A movie you can really sink your teeth into!

Rating: 6/10 (27 September 2003)

Skin-tight PVC suits and long leather coats are back in fashion in this stylish, gory and action-packed vampire vs werewolf horror flick starring Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy and Scott Speedman.
Perched upon the roof of a gothic-looking building in an unnamed city, Beckinsale plays Selene, a vampire "death dealer" who hunts lycans (that's werewolves to you and me) in an age-old feud between the two species which has been raging for hundreds of years. The film moves quickly into top gear, and within minutes of being provided with this information from a rather helpful voiceover, the action immediately takes off in an extended sub-way shootout involving Beckinsale, werewolves and a hapless human called Michael in the form of Speedman.
In between much muttering concerning covenants, covens and "awakenings", we slowly learn that Speedman is the descendant of some common ancestor between vampires and werewolves, and that his blood is the key to uniting the bloodline and ending the bitter feud between the two species. What follows is an endless series of gun battles and an orgy of mindless violence in some very dark places, as the two warring factions battle to gain control of Speedman and his precious blood. But as the body count begins to rise don't expect to see many wooden stakes and silver bullets in this modern day horror flick. We've moved on since the days of Hammer Horror stars Cushing and Lee, and bullets filled with liquid ultraviolet light and silver nitrate are conveniently provided by director Len Wiseman to dispatch the hordes of vampire and werewolf cannon fodder required for the many bloody action sequences. Well, it's more efficient or didn't you know that?
What you probably did know, but which Wiseman forgot or just plain ignored, is that vampires cast no reflection, and yet there are several scenes where they clearly do so. Maybe it was a gaffe. Or maybe Wiseman just didn't care. Quite frankly you won't care either, as the near relentless action makes the 121 minute running time simply fly by, and is more than sufficient to compensate for this minor deviation from vampire lore, and the other obvious imperfections in the film.
Plotwise, there's also a tepid, and entirely predictable romance between Speedman and Beckinsale, which seems strangely out of place amongst the unrelenting carnage and testosterone-charged atmosphere of the largely male supporting cast. However, given the uncharismatic performances of the two stars, mercifully this is not pursued. The non-stop action effectively puts paid to any real suspense, but there are sufficient twists and turns in the plot to maintain interest right up to the end, and the final good vs evil showdown between Speedman and the vampire leader, Viktor (Bill Nighy).
Thankfully for a horror flick the special effects are well up to par, and the bone-crunching werewolf transformation sequences compare favourably to those seen in An American Werewolf in London. For added good measure we also get to see inside a body during the werewolf transformation - an interesting, yet revolting novelty, all the more so for the rather disgusting, stomach-churning noises which accompany this process.
Beckinsale (perhaps best known for her work in Pearl Harbor) wears her skin-tight suit well enough, but on joining the ranks of the undead seems to have forgotten how to act, and gives a performance so wooden that you could make a dining table and chairs out of it and still have plenty of timber to spare. If she wants to make the Hollywood A list this is not the way to do it. Speedman is hugely disappointing and not at all convincing in a rather meaty role which gave him a great opportunity to really shine. He clearly lacks the screen presence to take the male lead, and on this performance seems destined to remain as a Hollywood also-ran for some time to come.
On the plus side Shane Brolly hams it up nicely as the traitorous, vampire big-whig Kraven, while Beckinsale's former off-screen boyfriend Michael Sheen enthusiastically gives his all as Lucian, the wild-eyed, messianic leader of the werewolves. Nighy, looking like a shrivelled prune, rasps and wheezes his way through his lines but, given the weight of makeup he was obviously wearing, makes a decent job of playing the arch baddie in the film, and he clearly takes the acting honours from a largely undistinguished cast which has a strong Hollywood B list look and feel.
Lacking the genuine horror in the vampire movie Near Dark, and with acting as wooden as it gets without sprouting roots, Underworld is nevertheless an entertaining horror flick and well worth a bag of popcorn and a bottle of your favourite fizzy to wash it down with. The teeth are nice, white and very sharp. The female vampires look pretty enough - just like Hollywood likes them, the action is unrelenting and gory, and the werewolf transformation sequences are far better than you might expect from a film with only a $20 million price tag. If this movie sounds like your kind of thing then there is even more good news - a satisfying climatic battle is followed by a closing sequence and narration from Beckinsale which strongly suggests a sequel is already on the drawing board. Silver nitrate suppliers everywhere must be rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of it.