The Underworld series earns its 6.5 as the most successful attempt to turn the vampire into a pure action franchise, a five-film saga of vampires versus werewolves that prioritizes leather, gunfire, and gothic style over depth or scares. Beginning in 2003 and running through 2016, the films built a dense mythology around a centuries-old war between aristocratic vampires and bestial lycans, with Kate Beckinsale’s leather-clad vampire warrior Selene at the center of nearly all of them. The series is shallow, repetitive, and ridiculous, and it is also slick, committed, and genuinely entertaining on its own action-horror terms. As a whole it is more than the sum of its uneven parts.
This is vampire cinema as blockbuster spectacle, with little interest in the genre’s traditional themes of seduction, tragedy, or dread. Judged by the standards of the art-house and classic vampire films, it is lightweight. Judged as a stylish action franchise that knows exactly what it is, it largely delivers, and its commitment to its own absurd world has earned it a devoted following.
The Vampire as Action Hero
The series’ defining contribution is its transformation of the vampire from seducer or monster into action hero. Selene is a Death Dealer, a vampire warrior who hunts lycans in a black leather catsuit, wielding dual pistols and moving with balletic, gravity-defying violence. The films treat vampirism primarily as a source of superhuman combat ability, and the vampire becomes a gun-toting action protagonist in a gothic-industrial world of blue-filtered nightscapes and endless rain.
This was a genuinely influential reframing, arriving alongside other turn-of-the-millennium attempts to make the vampire an action figure, and it found a large audience. Kate Beckinsale anchors the series with real commitment and physical presence, taking the absurd material seriously enough to sell it, and Selene became an icon of the action-horror hybrid. The films are essentially superhero movies with vampires, and their willingness to fully embrace that identity, with elaborate fight choreography and comic-book mythology, is the source of both their appeal and their limitations.
The Mythology and the World
The series’ other notable feature is its dense, self-serious mythology. Across the films, the saga builds an elaborate history of the war between vampires and lycans, with bloodlines, ancient elders, betrayals, and a sprawling backstory that the films treat with complete gravity. The second film and the prequel in particular dig into the origins of the conflict, and the series develops a genuine internal coherence, a fully realized fictional world with its own rules, factions, and history.
This world-building is both an asset and a liability. The dense mythology gives the series a satisfying sense of depth and scope for invested fans, a real saga with stakes that accumulate across films. But it also makes the films increasingly convoluted and self-serious, burying the simple pleasures of vampire-versus-werewolf action under layers of exposition and lore. The films are at their best when the mythology serves the action and at their worst when they pause the spectacle to explain another twist of ancient bloodline politics. The world is impressively built and frequently overexplained.
The Uneven Entries
Across five films the quality varies considerably. The original Underworld established the world and the style and remains a solid, atmospheric action-horror film, if a derivative one. The second film expanded the mythology with diminishing returns. The third, a prequel, told the origin story with more genuine tragedy and is considered by many the strongest, partly because it set Selene aside for a fresher story. The fourth and fifth films saw clear creative exhaustion, recycling elements with declining energy and inspiration.
This unevenness is the nature of a long-running franchise, and it means the series is best appreciated selectively rather than as a uniform whole. The strong entries deliver genuine action-horror entertainment, while the weaker ones coast on accumulated mythology and brand recognition. The supporting cast across the films includes real talent, with Bill Nighy memorably hammy as a vampire elder and Michael Sheen committing fully as a lycan leader, lending the saga more gravity than it strictly earns. The series rewards fans of its world while testing the patience of casual viewers as it wears on.
The Verdict
The Underworld series earns its 6.5 as the most committed attempt to turn the vampire into a pure action franchise, a five-film saga of vampires versus werewolves that delivers leather, gunfire, and gothic style with real conviction. Kate Beckinsale’s Selene is an icon of the action-horror hybrid, the dense mythology gives the world genuine scope, and the strong entries deliver slick, entertaining spectacle. It loses points for shallowness, repetition, increasingly convoluted lore, and clear creative exhaustion in its later films. Lightweight by the standards of the genre’s classics but slick and entertaining on its own action-blockbuster terms, a franchise that knew exactly what it was and committed to it fully.
FAQ
How many Underworld films are there?
Five, released between 2003 and 2016, telling a saga of a centuries-old war between aristocratic vampires and bestial werewolves called lycans. Kate Beckinsale’s vampire warrior Selene is at the center of nearly all of them, anchoring the series.
What makes the series distinctive?
It transforms the vampire from seducer or monster into a leather-clad, gun-wielding action hero. The films treat vampirism mainly as a source of superhuman combat ability, set in a gothic-industrial world of blue-filtered nightscapes. They are essentially superhero movies with vampires.
Which entries are best?
The original is a solid, atmospheric establishing film, and the third, a prequel telling the origin of the vampire-lycan war with genuine tragedy, is considered by many the strongest. The fourth and fifth show clear creative exhaustion. The series is best appreciated selectively.
Is it scary or deep?
Neither, by design. The series prioritizes action, style, and spectacle over horror, seduction, or tragedy. Its dense mythology gives it scope but also bogs it down in exposition. It is lightweight by the standards of the genre’s classics but committed to its action-blockbuster identity.
Is it worth watching?
For fans of stylish action-horror, yes, particularly the stronger entries. The series delivers slick vampire-versus-werewolf spectacle with a committed lead and an elaborate world. Anyone seeking the depth of the genre’s classics should look elsewhere, but as entertaining action cinema that knows what it is, it largely delivers.