Underworld Movie

As high-concept scenarios go, a few are so obvious that wise moviemakers avoid them at all costs. The rogue cop out for revenge is one. Teenagers trapped in a remote location with a crazed killer is another. Vampires versus werewolves might seem yet another. But what started as a werewolf movie worthy of a late-night double feature evolved until the principal creative trio behind "Underworld" went from practically zero interest to unabashed enthusiasm.

"Underworld: Awakening" begins with a tidy, three-minute wrap of the series' first two movies (the third, a 2009 prequel minus star Kate Beckinsale doesn't figure into the equation) before revealing the current grim state of affairs for its clashing vampires and werewolves. Humans, at least those oblivious to the charms of the "Twilight" movies, have decided to stop killing each other and focus on eradicating creatures possessing fangs. Our vampire antiheroine Selene (Beckinsale)

"Underworld: Awakening" begins with a tidy, three-minute wrap of the series' first two movies (the third, a 2009 prequel minus star Kate Beckinsale doesn't figure into the equation) before revealing the current grim state of affairs for its clashing vampires and werewolves. Humans, at least those oblivious to the charms of the "Twilight" movies, have decided to stop killing each other and focus on eradicating creatures possessing fangs. Our vampire antiheroine Selene (Beckinsale)

As high-concept scenarios go, a few are so obvious that wise moviemakers avoid them at all costs. The rogue cop out for revenge is one. Teenagers trapped in a remote location with a crazed killer is another. Vampires versus werewolves might seem yet another. But what started as a werewolf movie worthy of a late-night double feature evolved until the principal creative trio behind "Underworld" went from practically zero interest to unabashed enthusiasm.

Thanks to this 1992 film's spirit of rot and horror and an expressive performance by Jeff Goldblum (left), it's lifted out of its class as yet another drug underworld movie. Goldblum has a high-style scariness that just about knocks you out of your seat. He plays the dealer-partner to a Cleveland cop (Laurence Fishburne, right) selected by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to infiltrate an L.A. cocaine cartel.