In Theaters Now: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Inkheart, Killshot & More

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
directed by Patrick Tatopoulos
This third installment of the Underworld franchise is an origins story that follows Lucian (Michael Sheen of Frost/Nixon fame), a werewolf who teams up with his secret lover, vampire Sonja (Rhona Mitra) to lead an uprising against power-hungry vampire king Viktor (Bill Nighy). While Kate Beckinsale, star of the previous Underworld movies, is nowhere in sight, die-hard fans of the series will probably turn out regardless for this action-packed prequel.

Inkheart
directed by Iain Softley
In this big-budget adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s best-selling novel, a young girl (Eliza Bennett) discovers her father (Brendan Fraser) can bring mythical characters to life by reading aloud from an ancient book titled Inkheart. Unfortunately, one of the characters unleashed is the malevolent Capricorn (Andy Serkis, Gollum from The Lord of the Rings trilogy), who is more than eager to spread his evil in the real world. Inkheart is apparently hoping to capture some of the magic fairy dust that catapulted previous fantasy adaptations, such as Bridge to Terabithia and The Spiderwick Chronicles, into family-friendly hits. Whether Inkheart can etch out its own unique, memorable fantasy universe remains to be seen.

Killshot
directed by John Madden
In this crime thriller based on Elmore Leonard’s novel, a botched scam sends a veteran hit man (Mickey Rourke) and his young partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) on a mission to kill an innocent couple (Diane Lane and Thomas Jane). Despite its lofty pedigree (including the recently Oscar-nominated Rourke in a starring role), Killshot has been plagued by bad buzz for months. The movie has had a myriad of release date changes (it was actually shot more than three years ago), and Quentin Tarantino withdrew his executive producer credit. Hopefully director Madden (who’s incidentally not the football commentator making his directing debut, but rather the seasoned moviemaker behind Oscar-winner Shakespeare in Love) can add some class to what sounds like a pretty tired premise.

Outlander
directed by Howard McCain
The third high-profile fantasy release of the week, Outlander stars James Caviezel (The Passion of The Christ) as Kainan, a man from another world who crash lands on Earth during the reign of the Vikings. After Kainan discovers he has unwittingly brought with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen, he bands together with the Vikings to kill the destructive creature. With its far-out fusion of past and future, director McCain (also a screenwriter of this week’s other creature feature, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) might just have a cult sensation on his hands.

Donkey Punch
directed by Oliver Blackburn
In this loathsome-sounding thriller, a botched sex act leads to a deadly fight for survival aboard a Mediterranean cruise ship. Originally released in the UK last summer, Donkey Punch sounds like a blast for the Hostel crowd… and a nightmare for everyone else.