects (especially the cut "zombie dog" sequence - bravo!) add up to a fun flick for the 'tween set (those between kid and teenager, of course). Also enjoyed the fun music video! All in all, a fair film hampered only by clumsy editing and overacting by some of the supporting players. Writer/director Summerfield caters to the intended audience, while throwing horror and adventure film buffs a few bones. The DVD has some nice extras as well. Older horror film fans will likely groan a bit, but the kids will get a kick out of it! A fun rental for a stormy night sleepover!

I bought this DVD at a yard sale so I'm only out two bucks but I was tempted to return to the yard sale and demand my money back. I must admit that I did not watch the entire movie. I couldn't make it past the first 5 minutes. The fat kid with black face makeup on (to fool into believing he was Indian or Pakistani) was too ridiculous to continue watching.

How do movies this bad get made? Is there really a market for movies that can only be called an embarrassment? How is it that this movie DID NOT make your 100 worst movies. Are there really at least 100 movies worse than this? God help us.

Actually, as bad as the movie THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG VAN HELSING is, the as-yet-unpublished novelization is very good. I was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of the novelization by R.H. Jones before I saw the movie, and can say that this is one instance where the writer took tremendous liberties with the script...and the result was excellent! In fact, this is a better movie novelization than many I've read. It has a Buffy, the Vampire Slayer feel to it, and I felt like I was reading a TV novelization. Should you have the opportunity to read the novelization if it ever gets published, don't bother ever seeing the movie!

I watched this movie with my friends because they wanted to show me one of the worst movies of all time. They were exactly right! Not only does this movie have awful acting, the special effects (like for explosions they used firecrackers!) and music was terrible. It's hard to believe that this low quality of a movie was put into works. I will give this movie an A for effort. I think I know how they casted this movie. First, they went to a random high school. Then, they got onto the loudspeaker and asked if the entire school wanted to be in a movie. Then, they shot this movie like a low-budget porno. People who read this, understand that I love all types of movies, but this one did not wow me, it didn't keep me entertained, and all I could do was laugh at how awful this movie was. A 1 out of 10 is the perfect score for this movie.