Van Helsing: The London Assignment 2004

Gabriel Van Helsing, a seasoned monster hunter, teams up with the devout friar Carl as they descend into fog-shrouded London to unravel a string of brutal, supernatural murders. Their quarry is the brilliant but unhinged scientist Dr. Jekyll, whose dark alter-ego, Mr. Hyde, stalks the city with merciless fury. As the two pursuers close in, they discover that the bloodshed ties to something far more sinister than ordinary crime: a secret romance that binds Jekyll to the queenly figure the people call Queen Victoria, a woman who seems to defy time itself.

Inside an intimidating underground fortress, the investigators meet a young woman who claims to be Queen Victoria, revealing a dangerous obsession. Jekyll is in love with the queen, and to keep her young and immortal, he supplies a potion that turns her into a youthful woman for one night. The price of this ageless glamour is steep: the potion requires the drained souls of recently slain victims, locking the murders into an endless cycle that feeds Jekyll’s desire and Hyde’s violence.

The danger escalates when Jekyll kidnaps Victoria, slipping away using the Golden Jubilee Balloon. [Van Helsing] ramps up the chase with his grappling gun, boarding the balloon in a tense pursuit. The confrontation erupts as Jekyll blurs into his murderous alter-ego, [Mr. Hyde], turning the ride into a lethal duel that ends with the craft crashing down. The conflict continues on the unfinished Tower Bridge, where Hyde takes a blow to the arm but manages to slip away, leaving Van Helsing to press on and safeguard the prisoner.

Returning Victoria to Buckingham Palace, Van Helsing awaits the moment when daybreak will undo the enchantment and restore her true age. In a charged, bittersweet finale, Victoria kisses him at the very moment of dawn, only to awaken the next day as her older self, completely unaware of what happened and quick to summon the guards. With the mission unresolved in the queen’s mind, Van Helsing relays a report to Vatican City about the astonishing events while continuing his pursuit of Jekyll, a pursuit that points toward Paris.