Continuity mistake: Towards the end of the movie, in the scene where Anna is taking the werewolf cure to Van Helsing and the vampire bride stops her on the large fallen pillar, she falls so she is in a sitting position with the cure in her left hand. She then switches it to her right. Then in the close-up shot, the cure is still in her left hand and she switches it again. (01:49:50)
Continuity mistake: In the final fighting scene between Dracula and Van Helsing it can be seen that Dracula has all his fingers. However, later in the scene, when he asks Van Helsing for the return of his ring, one of his fingers is missing.
Continuity mistake: When Velkan hangs on the rope and is being pulled up he looks down and the werewolf climbs up the wooden pole and you can see scratch marks on the top of the pole. Then the second time he looks down at the werewolf you can see the top of the pole is scratch free and the werewolf makes the scratch marks again. If you have a close look at these two scenes you can see it's the same scene played twice, but with a different roaring sound from the werewolf. (00:20:20)
Continuity mistake: In the opening shot at the Ball when Carl and Van Helsing are to "trade" Frankenstein for Anna, everybody has a reflection in the mirrors at either side of the ballroom although they are later to be revealed as Vampires and have no reflection. (01:20:45)
Continuity mistake: When Anna is hanging from the top of the roof, she places her feet against the wall before jumping. At that time you can see the wall is perfect without any cracks or marks. When it cuts to her leaping off you can see a huge crack going along the wall where she has her right foot. (00:28:20)
Continuity mistake: In the beginning when Van Helsing kills the first bride with holy water he sits on the church steps. In the wide angle shot there is a lot more snow on the steps than in the close up shot. (00:32:55)
Continuity mistake: When Anna and Van Helsing embrace to kiss, the hands with which they caress each other change position and even totally swap in between cuts. In one shot Van Helsing will be touching her with his right hand, the next shot with his left hand, the next shot with no hand, etc. (01:36:05)
Continuity mistake: When they first meet the second wolfman in the castle, he transforms into a human and talks to his sister. When he made his transformation he wore a open yellow shirt. When he changed back into the Wolf, the shirt tore off. So if the man had been a wolf not five minutes before, wouldn't the shirt have already ripped off? Same with the legs of his pants. (00:41:35)
Continuity mistake: When Dracula and Van Helsing meet for the first time, Dracula's hand placement changes between shots. This happens twice, once when he is saying 'But like me, hunted by all others." During this, his hands move from his side to taking his gloves off. And again, when he says 'You are the great Van Helsing,' his hands move from his sides to being in the air.
Continuity mistake: When Velkan changes into a werewolf in front of his sister he still has tattered remains of pants on him. When he goes to Castle Frankenstein, and enters through the roof his pants are gone. When the Velkan werewolf lands on the ground and starts to change back, his pants are back on. (00:42:50 - 00:48:50)
Continuity mistake: When we first get to Carl there is a man behind him on a some sort of power generating machine. Then the man suddenly almost get electrocuted and smoke rises all around him. When it cuts to Carl walking to Van Helsing we can see the man in the background but now all the smoke is gone. (00:17:05)
Continuity mistake: When Anna is looking for her brother who fell off the cliff, there is a closeup of her where you can see some bushes in front of her. When it cuts to a wide shot you can see there are no bushes anywhere near where she is standing. (00:22:10)
Continuity mistake: When the werewolf is down the trap you see Anna placing her foot on the edge of the hole. As the cage is being dragged up you see Anna do a backflip. However in one of the scenes you see her backflip you can see her actually standing two feet away from the edge before she does the backflip. (00:20:55)
Continuity mistake: When Carl explains everything about vampires and Van Helsing wonders how he knows so much about them, Carl says "I read". Then he notices the 'Glycerin 48' and says "Ah." The shot changes, and now Carl suddenly has his hand up. (00:17:55)
Continuity mistake: When Carl picks up the silver stake Van Helsing is holding the bag with clenched fists. When it cuts to Carl putting the stake into the bag, Van Helsing is holding both his thumbs up. (00:17:30)
Continuity mistake: When one of the brides push Anna and Van Helsing to the ground under the first attack, Van Helsing drops his spike weapon to the ground. The position of the weapon changes during the shots. (00:25:10)
Continuity mistake: Before Van Helsing looks at Dracula's children in the "eggs" by biting it off and dropping it to the ground, he removes one of his gloves. However, when he starts shooting the offspring, then fighting Dracula, that glove is back on his hand.
Continuity mistake: When Mr.Hyde is charging Van Helsing while saying "Here I come, ready or not", you see Van Helsing standing in front of him holding his blades down. When it cuts Van Helsing is suddenly holding them in front of him. (00:10:30)
Continuity mistake: When the friar is about to stake Van Helsing at the end, it shows him taking an overhand swing with the stake up ready to plunge. Then it cuts and the friar is grasping the stake, which is down by his waist. Then it cuts to the first shot again. (01:52:35)
Continuity mistake: When Anna is running away from the Wolf Man she is wearing felt shoes but when Velkan pushes her out of the way she is back wearing her high heeled boots.
Answer: Gabriel is the true name of the character described elsewhere as the Left Hand of God, responsible for Dracula's original death. Dracula uses this to try to remind Van Helsing of their history together. The implication is that Van Helsing is actually the archangel Gabriel, credited with (among other things) announcing the pending birth of Christ to Mary his mother, Joseph his father, and Elizabeth mother of John the Baptist.
Phoenix