DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES CAN YOU SOLVE THE `VAN HELSING' MYSTERY?

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

The real mystery about ``Van Helsing,'' Stephen Sommers' monster mash and mash note is: Who's Van Helsing?

If you guess right, Sommers will tell you, but he knows that ``at the end of the day, I know that people are mainly paying attention to the fun and the action.''

The film, which has made more than $300 million worldwide, does offer lots of clues, though. The writer-director says he got the idea for ``Van Helsing'' beginning with the idea of Dracula with three gorgeous female vampires. ``Their children would be born dead, and they'd need Frankenstein to bring them back to life.''

Sommers, who says he's an ``old filmmaker kind of guy at heart - all my favorite directors are dead'' - then needed a larger-than-life hero, which is where Van Helsing came in.

The original Van Helsing was a mysterious figure - a doctor from Eastern Europe. Turning him into a hunk played by Hugh Jackman didn't sit well with some fans, but Sommers kept the mysterious element, creating a mythology about a secret society based at the Vatican that's out to rid the world of evil. He then had his costumer created an outfit - wide brim hat and cape - to make Van Helsing as iconographic as Dracula, the Frankenstein monster and the Wolf Man.

Along the way, Sommers kept the action on high and had some fun. The beginning of the film is a terrific homage to the old black-and-white horror films. There were also a number of quips. ``It's what I do,'' Igor (Kevin J. O'Connor) replies when Dracula asks why he must torture people so.

With so much going on, you are likely to stop wondering who Van Helsing is, but the answer is there. (Sommers insists that the story does ``track,'' and it does.) And figuring it out makes ``Van Helsing'' a little more fun.

Universal is also adding to its monster collections (``Frankenstein'' and ``Dracula'' are already out) with box sets on ``The Creature From the Black Lagoon,'' ``The Mummy'' and ``The Invisible Man.''

The originals of each film are horror classics (not necessarily artistic), but as for the sequels - the B movies are hit and miss, with more of the latter.

For those of you who just discovered how good an actor Johnny Depp is, take a look at his performance in ``Ed Wood,'' now out in a special edition. Depp manages to give a human dimension to the cross-dressing Wood - widely ridiculed as Hollywood's worst director. (The schlock horror sci-fi film ``Plan 9 From Outer Space'' is among his works.)

Martin Landau won a best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of a drug-addled Bela Lugosi, long past his heyday of playing Dracula, except in his psyche. Like other Tim Burton films, there is much of the bizarre, but there is something likable and oddly touching about Wood and his talentless gang, played by, among others, Sarah Jessica Parker and Bill Murray.

``Van Helsing'' (Universal; $29.98) includes commentary by director Sommers and some of the cast, a tour of Dracula's castle, the ``Bringing the Monsters to Life'' featurette, outtakes and ``The Legend of Van Helsing,'' another featurette.

``Creature From the Black Lagoon - The Legacy Collection'' (Universal; $29.98) includes the films ``Creature From the Black Lagoon,'' ``Revenge of the Creature'' and ``The Creature Walks Among Us.''

``The Mummy - The Legacy Collection'' (Universal; $29.98) includes the films ``The Mummy,'' ``Mummy's Hand,'' ``Mummy's Tomb,'' ``Mummy's Ghost'' and ``Mummy's Curse.''

``The Invisible Man - The Legacy Collection'' (Universal; $29.98) includes the films ``The Invisible Man,'' ``Invisible Man Returns,'' ``Invisible Agent,'' ``Invisible Woman,'' ``Invisible Man's Revenge.''

``Ed Wood - Special Edition'' (Buena Vista; $29.99) includes commentary by Burton and Landau, deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette hosted by Depp.

`GOING UPRIVER,'

`A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE,'

`A CINDERELLA STORY,'

`GARFIELD - THE MOVIE'

Less than a month after it hit theaters and less than a month before the election, ``Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry'' comes out. The documentary tells the story of the presidential candidate's service during the Vietnam War and his later protests against it. The film includes Super 8 footage taken by Kerry and his crewmates. As expected, the film takes a positive position on Kerry's actions, but it isn't fawning. It does reflect the difficult decision that Kerry faced after fighting in Vietnam, condemning a war that still divides the nation.

Among the other new releases is ``A Slipping Down Life'' based on an Anne Tyler novel about the eccentrics in a small Southern town. Lili Taylor, who has made a career out of playing nutty characters, plays another one, an amusement park worker who pursues a local musician (Guy Pearce) she hears on the radio. They get together, but things, well, slip. You get the picture.

``A Cinderella Story'' plops Hilary Duff in the Valley to play out an updated version of the fairy tale. It's about as exhilarating as the 101 freeway at rush hour.

There are those who find ``Garfield'' - the comic strip - funny. But don't count me among them, so I'm not the one to judge ``Garfield - The Movie.'' Let's just say I'm allergic to cats.

``Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry'' (Non Fiction Films; $19.98)

``A Slipping Down Life'' (Lions Gate; $26.98)

``A Cinderella Story'' (Warner; $27.95) includes cast commentary and a Duff music video.

``Garfield - The Movie'' (Fox, $29.98)

`THE ULTIMATE OLIVER STONE COLLECTION,'

`WONG KAR-WAI COLLECTION'

With the epic ``Alexander'' about to hit screens, Warner is bringing out the 14-disc ``The Ultimate Oliver Stone Collection,'' a more extensive version of the Stone collection they put out a few years back. Beyond the films in that set, this one includes ``Salvador,'' a special edition of ``Platoon'' and three documentaries, including 2003's ``Persona Non Grata'' and 2004's ``Looking for Fidel.''

Others films are ``Wall Street,'' ``Talk Radio,'' ``Born on the Fourth of July,'' ``JFK,'' ``The Doors,'' ``Heaven & Earth,'' ``Natural Born Killers,'' ``Nixon,'' ``U Turn'' and ``Any Given Sunday,'' plus the documentary ``Oliver Stone's America.''

As I said when the earlier collection came out, Stone is a talented, thought-provoking filmmaker who has made some of the most powerful American movies of the past 20 years. While he can be a messy (``Natural Born Killers,'' ``U Turn'') or over-the-top (``JFK,'' ``Any Given Sunday,'') filmmaker, he does put truth up on the screen - even in his fiction.

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai has plenty of American fans, including Quentin Tarantino, but that doesn't make him an action master. In films like ``Chungking Express'' and ``Happy Together,'' the director delves into the serpentine world of relationships, intimacy, heartbreak and longing. Often maddening in his plotting and overly kinetic in his editing, Wong usually delivers the emotional goods.

The ``Wong Kar-Wai Collection'' also includes ``Days of Being Wild,'' ``Fallen Angel'' and ``As Tears Go By,'' which actually is a stylized action picture more in the Hong Kong style.

``The Ultimate Oliver Stone Collection'' (Warner; $129.92)

``Wong Kar-Wai Collection'' (Kino; $99.95)

`ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT' AND MORE TV BOX SETS

Fox's ``Arrested Development'' was the lowest-rated network comedy ever to win a best comedy Emmy, which means that most of you didn't catch the first season. You almost got the feeling that Fox renewed the slightly depraved but very funny series because they had a shot at an award. But even if the word Emmy is bandied about this year, it had better do better in the ratings. So, thankfully, we have the first season now out on DVD.

``Arrested Development'' stars Jason Bateman as the closest person to sanity in the dysfunctional Bluth family, a rich clan whose patriarch (Jeffrey Tambor) has landed in jail for shady business practices. The absurdity of the show might be difficult to get into (especially if you're starting with upcoming second season), but if you watch from the beginning, which you can do now, it's easy to go with the wackiness.

With its sharp writing and cast, you'd expect ``Arrested Development'' to be on cable. Hey, it still might - at least they'd be able to use some of the words they hint at.

Other TV box sets out this week are listed below.

``Arrested Development'' (Fox; $39.98) includes 22 episodes plus an extended pilot, commentary tracks, a behind-the-scenes featurette and other features on three discs.

``Stargate SG-1 Season 7'' (MGM; $69.96) includes 22 episodes, commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes on five discs.

``Greg the Bunny - The Complete Series'' (Fox; $26.98)

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) KATE BECKINSALE, left, and RICHARD ROXBURGH in ``Van Helsing''

(2) JASON BATEMAN, ``Arrested Development''