Hot Picks

- Ready for My Close Up 2019

- Talk of the Dead 2016

- Tower Rats 2020

- Script of the Dead 2024

- The Bell Affair 2023

- Easter Bloody Easter 2024

- Velma 2022

- Everwinter Night 2023

- Main Character Energy 2023

- Stupid Games 2024

- Bittertooth 2023

- 4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher 2024

- Apart 2024

- The Abandoned 2006

- Becky 2024

- The Evil Fairy Queen 2024

- The Black Guelph 2022

- Followers 2024

- Silence of the Prey 2024

- Battle for the Western Front 2024

- Beware the Boogeyman 2024

- Subject 101 2022

- Driftwood 2023

- The Legend of Lake Hollow 2024

- Black Mass 2023

- Skinwalkers: American Werewolves 2 2023

- The Manifestation 2024

- Spirit Riser 2024

- Garden of Souls 2019

- It's a Wonderful Slice 2024

- Caleb & Sarah 2024

- The Thousand Steps 2020

- The Desiring 2021

- When a Stranger Knocks 2024

- Quint-essentially Irish 2024

- Son of Gacy 2024

- Saltville 2024

- The True Story of the Christ's Return 2024

- Whenever I'm Alone with You 2023

- Jurassic Triangle 2024

- Midnight Peepshow 2022

- Offworld: Alien Planet 2024

- The Swiss Conspiracy 1976

- Sex-Positive 2024

- Here for Blood 2022

- All Over Again 2024

- The Color Yellow 2023

- Des Töchterleins Leid 2024

- I Am a Channel 2024

- The Hermits 2023

- Murdaritaville 2024

- Inheritance 2024

- The Devil's Partner 1960

- First Impressions Can Kill 2017

- A Killer Conversation 2014

- Star Crash 1979

- Strangler of the Swamp 1946

Underworld

USA / Germany / Hungary / UK 2003
produced by
Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg, Richard S. Wright, Robert Bernacchi (executive), Terry McKay (executive), James McQuaide (executive), Skip Williamson (executive), Henry Winterstern (executive) for Lakeshore Entertainment, Laurinfilm, Subterranean Productions
directed by Len Wiseman
starring Kate Beckinsale, Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly, Bill Nighy, Scott Speedman, Erwin Leder, Sophia Myles, Robbie Gee, Wentworth Miller, Kevin Grevioux, Zita Görög, Dennis J.Kozeluh, Scott McElroy, Todd Schneider, Sándor Bolla, Hank Amos, Zsuzsa Barsi, Richard Cetrone, Mike Mukatis, Sándor Boros, János Oláh, Andreas Patton, Danny McBride, Jazmín Damak, Atilla Pinke, Judit Kuchta, Vanessa Nagy, Ildikó Kovács
screenplay by Danny McBride, based on a story by Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman, Danny McBride, music by Paul Haslinger, Billy Howerdel, special effects by Gentle Giant Studios, creature and animatronic effects by Patrick Tatopoulos Design, miniature effects by Fantasy II Film Effects, visual effects by Framestore CFC

Underworld

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Quick Links

Abbott & Costello

The Addams Family

Alice in Wonderland

Arsène Lupin

Batman

Bigfoot

Black Emanuelle

Bomba the Jungle Boy

Bowery Boys

Bulldog Drummond

Captain America

Charlie Chan

Cinderella

Deerslayer

Dick Tracy

Dr. Mabuse

Dr. Orloff

Doctor Who

Dracula

Edgar Wallace made in Germany

Elizabeth Bathory

Emmanuelle

Fantomas

Flash Gordon

Frankenstein

Frankie & Annette Beach Party movies

Freddy Krueger

Fu Manchu

Fuzzy

Gamera

Godzilla

Hercules

El Hombre Lobo

Incredible Hulk

Jack the Ripper

James Bond

Jekyll and Hyde

Jerry Cotton

Jungle Jim

Justine

Kekko Kamen

King Kong

Laurel and Hardy

Lemmy Caution

Lobo

Lone Wolf and Cub

Lupin III

Maciste

Marx Brothers

Miss Marple

Mr. Moto

Mister Wong

Mothra

The Munsters

Nick Carter

OSS 117

Phantom of the Opera

Philip Marlowe

Philo Vance

Quatermass

Robin Hood

The Saint

Santa Claus

El Santo

Schoolgirl Report

The Shadow

Sherlock Holmes

Spider-Man

Star Trek

Sukeban Deka

Superman

Tarzan

Three Mesquiteers

Three Musketeers

Three Stooges

Three Supermen

Winnetou

Wizard of Oz

Wolf Man

Wonder Woman

Yojimbo

Zatoichi

Zorro

Available on DVD!

To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)

Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!

A secret war wages between werewolves & vampires in modern day Budapest, with modern weapons like semi automatic guns & a bit of martial arts, & with the vampires being the good guys. One of their supreme fighters is Selene (Kate Beckinsale), who, after her whole family was slaughtered by evil werewolf leader Lucian, was taken up by vampire leader Viktor (Bill Nighy) - & one day she finds out that the werewolves are at present actually hunting down a human being, but when she tells interim vampire leader Kraven (Shane Brolly) about this, he shows only little interest, making her undertake some investigations of her own & even hunt down the human in question, a certain Corwin (Scott Speedman). The werewolves though, are also on Corwin's tail & in the ensuing fight about him & Selene's rescue he gets bitten by a werewolf. Back at the vampire's mansion, Kraven is less than pleased that a human is inside the building - but Corwin soon escapes anyway -, while Selene does some research finding out that - contrary to legend - Kraven has never killed evil Lucian (Michael Sheen) but is in cahhots with him to gain control over all vampires, & in her desperation she prematurely awakes Viktor from his hibernation. He seems interested in what she has to say but has her incarcerated nevertheless. Of course she manages to escape & soon comes back with proof for both Kraven's treachery and the role of Corwin in all this - unbeknowest to him his genetic code holds the key to the cross-breeding of vampires & werewolves, an idea Viktor, a vampire of old beliefs, strongly rejects. He now sends Selene out to save the vampire race - by killing Corwin, who she has since fallen in love with. But Corwin has since become a prisoner of Lucian & Kraven is also mighty interested in him ...

In the final shoot-out everything is turned upside down: Lucian is not the villain everyone thought him to be, but was once madly in love with Viktor's daughter - but Viktor detested cross-species breeding, thus killed his daughter, & he himself started the Werewolf-Vampire war, blaming it on Viktor. Kraven kept Lucian alive to serve his own ends, but now shoots him in cold blood as his plans didn't work out the way he wanted. And Selene's parents were not killed by Lucian after all but by Viktor himself, who only let Selene live because she reminded him of his daughter. In the end, Corwin in werewolf form is killed by Kraven, but gets a new lease of life when bitten to a vampire by Selene, thus beconming the first of a new werewolf-vampire-breed, & together they finish off both Kraven & Viktor.

 

Very stylishly made Neo Gothic vampire action movie, but this quality does turn out to be the movie's major flaw, as the director did put way more attention into the fall of the folds of his actors' coats & the right reflection of the light on Kate Beckinsale's spandex costume than he did in infusing the plot with much needed blood - in both the metaphorical & the literal sense -, thus making this a bit of a stale actioner. Can anyone by the way remember when vampire-movies used to be horror-movies ?

However, I have seen way worse, at least Budapest works pretty nicely as the film's backdrop & Beckinsale looks incredibly cute throughout the movie - even though her role is anything but cute & her performance does work. But compared to somewhat similar urban Gothic vampire fare like Razor Blade Smile this movie definitely falls flat on its nose.

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned)

The links below
will take you
just there!!!

Find Underworld
at the amazons ...

USA  amazon.com

Great Britain (a.k.a. the United Kingdom)  amazon.co.uk

Germany (East AND West)  amazon.de

Looking for imports?
Find Underworld here ...

Thailand  eThaiCD.com
Your shop for all things Thai

Something naughty?
(Must be over 18 to go there!)

x-rated  find Underworld at adultvideouniverse.com


Thanks for watching !!!

 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!