Underworld is a 2003 action-horror film about the secret history of vampire and werewolves, where the latter are referred to as "Lycan" as an abbreviated form of lycanthrope. The main plot revolves around Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a vampire "Death Dealer", or one who hunts Lycans, a job she is extremely good at due to the fact that she is fueled with hatred for the whole species, whom she believes to have killed her entire family. She finds herself attracted to a medical intern, Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), after saving him from the Lycan master Lucian (who bit Michael and infected him with the Lycan virus), and must decide whether to do her "duty" and kill him or to risk her life to save him. This movie has many parallels as a dark Romeo and Juliet tale.

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In the Underworld myths, Vampires and Lycans are not mystical creatures, but rather the product of a virus. Sixteen centuries ago, a man named Alexander Corvinus was the only survivor of a plague that wiped out his village. Somehow, the man's body was able to mutate the virus, mold it to his own benefit and he became the first true immortal. Later, he had three sons, one of which did not inherit his father's immortality and was simply human. The other two were bitten, one by bat and one by wolf, creating the Vampire and Lycan lines. Corvinus' third son also carried the Corvinus Strain, hidden away in his genetic code — an exact duplicate of the original virus, passed along to his human descendants through the centuries. This, according to Singe, is the key to creating a Hybrid. So in the movie as we see, the Lycans are capturing every possible Corvin to test if the strain is in him.

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The movie opens with Death Dealers (vampire warriors charged to fight and kill the Lycan enemy) Selene and Rigel trailing a pair of Lycans, (Raze and Trix), unaware that they are in turn stalking a human - Michael Corvin. Trailing them into a subway station, the two Death Dealers are spotted by Raze and a shoot-out ensues, with Rigel being killed by the Lycans. A woman is shot in the crossfire, and Michael tries to assist her. The two sides of monsters continue their fight, and the Lycans eventually retreat.

Arriving at Ordoghaz, Selene confronts Kahn, the chief Death Dealer, with her findings during the battle; but the regent Kraven blows off the significance of her claims. Selene decides to further investigate the ordeal alone. Meanwhile, in the Lycan lair, a scientist named Singe unsuccessfully seeks a match for the Corvinus Strain. They decide to try again in pursuit of Michael.

Selene finds Michael's apartment and demands answers. They are attacked by Lycan hoards and Michael is bitten by Lucian, who gathers a blood sample. Selene, unaware of him being bitten, aids Michael in escaping the building. Selene takes Michael to the vampire lair for safety, but he soon escapes when the other vampires figure out he's become a Lycan. Selene grows suspicious of Kraven and collects evidence to take to the library. She learns that Lucian is still alive and that he and Kraven are secretly in cohorts with each other. Selene decides to awaken Viktor.

Michael tries to seek aid from his friend at the hospital, but his tale of being bitten by a man leads to treachery on the part of his friend. He escapes again, attempting to meet with Selene and begging for answers. Selene drives out to meet Michael, where she sees that he had indeed been bitten. She explains the long history between Vampire and Lycan. Kraven and Erika run into Viktor, who demands to know what has happened, and learns that he has been awakened a century early.

Selene takes Michael to a safehouse. Michael mentions his nightmares and Selene explains they are actually Lucian's memories. Selene explains that her hatred of Lycans stems from her belief that they killed her family. Michael is captured by the other Lycans in an attempt to escape as a Vampire-Lycan firefight breaks out just outside the room from which he jumps. Selene ends up the only vampire survivor, and Singe the only Lycan survivor, still left on the scene after Pierce and Taylor haul Michael away.

Kraven tries to explain what has happened to Viktor right as Selene arrives with Singe. The captive Lycan reveals that the Lycans had been experimenting to combine the bloodlines of the two species via the Corvinus Strain, something they can only do with a descendant of Alexander Corvinus himself, which is why they targeted Michael. They wished to make a Hybrid so they could end the war. He also reveals Kraven's treachery, forcing Kraven to flee. Kahn arrives and informs Viktor of Amelia's fate in the shootout in the safehouse. In a rage, Viktor kills Singe. Viktor then turns to Selene and tells her all she has to do is kill Michael and she will be exonerated.

Michael wakes up strapped to a slab in Singe's lab. He is greeted by Lucian, who then extracts blood from Michael and injects it into himself. While Michael watches him, he recognizes the pendant Lucian wears, and suddenly, his nightmares make sense: he recalls the events of how Lucian's wife, Viktor's daughter Sonja, was murdered by Viktor out of fear that the infant in her womb would be a hybrid that would overthrow him. Viktor, it is revealed, started the war. Lucian explains the rest of the story to Michael.

Selene finds Michael and unties him, telling him to go despite his protests they'll kill her too. Lucian, crawling after being betrayed by Kraven, sees them together. Kraven shoots Michael full of silver nitrate bullets, beginning to kill him. Out of spite, Kraven tells Selene the truth that Viktor was the one who truly killed her family. Viktor couldn't kill Selene because she reminded him too much of Sonja, his daughter. Lucian distracts Kraven long enough to advise Selene to bite Michael, reminding her of Singe's words. She takes his advice and bites Michael. Kraven and Lucian then fight and Kraven finishes Lucian off, barely surviving himself. Selene confronts Viktor, who despite his guilt, defends all his actions.

Michael changes into his hybrid form battles with Viktor. Selene manages to get a lucky shot, killing Viktor by slicing his head in half. Selene picks up Sonja's pendant and gives it to Michael to keep. They walk out together, speechless and numb. Selene then narrates to the audience that she fears she will become a target following Viktor's death. Back in the crypt, Singe's blood pours across the floor till it reaches Marcus' sarcophagus. It is implied by the glowing of Marcus' eyes that he will awaken as a different sort of Hybrid, making an almost certain promise that the movie will have a sequel.

The film was the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by White Wolf, Inc. and Nancy A. Collins claiming the setting was too similar to the Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse games both set in their World of Darkness setting.

White Wolf filed 17 counts of copyright infringement, and claimed over 80 points of unique similarity between White Wolf's game systems and the movie. White Wolf, Inc. also claimed the script was very similar to a story entitled The Love of Monsters (1994) which they published and was written by Nancy A. Collins. [1] A PDF file of White Wolf's filing can be read here: [2] In September 2003, a judge granted White Wolf an expedited hearing; this was the last White Wolf's press releases had to say about the case: [3].

Given that there has never been any further news of this case, and Sony has proceeded to release DVDs and a sequel, it is possible that it was settled out of court under terms that prohibited any further discussion of the matter.

Underworld was poorly received by critics, scoring just 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, and only 16% from the "Cream of the Crop". Roger Ebert said "This is a movie so paltry in its characters and shallow in its story that the war seems to exist primarily to provide graphic visuals." However the New York Daily News praised it as being "stylish and cruel, and mightily entertaining for certain covens out there."

• Amy Lee of Evanescence sang in some of the songs by Renholder, but her voice was cut off the official soundtrack, due to legal problems with her record company.
• Director Len Wiseman opted to shoot several action scenes live, without the use of computer generated imagery. One such scene involves the Lycan Lucian seemingly running at high speed behind a speeding car. The scene was shot with actor Michael Sheen running upon a heavy cloth which was in turn being towed by the car he was chasing.
• No special audio effects were used to alter Kevin Grevioux's voice. Grevioux's voice is naturally that deep.
• Actor Scott Speedman won the Face of the Future Saturn Award for his role as Michael Corvin.
• The name of the main character, Selene, is indicated in Greek mythology as being associated with the moon.
• The name "Michael Corvin" was the name used in the teaser trailers on the tombstone of Ashe, the lead character of The Crow: City of Angels. This trailer is available on some VHS versions of The Crow.
• Kevin Grevioux has stated the character of Selene is partially based on the Marvel Comics X-Men villainess of the same name.
• Many of the guns used in this film are guns made by Heckler and Koch (H&K). However, Selene uses a pair of Beretta 92/96's with compensators.

The follow-up story, Underworld: Evolution, was released January 20, 2006. Another film is also planned. It will be a prequel and it will be released in 2009.

The Underworld soundtrack was also released in 2003 to go along with the release of the film. It was produced by Danny Lohner and distributed via Roadrunner Records. It featured numerous alternative rock bands, such as A Perfect Circle, Milla, and The Dillinger Escape Plan, to name a few.

• Underworld at IMDb
• Underworld: Evolution at IMDb
• Underworld Official Site
• Kate Beckinsale interview for Underworld