Rain pelts two men as they push their way through the crowded streets of Budapest, entering the underground station. An imposing man bellows “Bloods!” and gunfire erupts in the subway station. The man’s display of pyrotechnics is impressive in its intensity, but a darkly beautiful woman returns fire, showing deadly skill with a gun.

The mystery woman is Selene, a Death Dealer, the vampire equivalent of a warrior. The men she so easily disposes of are lycanthropes, the immortal enemy of the undead.

Mix two cups leather, a half a cup of “The Incredible Hulk,” toss in a dash of Strom Thurmond, bring to a boil and in just over two hours, you get “Underworld,” the new vampire flick starring Kate Beckinsale as Selene.

“Underworld” deals with an ancient blood feud between vampires and werewolves. That’s all you need to know. The plot attempts to deal with misplaced trust, betrayal and lust, but director Len Wiseman is not one to bog the picture down in dialogue. Instead, he focuses more on quick cuts and grisly violence. With so much violence, who has time to create characters that the audience cares about?

There is a thin plotline involving a love story, but it isn’t given time to develop, allowing more time for cool fight scenes. What dialogue there is doesn’t take place until later in the film, and feels a little rushed. Most of the time, the cast struts around mugging for the camera or shooting each other. At times the movie feels like “The Matrix” with fangs as every cast member is decked out in leather body suits or bad vampire disco wear.

This doesn’t mean that the movie isn’t worth the ticket price, if it’s a matinee or student discount rate. The cast turns in solid performances, and if kick-ass action and awesome fight scenes are what you crave, this is a safe bet. But if you want a film with a little more intellectual bite, you’d be better off renting “Interview With a Vampire.”