Marek Vasut Movies

The greatest monster hunter of them all has his work cut out for him as he tracks down three deadly foes in this action-adventure saga. Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) is a man who has dedicated his life to battling evil forces who exist outside the bounds of nature; Van Helsing's work has not always made him friends, and a false accusation of murder still trails him. But when he's summoned to Transylvania at the behest of Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale), whose family has been fighting supernatural beings for generations, Van Helsing wastes no time answering her call. There, Van Helsing discovers that the undying vampire Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) has put a misshapen creature named Igor (Kevin J. O'Connor) under his spell, and, in turn, has forged an alliance with a hideous monster (Shuler Hensley) who was created by the misguided Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Samuel West). Adding to Anna's burden is her brother, Velkan (Will Kemp), a lycanthrope who becomes a bloodthirsty wolf under the light of the full moon. Van Helsing also co-stars Elena Anaya, Silvia Colloca, and Josie Maran as Dracula's vampire brides. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

British actor Robert Carlyle stars as the 20th century's most infamous dictator in this two-part TV biopic. The film covers the life of Adolf Hitler from his childhood to his emergence as absolute ruler of Germany in 1934. Most of the ground covered should be familiar to history buffs: Hitler's failed efforts to become a great artist, his frustration at watching his adopted country fall apart at the seams during World War I, his resolve to put Germany back on its feet by exploiting the nation's horrendous postwar economic woes and its ingrained anti-Semitism, his 1923 arrest, the publication of Hitler's virulent screed Mein Kampf, the growing popularity of National Socialism, and the fatal error made by senile German chancellor Von Hindbenburg (Peter O'Toole) to "neutralize" Hitler by giving him a relatively unimportant political post in 1933. Also covered is Hitler's abortive romance with his half-niece Geli Raubal (Jena Malone) and his longer relationship with the estimable Eva Braun (Zoe Telford). Given the difficulties faced by actor Carlyle and the screenwriters to successfully convey pure, unadulterated evil, much of what we learn about Hitler is conveyed by the observations and reactions of other characters, notably crusading but ineffectual anti-Nazi journalist Fritz Gerlich (Matthew Modine), and especially German publisher Ernst Hanfstaengl (Liev Schreiber) and his wife, Helene (Julianna Margulies). Originally a staunch supporter of Hitler, Hanfstaengl eventually comes to realize the danger the man poses to the world ("He's not human. He simply studies others to become human."); in contrast, Helene, who at the outset is vaguely opposed to National Socialism, is ultimately seduced and swept up by the movement. Not surprisingly, this film stirred up a great deal of controversy even before it aired; some Jewish leaders and prominent Holocaust survivors worried that Hitler might come off as being sympathetic (a concern that may have dictated altering the film's title, which was to have been Hitler: The Early Years); and one of the film's producers was summarily dismissed after issuing a public statement which seemed to compare Germany's blind, unthinking allegiance to Hitler to America's rallying behind George W. Bush during the Iraq crisis. Hitler: The Rise of Evil originally aired May 18 and 20, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The director (Rob Cohen) and star (Vin Diesel) of the previous summer's hit The Fast and the Furious (2001) are reunited for this spy thriller billed as a next-generation James Bond adventure. Diesel stars as Xander Cage, a nihilist extreme sports enthusiast nicknamed "Triple X" because of a large tattoo covering his back and neck. Cage's illegal stunts and poor attitude (he's given to spouting dialogue such as, "Have you ever been punched in the face for talking too much?") land him in jail, where he's recruited/blackmailed into government service by the National Security Agency's Augustus Gibbons, who likes Cage for his skills and expendability. The new secret agent is assigned to infiltrate a Russian crime ring called Anarchy 99, whose access to biochemical weaponry is making the United States extremely nervous. With the help of some high-tech gadgets from weapons master Toby Lee Shavers (Michael Roof), Cage is able to make his way into Anarchy 99, where he targets the group's leader Yorgi (Marton Csokas) and falls for the organization's second-in-command, Yelena (Asia Argento). XXX (2002) is the first in a hoped-for franchise of sequels for the film's producer, Revolution Studios. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Who knows what evil lurks behind your television screen? Czech writer/director Jan Sverak offers a possibility in this satirical tale of televisions that suck the life-force from every living thing. Our hero is Olda, who found himself suffering from extreme lethargy after he is interviewed on a tabloid television show. The puzzled doctors at the hospital have no clue why he is so weak and tired. But Fisarek, a strange natural healer, suggests that the cause is chronic energy loss. Fisarek teaches Olda techniques for drawing energy from the life-forces of people (especially children), trees, and art. To gain strength, Olda must also engage in tantric sex with beautiful women at a Turkish spa. The trouble is, every time Olda is near a TV screen he becomes totally lethargic again. Olda is making love with Anna, his new love, when a sprung mousetrap activates a TV remote that sucks Olda's power, bounces it off a satellite and uses it to power a pornographic program. Olda, realizing the problem becomes a television avenger, vowed to stopping the demonic screens at all costs. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Ten years after the original Chained Heat (1983), this follow-up appeared, more of a remake than a sequel to the first film. Kimberley Kates stars as Alex Morrison, an American tourist in Prague, Czechoslovakia, who is unjustly arrested and incarcerated at Razik Prison. There, the bodacious, drug-addicted warden Magda Kassar (Brigitte Nielsen) rules with an iron fist and the help of her sadistic assistant, Rosa Schmidt (Jana Svandova), a prisoner who has become a trustee. It seems that Magda and Rosa have set up the beautiful Alex, the latest in a long line of physically attractive women they've ensnared at the prison for use as unwilling prostitutes at a nearby casino and as actresses in cheap porn films. While Alex befriends a fellow newcomer, Tina (Lucie Benes) and a transvestite named Bobo (David Buonantony), her sister Susan (Kari Whitman) attempts to get help on the outside from an American diplomat. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Moviemaker Evald Schorm, once described as "the conscience of the Czech New Wave," had been inactive for several years before completing his valedictory film Vlastne se Nic Nestalo. The title translates to Killing with Kindness, which pretty much says it all. The protagonist is a young woman burdened with a fiercely overprotective mother. This is an outgrowth of mom's guilt over a childhood accident which left her daughter somewhat disfigured. Ultimately, the daughter develops the strength to stand on her own two feet without her mom's smothering succor. Most of the cast members of Vlastne se Nic Nestalo had appeared in Schorm's first feature-length effort, Everyday Courage (1964). The director died at the age of 57 in 1988, the year before Vlastne se Nic Nestalo was distributed in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi