Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) is a dark fantasy action film you can watch online on iFILM. It works as a prequel to the whole franchise, tracing how the war between vampires and werewolves actually began.

Long before the first films, the vampire clans answer to cold, ruthless Viktor, played by Bill Nighy. He keeps the Lycans as slaves and guard dogs. One of them, born in captivity, is Lucian (Michael Sheen) — too strong and too clever to wear the collar quietly. He falls for Viktor's daughter, the warrior Sonja (Rhona Mitra), and that forbidden bond lights the fuse. Lucian rallies the werewolves against the brutal Death Dealer army.

This was the directing debut of Patrick Tatopoulos, the creature and production designer behind the earlier movies. Kate Beckinsale turns up only in passing; the real engine here is the standoff between Nighy and Sheen, a king and the slave who refuses to break. Hard, gothic, costume-heavy combat about how one wound grows into a centuries-long slaughter. Stream Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) online on iFILM.