By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Horror is huge at the North American box office.

For the fourth weekend in a little over a month, the top draw was a blood-soaked yarn, this time the low-budget thriller "Underworld," which pits vampires against werewolves.

The film led a crowded field of five newcomers by selling about $22 million worth of tickets in its first three days, according to estimates issued on Sunday by its distributor, Sony Pictures. Coincidentally, it cost that much to make.

But "Underworld" was arguably overshadowed by the occupant of the No. 10 slot, the arthouse saga "Lost in Translation," starring Bill Murray. The acclaimed Focus Features release, from writer/director Sofia Coppola, earned $2.8 million from just 183 theaters in its second weekend. By contrast, "Underworld" was playing in 2,915 sites.

On the downside, moviegoers decided they would rather see "Anything Else" than Woody Allen's new movie of the same name. The DreamWorks romantic comedy opened out of the top 10 with just $1.7 million, despite an advertising campaign that emphasized its young stars, Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci, rather than its polarizing auteur.

Last weekend's top movie, Sony's Mexican Western "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," fell to No. 4 with $11.5 million. The film's 10-day take rose to $41.4 million. It cost just $29 million to make, and Sony expects ticket sales to pass $60 million.

In between, were two other new releases, "The Fighting Temptations" (Paramount) at No. 2 with $13.2 million and "Secondhand Lions" (New Line) at No. 3 with $12.9 million. The top five was rounded out by the Disney thriller "Cold Creek Manor," which bowed with a modest $8.3 million.

BOX OFFICE BUOYANT

The new releases helped propel the overall box office to its second consecutive "up" weekend, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 films grossed $94 million, up 29 percent from last weekend and up 37 percent from the year-ago period when "Barbershop" opened at No. 1.

"Underworld," starring Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman, was distributed by Sony's Screen Gems label, which paid the film's producer $7 million for the rights. Sony Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites) .

The horror genre got a boost in mid-August when "Freddy vs. Jason" began a two-week stint at the top. It was then unseated by "Jeepers Creepers 2." Other creepfests such as "Cabin Fever," currently at No. 7 with $3.9 million, and summer's "28 Days Later" have also set pulses racing.

"The Fighting Temptations," a $30 million musical comedy starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and singer Beyonce Knowles of R&B trio Destiny's Child, revolves around a southern gospel choir and played mostly to black females, said Wayne Lewellen, president of distribution at Paramount. The studio is a unit of Viacom Inc .

"Secondhand Lions," a family fable starring Michael Caine and Robert Duvall as the eccentric uncles of Haley Joel Osment, played better in the American heartland than in the big cities, said David Tuckerman, president of domestic distribution at New Line. It was budgeted in the high-$20 million range. New Line Cinema is a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc .

"Cold Creek Manor" stars Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone as new homeowners who run up against their abode's former inhabitants. It was released by Walt Disney Co.'s Touchstone Pictures.

"Lost in Translation" was released by Focus Features, a unit of Vivendi Universal SA, and has grossed $4.1 million after 10 days. It will expand to about 400 theaters next weekend, a spokesman said.

1. Underworld .......... $21,753,759

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $21,753,759

2. Secondhand Lions .......... $12,139,832

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $12,139,832

3. The Fighting Temptations .......... $11,758,372

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $11,758,372

4. Once Upon a Time in Mexico .......... $11,007,367

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $40,951,922

5. Cold Creek Manor .......... $8,190,574

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $8,190,574

6. Matchstick Men .......... $7,552,427

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $24,233,745

7. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star .......... $3,783,655

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,302,664

8. Cabin Fever .......... $3,609,896

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $14,722,225

9. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl .......... $3,480,968

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $292,495,912

10. Lost in Translation .......... $2,622,737

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $3,957,342

John L.: The attack of the horror movies continues as another so called fright fest has topped the box office top 10. Underworld proves again that good marketing, especially an intriguing trailer, will bring the masses out. How well the movie is will be discussed in my full review. Fighting Temptations opened pretty well with a Sister Act type premise of getting misfits to work together and create great music. Cuba Gooding the second has had some trouble lately at the box office, but teaming up with Beyonce Cleopatra was a good idea. It should do okay over the next few weeks. Sharon Stone continues to fail at her chosen career as it seems no one was holding their breath to see her again on the big screen in Cold Creek Manor. For some reason, I have despised its trailer with drowning horses, moving bed sheets, and creepy hands. Sofia Coppola may be on track to having people finally forget she is one of the reasons that Godfather 3 was received so poorly as her new film is getting rave reviews. I guess there is no marketing budget since the only reason anyone would have heard of this movie is if they read reviews. If these movies are so good, then movie studios should get behind them more and release them wider and not pussyfoot around so much. American Splendor has been getting Oscar buzz for weeks, but it is still in limited release. The quality of movies might change if people are given a chance to see stuff that is supposed to be good and not just schlock.

The monster crossover makes its return this week with Underworld, a story about a war between vampires and lycans (werewolves). I get it, lycanthropy is the name of the disease of people who turn into Robin Williams during a full moon. Freddy and Jason had a successful bruhaha a few weeks ago, and now the top creatures of the night have decided to hate each other for hundreds of years. Underworld stars Kate Beckinsale as Selene, a death dealing vampire huntress who tracks the lycans and shoots them on sight. She has been doing it for so long, she doesn't even realize why she should. One night while looking for some l-thropes, she notices them following what appears to be a regular human whose name is Michael (Scott Speedman). He is human, but he holds the key to either the vamps or the werewolves gaining an advantage in the war. All of this is fun and thrilling, but the execution is just a little to blah. The movie starts out with a big gun battle, but it is so abrupt you are not sure what is going on. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? Why should we care. You have to start the movie off with an action sequence to hook the audience, but it just did not seem engaging. When it is established that we are dealing with monsters, we get a lot of human looking people overacting their roles in between CGI metamorphoses and neck biting. Vampires vs werewolves is a dream match, but for most of the time the vampires cheat and use guns to shoot every beast they meet. The lycans keep it honest and try to go paw to paw, but are rarely allowed to get that close. It would have been a bit more interesting if more natural skills were used in the skirmishes. The movie is very dark which is understandable since none of the main characters can exist during the daytime. It makes the film look almost black and white with just splotches of color thrown in. The feud is also not necessarily a natural thing as it appears to only be between this sect of vampires and werewolves whose history is connected in very personal ways. More Hatfields and McCoys than Cats and Dogs. When the truths and lies are revealed things still are not all that interesting. Beckinsale sort of just hangs around and shoots stuff as the guys get to have the meatier storylines. A hint of a romance between her and Speedman is never fully realized, but that is what sequels are for. If you just accept the movie a decent special effects psuedo horror adventure it does an alright job. Nothing too bad is done. Story potential is never developed beyond the surface feelings. This could have been epic, but you don't ask for more when its over even though a possible follow-up plot is left hanging. An okay film. Final Review: 2 1/2 stars out of 5; 5 1/2 out of 10, C+; thumbs down.

The Rest of the Top 10 in 10 will return, I promise. Bye for now.