Van Helsing

This one throws the whole Universal Monsters toy box into a single story. Van Helsing is exactly the kind of hunter this trouble needs, crossing paths with vampires and werewolves alike, with Anna Valerious swept up in it alongside him. It sets itself up as a sprawling, gothic adventure rather than a quiet creeper, more concerned with monsters colliding than one villain lurking in a single room.

The fear here is the theatrical kind, built from old monster-movie favourites brought together in one go. It is more swashbuckling than genuinely unsettling, so I would not call it a hide behind the cushion film. It is a jump about in your seat one instead.

Good for a night when you want horror as spectacle, all fog and candlelight and monsters colliding, rather than something that will actually keep you checking the landing. Pour something warm, put your feet up, and let it be as much fun as it is fright.