Underworld: Evolution brought the vampire-werewolf franchise to the next shlocky level
It’s appropriate that the vampire-werewolf blood-feud soap opera Underworld came out in 2003. That was the year of the Matrix sequels, and Underworld itself almost felt like a spinoff, specifically of that bit in The Matrix Reloaded where the Oracle alludes to rogue programs. (“Every time you’ve heard someone say they saw a ghost, or an angel… every story you’re ever heard about vampires, werewolves, or aliens is the system assimilating some program that’s doing something they’re not supposed to be doing.”) Right on cue, a few months after the release of Reloaded, there was Underworld, set in an unnamed, Matrix-like city with lots of slow-motion, leather, and gun battles between vampires and werewolves, and shot with an even heavier filter. It was a surprise hit despite middling reviews, but it wasn’t until the even worse-reviewed sequel, Underworld: Evolution, that the five-movie series truly established itself.
