Review of Underworld (1927) by Jessi H — 07 Feb 2011

Underworld is a different take on the vampire lore. The film surrounds centuries old war between Vampire and Lycans(werewolves) I know it sounds like something outta Twilight, but this film came before that crap series of books and films. Kate Beckinsale plays Selene, a warrior set out to destroy Lycans. When a human named Michael seems to be the target of the Lycans, Selene knows that something that the Lycans are planing something.

The reason that this film succeeds as more than just a stupid attempt at being another Blade clone is the fact that they've written a very interesting back story as to why the Vampires and Lycans have waged such a war over the course of a 1000 years. I found the back story to be incredibly entertaining and one of two very strong aspects of the film. The second of course being the gothic overtones of the film. The whole atmosphere of the film was dark and melancholic. Something that helped the film a lot. Underworld is of course flawed but it's still a very good action horror film. The main thing you got to remember while watching this film is that it tries to be different by expanding the realm of traditional vampire films. The film as a whole works well and the characters are very interesting to boot. One of the best performances here is Michael Sheen as Lucian, Sheen always displays a strong acting ability in whatever movie he plays. In Underworld, he plays the leader of the Lycans and he is simply terrific in the part. Underworld is a breath of fresh air and delivers terrific entertainment even though it's a flawed film, the film manages to be something interesting enough for it's viewer. The concept behind Underworld is a more elaborate story and adds so much to a classic genre of literature and film. An entertaining new breed of action horror, Underworld takes traditional vampire elements with a modern day twist, and despite it's flaws, the end results are good enough to satisfy action and horror buff. Skip Underworld: Evolution, though.