Underworld is a 2003 horror/action movie about vampire and werewolves, where the latter are referred to as "Lycans" as an abbreviated form of lycanthrope. While the film and its sequel opened to mixed reviews they have developed somewhat of a cult following, as films of their kind are rarely (despite their flaws) as ambitious. The main plot revolves around Selene (Beckinsale, a vampiric "Death Dealer", one who hunts Lycans. She finds herself attracted to a medical intern, Michael Corvin (Speedman), after saving him from Lycans who bit him, passing their curse on to him, and must decide whether to do her "duty" and kill him or if she's willing to risk her life to save him.

In the Underworld mythos, Vampires and Lycans are not mystical creatures, but rather the product of a virus. A millennium ago a man named Alexander Corvinus was the only survivor of a plague that rampaged his village. Somehow the man's body was able to mutate the virus and he became the first true immortal. Later he had three sons, one who did not inherit the immortality and was simply a human. The other two were bitten, one by bat and one by wolf and thus created the Vampire and Werewolf 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 the present day Lycans, is the key to creating a Hybrid.

An unnamed European metropolis (which is probably Budapest) in the present day appears to be the setting against a backdrop of a centuries-old war between vampires and lycans (abbreviated form of lycanthropes, or werewolves); a war gone unnoticed by human society at large.

The movie opens with Selene, our narrator, perched on a tower ledge overlooking the city. Through narrations, she tells us that six centuries ago, the lycan leader Lucian had finally been killed, a turning point in the war. The Death Dealers (vampire warriors charged to fight and kill the lycan enemy) have been trying to wipe the lycan race out completely ever since, a mission that is supposedly almost complete. Selene mentions that older lycans can control their tramsformations, as opposed to younger lycans who are affected by the full moon. She also comments that once the lycans are extinct, she will no longer have a reason to live.

While scopping out the streets with a fellow Death Dealer, Rigel, she spots two lycans; a large black man, Raze, and his smaller white companion, Trix. Rigel takes photos before the two drop off the towers and onto the streets; the hunt is on. While a third Death Dealer, Nathanial, stays behind as lookout, the other two follow the lycan pair into a subway station, where Selene is briefly distracted by a handsome young man. It is clear the lycans are after this particular human, but the vampires haven't noticed. When Raze realizes he is being tailed, he and Trix open fire on the vampires. Trix hits Rigel and he is instantly killed, burned to ashes from the inside out by strange bullets containing a blue light. Selene fires back and hits Trix in the shoulder. Nathanial shows up and begins shooting at Raze, who soon runs out of ammo. Both lycans escape down the tunnel in opposite directions. Selene goes after Trix, but not before picking up Rigel's camera. Nathanial goes after Raze, but once both are out of human sight, Raze transforms and tears Nathanial to bits. Trix temporarily loses Selene, managing to pick the burning silver bullet out of his shoulder; apparently he couldn't transform because of it. Selene tracks him down a sewer where she empties her gun into his torso, killing him. She picks up his gun and examines the glowing bullets inside. But Raze is not far behind. Selene fends him off with four silver bladed mechanized shuriken, then flees. While hiding, she hears shouting and roaring from a pipe, correctly deducing the noise as a large lycan den. Unfortuantely, Selene does not have the oppotunity to investigate. There is a gladiator-type fight going on between two fully transformed lycans, which is broken up by the the den's leader. A bearded man, he is grossly more sophisticated and dignified than the rest.

Selene manages to escape the tunnels and makes it home: a large, old manor, home to the dozens of members of her coven, civilians and Death Dealers alike. She immeadiately reports to the Death Dealers’ weapons expert, Kahn, about their "serious problem" and presents the gun. Kahn examines the bullets and concludes they contain a liquid that emits ultraviolet radiation; "daylight harnessed as a weapon." Later in the film, Kahn copies this design and constructs silver nitrate bullets; "straight in to the bloodstream and nothing to dig out." Selene is not aware Nathanial is also dead and despite evidence is convinced the city sewers are crawling with lycans; she insists that the Death Dealers be gathered to scour the tunnels. Kraven, apparently the man in charge, doesn't believe a word Selene says and denies her suggestions.

There are a few important elements to the plot that are either slowly or subtly addressed in the film: the vampire world is ruled by three elders; Viktor, Marcus and Amelia. They take turns ruling (with a council) for a century each while the other two hibernate in mummified stasis in a special crypt. Amelia has ruled for for the whole 20th century, and is about to be replaced by Marcus. Being Selene's sire, Viktor has been a surrogate father to her for her entire vampire life. She deeply resents the fact that Viktor's asleep while she has to tolerate Kraven. Kraven was left in charge of Viktor's household as a reward for slaying the infamous Lucian himself six centuries ago. Kraven is now obsessed with Selene, who despises him for his hedonism and lack of honor. Erika is a kind of housemaid that repeatedly attempts to seduce Kraven, who is not the least bit interested.

Later that night, Amelia's envoy is expected at the manor. Instead of preparing to be a gracious host, Selene reviews Rigel's photos. She notices that the handsome man from the subway keeps appearing just a few paces in front of the lycans; she realizes they were following him. She tries to inform Kraven, but he is again skeptical.

Back in the lycan's lair, a scientist, Singe, is working in his lab. There are live humans hung up like meat slabs and a billboard covered in IDs and articles. The name "Corvinus" appears often. Singe is performing blood tests for something... We find out the man from the subway is an American medical intern named Michael Corvin. Raze returns to the lair with Raze's body. The bearded leader scolds Raze for losing the "candidate" and then leaves to fetch Michael himself.

While Kraven is entertaining the guests, Selene bails. We see on her computer Michael's ID and address. Selene breaks into his flat and begins rummaging. Meanwhile, two cops (actually lycans) show up at the hospital to ask Michael about the shooting earlier that night, but Michael had already left for home. Selene finds several photos of Michael's family, friends, girlfriend, when he shows up. Selene pins him to the wall and demands, "Why are they after you?" On cue, several fully formed lycans show up, and Selene starts shooting. Michael escapes out into the hallway and onto the elevator. On the first floor, the lycan leader is waiting for him. Before anything could happen, Selene makes it down the stairs and shoots up the bearded lycan on sight. He collapses onto Michael and bites him on the shoulder. Selene, not aware of what just happened, drags Michael out from under him. The lycan spits Michael's blood into a vial, then concentrates on expelling the silver bullets from his body. Once done, he then catches up to Selene's car and jumps on. He begins stabbing the roof with an arm mounted, spring loaded blade until he hits Selene in the shoulder. She finally throws him off and loses him. Selene then immeadiately passes out from blood loss and crashes the car into the river. Michael is left to save both their lives. He drags Selene under a pier and performs CPR, before passing out himself. The bearded leader returns with the blood sample, pleased he marked Michael as a lycan. Singe tests the blood; it is "positive"...

Selene wakes up under the pier in broad daylight. Although her shoulder is completely healed, she's not going anywhere till sundown. Michael is unconscious all day, having nightmares of an event out of chronological order, unable to make sense. He continues to have these nightmares throughout the film. He wakes up in Selene's bedroom the following night, only long enough to hear her name before passing out again. Erika asks why Selene brought him home, which she replied, "He saved my life." Kraven is raging, not only at her insubordination, but at the presence of the very uninvited guest. Selene pleads for Kraven to listen, but he keeps yelling, "Lucian wouldn't be the slightest bit interested in a human!" Selene notices this slip, and is immeadiately suspicious. Erika is left alone with Michael, where her curiousity gets the best of her. She sees his ugly, hairy bitemark and is horrified. Michael wakes up to a freaked out Erika, clinging to the ceiling and hissing like a cat. Michael, equally freaked, jumps out the window and escapes. Kraven, instead of yelling some more, simply hits Selene.

When Kraven leaves the manor, Selene breaks into the long deserted library to investigate Kraven's history. She finds a mounted piece of skin with a "V" (for Viktor) branded into it, supposedly belonging to the late Lucian. Selene then spots a portrait of Lucian. Although his face is ripped off the page, she recognises the distinctive pendant around his neck, the same pendant worn by the bearded lycan. Erika finds Selene and tells her Michael is a lycan. Selene refuses to believe her. Selene's suspicions are confirmed: Kraven and Lucian faked his death. Kraven for the political advancement, and Lucian for strategy. Kraven however is totally in the dark about Lucian's plans for Michael. Plus, this arrangement may not be completely played out yet. Selene then decides she has no choice but to awaken Viktor. She sneaks into the crypt to feed him her blood. Not only is this supposed to awaken him, but he can acquire all her memories through her blood; Selene was counting on this.

Michael tries to seek medical attention at his hospital, but the lycan cops were waiting for him. Michael realizes Selene is the only person who can help him now. He gos back to the manor and demands to speak to her. Kraven threatens to banish her if she gos to him, but Selene shoots back that Viktor will decide now he is awake. It's not until Selene's gone when Erika tells Kraven that Michael is a lycan. Kraven finds Viktor walking in his crypt, his whole body being fed purified blood through several IVs. Viktor criticizes Kraven for being an incompetent leader, until Kraven informs him he has been awakened a whole century ahead of schedule. Outside, Selene picks up Michael in a new car and sees that Michael has indeed been bitten. Selene explains the war to Michael and that she has the right to kill him for what he is, but she needs to find out why Lucian wants him first. Selene takes Michael to a safe house in the city where lycans are totured and interrogated. Michael mentions his nightmares and Selene explains they are actually Lucian's memories. When Michael asks her why she hates them so much, she explains that when she was human, her parents, sister, and nieces were all devoured by lycans one night and then Viktor fought them off and saved her (it should be noted that Selene didn't actually see a single lycan attack her family, she just found them dead). She tells Michael to stay put while she goes back to talk to Viktor, but Michael doesn't want to her to leave. She impulsively kisses him, then cuffs him. She reminds him that it's a full moon tomorrow night and she cant let him loose to kill and feed.

Lucian had charged Singe to lead a battalion to follow Selene and capture Michael. They wait for her at the manor while she faces Viktor. He asks her why she thinks Lucian is alive. Selene reminds Viktor that her memories provide all the evidence. He replies that her memories were unorganized and incoherent and he couldn't make sense of them; only an Elder has the skill to organize their thoughts and memories into something another can understand. Selene is shocked that he doesn't believe that she shot Lucian. She begs Viktor for a chance to prove herself, but instead of listening to her, he focuses on the fact she broke sacred laws and is fraternizing with a lycan, which in his mind is reason enough not to believe her. He informs her she will be arrested until Amelia and the council arrive tomorrow night to judge her. While Kraven is locking her in her room, he refers to her as his "future queen", which Erika overhears; she is livid.

The next evening, Kraven informs Kahn that Soren, Kraven's right hand thug, and his team will pick up Amelia and the council from the train station, which Kahn is usually supposed to do. At the station, Amelia's train is ambushed by lycans, while Soren turns his back. Meanwhile, at the manor, Erika shuts off the electricity. In the dark and commotion Ericka enters Selene's room with two guns and keys to a car. When Selene asked why she was helping her, Erika replied, "I'm not. I'm helping me." Selene rushes to get to Michael before the full moon rises, with Singe close behind her. Just as she reached the safe house, a half dozen lycans came up behind her. Shooting commences. Michael is forced to jump out the window, and surprisingly lands squarely on all fours like a cat. But the two lycan cops were waiting for him. They threw him in the car and sped off. Selene was left with a single surviving lycan: Singe. In the car, Michael is in bad shape. The full moon is rising and the transformation is excruciating. The cops pull over and shoot him up with something. At the train station, Amelia is damaged, but alive. Raze appears, pulls out a syringe and extracts blood from her neck. When Kahn realizes Amelia is late, he sends his team to find her. They arrive at the station to find everyone dead.

Back at the manor, Viktor has completely regenerated. Kraven informs him Selene has fled and that it wasn't his fault. Just then, Selene arrives with Singe in custody. He is chained to the floor where Selene totures him into talking. He explains that he had been trying to combine the two bloddlines, which proved impossible. So they did some research: Alexander Corvinus was a Hungarian warlord in the early 400s, who was the sole survivor of a plague that destroyed his village. He apparently had a unique genetic trait that allowed viruses and other alien DNA to mutate within him to his benefit; he became the first true immortal. Years later, he had three sons: one was bitten by a bat, one by a wolf, while the third had a mortal life and descendants. Viktor dismissed this whole story as a legend, and states that Marcus is actually a descendant of Corvinus. Singe went on to explain he needed the original Corvinus virus to make a vampire/lycan union possible, which they found in Michael. Viktor is infuriated at the idea, and Singe defied him by saying Lucian was alive and will mutate himself to become a hybrid. By this time, Kraven has already fled, exposed as a traitor. Singe went on to describe a powerful being: the best of both species and none of the weaknesses, which Lucian aspired to become. Viktor was horrified at the idea. Just then, Kahn comes in to inform Viktor of Amelia's fate. In a rage, Viktor kills Singe in one blow, spilling his blood all over the floor. Viktor then turns to Selene and tells her all she has to do is kill Michael and she will be exonerated.

Michael wakes up straped to a slab in Singe's lab. He is greeted by Lucian, who explains he was given an enzyme to stop the change. Lucian then extracts blood from Michael and injects it into himself. While Michael watches him, he recognizes the pendant he wears, and all of a sudden his nightmares make sense: a blond girl wearing the pendant is tied to a stake in a room similar to the elder's crypt. in front of her is Lucian chained to the floor being whipped, while a group behind bars yell in protest. Viktor and the council witness the whipping, then leave the room. the ceiling is opened up to let in the sunlight, and the girl on the stake immeadiately screams and burns. Lucian cries out "SONJA!!". Later that night, Viktor returns to pick the pendant off her charcoal corpse. He looks sad. Just then, the full moon rises, and Lucian and all the people behind the bars transform. Lucian breaks his chains, grabs the pendant, and escapes. Michael snaps out of it and says her name. "They made you watch her die." Lucian explained lycans were once slaves to the vampires, their daylight guardians, and Lucian was born into it. He didn't hate vampires then, in fact he married one. Viktor caught them both and intended to kill them both for their abominable union. Sonja was Viktor's daughter, and Viktor is nothing more than a hateful racist.

Kraven and Soren's team show up, apparently have nowhere else to go. Lucian's men escorted Soren's into a chamber while Kraven and Lucian talked. Kraven was worried, but Lucian assured him he will soon rule the vampire nation and have an ironclad peace treaty with the lycans. Lucian was frustrated that Raze hasn't shown up with Amelia's blood yet. Then, Selene and Kahn's team attacked the lair, with Viktor in toll. When Lucian turned his back, Kraven pulled out Kahn's silver nitrate gun and shot Lucian. A very long, huge, complicated battle took place. Raze showed up too late. He retaliated by attacking Soren, who pulled out silver whips, but that couldn't hold back Raze fully formed. Selene, though was leading the group, left Kahn to lead so she could find Michael. Lucian came to; apparently a single round of silver nitrate wasn't enough to kill him. Selene had to shoot her way through the lycans in her path. Kahn was eventually taken down with his team. Kraven was trying to escape, but had to constantly dodge the line of fire. Selene eventually found Michael and untied him. Lucian, crawling, saw them together, invoking a sense of deja vu. Michael told her everything he learned. When Raze was done with Soren, he went after Viktor, but even at his peak, Viktor easily broke Raze's neck and impaled him on his sword. Countless vampires were killing eachother, left and right.

Selene and Michael were looking for a way out when they came across Kraven, who pumped Michael full of silver nitrate. He was dying slowly. Out of spite, Kraven told Selene the truth about Viktor: he ate Selene's family and there wasn't a lycan anywhere close. Viktor was a hedonist too and Kraven was his confidant. Viktor just couldn't kill Selene because she reminded him of Sonja, the daughter he executed. Just then, Lucian crawled up behind Kraven and stabbed him in the leg with his arm blade. With Kraven distracted long enough, Lucian managed to say to Selene, "Bite him!" She remembered Singe's words, and did just that. Kraven got to his feet just so Lucian can taunt him with ultimate victory, which Kraven replied with emptying his gun into Lucian, killing Lucian for real. Kraven finally fled before Viktor showed up to kill Michael. He threw Michael through a wall and into a flooded kind of courtyard. Selene saw Viktor for who he really was and confronted him with everything. Despite his guilt, he defended all his actions to the ground. He believed granting Selene immortality was payment enough for his crime. Sonja was having Lucian's baby, and he didn't hesitate to "protect the species."

While this confrontation was happening, Michael was changing. His whole body and eyes became obsidian black as his bone structure morphed into something never seen before. When Viktor turned to finish Michael off, he met his match. A creature so fast and so strong, Viktor was actually scared. But despite Michael's power, Viktor was much older and more skilled, and eventually got the upper hand. He threw Michael across the room so his bodyguards could shoot him up. Selene was in a state of shock while all this was going on, but the sound of bullets woke her up. She rushed to defend Michael and killed her own kind. Viktor blindsided her with a sucker punch and she hit the ground. Michael roared in anger and rushed Viktor, only for Viktor to get him in a vice grip. He was about to snap Michael's neck when Selene snatched Viktor's sword off the ground and sliced Victor's head in half in one sweeping blow. And just like that, it was over. No vampire or lycan was fool enough to come near them after what just happened. Selene picked up Sonja's pendant and gave it to Michael to keep. They walked out together, victorious and numb.

Back at the crypt, Singe's blood had poured across the floor till it reached Marcus's sarcophagus, where it seeped through, all over his body. His eyes fluttered open, at first vampire blue, then obsidian black...

Casualties:

The following list is designed to help by describing who kills whom. Several major characters die throughout the film and not all fight scenes are given spotlight attention. Because of this, some often wonder what happened to a specific character.

Singe is wounded by Selene in a gunfight and ultimately killed by Viktor.
Amelia is wounded in the Lycan ambush but is drained of all her blood by Raze.
Raze kills Soren in a duel.
Viktor kills Raze by breaking his neck and impaling him with his sword.
Kahn is killed when unnamed lycans attack him along with two other vampires.
Kraven shoots Lucian with silver nitrate bullets.
Selene semi-decapitates Viktor.
At the end of the film, the following major characters are still alive: Selene, Michael, Kraven and Erika. Marcus and Alexander Corvinus are spoken of but with the exception of the final shot showing Marcus's eyes, neither feature in the film. However, they both play major roles in the sequel.

The follow-up story, Underworld: Evolution, was released January 20, 2006. Another film is also planned. It's unclear whether it will be prequel, sequel or in the middle - a sequel with prequel flashbacks - to Underworld: Evolution. It will likely be released around 2007 or 2008.