Passes the Bechdel test

Van Helsing

Name: Van Helsing
Released: 2004

2004. Directed by Stephen Sommers, written by Stephen Sommers.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 5 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 184.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

Van Helsing is in the world to rid all evil, even if not everyone agrees with him. The Vatican sends the monster hunter and his ally, Carl, to Transylvania. They have been sent to this land to stop the powerful Count Dracula. Whilst there they join forces with a Gypsy Princess called Anna Valerious, who is determined to end an ancient curse on her family by destroying the vampire. They just don't know how!

Released: 07 May 2004
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.1 / 10
Metascore: 35 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 21 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Van Helsing 194 lines, man
Anna 134 lines, woman
Carl 117 lines, man
Dracula 84 lines, man
Frankenstein 29 lines, man
Igor 24 lines, man
Aleera 23 lines, woman
Cardinal Jinette 20 lines, man
Top Hat 11 lines, man
Velkan 11 lines, man

Full cast, 27 people

Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing
Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious
Richard Roxburgh as Count Vladislaus Dracula
Josie Maran as Marishka
David Wenham as Carl
Shuler Hensley as Frankenstein's Monster
Elena Anaya as Aleera
Kevin J. O'Connor as Igor
Alun Armstrong as Cardinal Jinette
Will Kemp as Velkan
Silvia Colloca as Verona
Tom Fisher as Top Hat
Samuel West as Dr. Victor Frankenstein
Robbie Coltrane as Mr. Hyde (voice)
Stephen Fisher as Dr. Jekyll
Dana Morávková as Barmaid
Zuzana Ďurdinová as Opera Singer
Jaroslav Vízner as Gendarme
Marek Vašut as Villager
Samantha Sommers as Vampire Child
Dorel Mois as Dracula's Ball Performer
Marianna Mois as Dracula's Ball Performer
Laurence Racine as Dracula's Ball Performer
Patrice Wojciechowski as Dracula's Ball Performer
Kacie Borrowman as Dwerger (uncredited)
Martin Klebba as Dwerger (uncredited)
Ryan James as Villager (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 184

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 4	0	6
5 to 8	0	19
9 to 12	0	3
13 to 16	0	1
17 to 20	1	6
21 to 24	2	3
25 to 28	0	22
29 to 32	0	12
33 to 36	16	79
37 to 40	10	2
41 to 44	1	0
45 to 48	26	46
49 to 52	4	5
53 to 56	13	24
57 to 60	12	26
61 to 64	3	8
65 to 68	1	8
69 to 72	2	4
73 to 76	2	8
77 to 80	3	3
81 to 84	9	7
85 to 88	9	29
89 to 92	0	3
93 to 96	2	1
97 to 100	1	1
101 to 104	0	6
105 to 108	10	10
109 to 112	3	27
113 to 116	4	5
117 to 120	3	9
121 to 124	3	22
125 to 128	11	33
129 to 132	6	34
133 to 136	1	6
137 to 140	4	2
141 to 144	6	5
145 to 148	0	1
149 to 152	0	1
153 to 156	0	0
157 to 160	0	0
161 to 164	1	4
165 to 168	2	10
169 to 172	1	3
173 to 176	0	4
177 to 180	4	8
181 to 184	0	0

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

ANNA: You stay here. They're trying to kill me. VERONA: Marishka, my dear, please kill the stranger. MARISHKA: Love to.

VERONA: Be happy in the knowledge that your blood shall keep me beautiful. ANNA: Who are you trying to kill?! ANNA: The sun.

ALEERA: Do you know how long I have wanted to kill you? ANNA: Aleera, did I do something to you in a past life? ALEERA: Don't play coy with me, Princess, you're just like all the other pretty little ancestors in your family. Saying you want to destroy my maste… ANNA: I hope you have a heart, Aleera, because someday I'm going to drive a stake through it.

VERONA: Hello, Anna, my dear. ANNA: You won't have me, Verona. VERONA: The last of the Valerious.

ALEERA: Do we mean so little to you!? VERONA: Have you no heart!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 25 are women's.

176 lines from women, 516 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

8 women and 14 men in the cast. 5 women and 10 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 36 of 716. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 93 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (1,486), men 76% (4,667). Women have 25% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Stephen Sommers (man)
Written by: Stephen Sommers (man)
Produced by: Bob Ducsay (man), Stephen Sommers (man)
Shot by: Allen Daviau (man)
Edited by: Bob Ducsay (man), Kelly Matsumoto (woman), Jim May (man)
Music by: Alan Silvestri (man)
Production design by: Allan Cameron (man)
Costumes by: Gabriella Pescucci (woman), Carlo Poggioli (man)
Cast by: Joanna Colbert (woman), Priscilla John (woman), Ellen Lewis (woman)