For Swedish directing duo Bjorn Stein and Mans Marlind, filming "Underworld Awakening" was a daunting and thrilling introduction to the world of big budget Hollywood filmmaking.

Premiering in theaters Jan. 20, 2012 in 3-D and IMAX 3D, the Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment film marks the return of vampire warrior Selene (Kate Beckinsale), who emerges from a long imprisonment to discover humanity is now aware of the existence of vampires and lycans.

Stein and Marlind were handpicked to spearhead the sequel by Underworld creator Len Wiseman. Their 2005 film "Storm," which pitched its deeply cynical protagonist into a tale involving parallel universes and time-space warps, left Wiseman with the confidence to entrust the duo with "Underworld Awakening" and its $75 million budget.

With a budget of $72 million more than "Storm" and a lineup of over 800 effect shots, the sequel offered the directors an unprecedented challenge, especially with its 3-D format.

"When we got the script and read it there was so much stuff in there that we liked," Stein recently told Rabid Doll. "We pitched for it and got to talk with the producers and with Len Wisemen … And I think they responded very well to our thoughts and where we wanted to take it.

"It was a huge leap for them in taking in two Swedes to do this, but at the same time it felt very natural."

As they readied to helm the sequel, Stein and Marlind focused on three key elements that were part of their pitch to the studio: intensifying the action scenes, creating some new creatures for the Underworld universe and giving Selene an emotional gut punch.

"When you come along and do a film like this you don't want to be second best, you want to be better," Stein explained.

They were also very mindful of preserving the tone and atmosphere that brought success to the franchise.

However, it was the personal journey of Selene that the directors found particularly motivating. And Selene's discovery in the film that she has a 14-year-old daughter, who is a vampire-lycan hybrid, presented a unique opportunity for them to enhance her character arc.

"We are seeing her sensitive and emotional," Marlind said. "I mean, she was that way with Michael, but this is different. The cool thing is that this softness and [emotion] also brings out the tiger within her, which is really, really another side; so she is even more brutal and even more badass than we are used to seeing her."

In fact, motherhood brings out the worst and best in Selene; she becomes more protective, more feral and just cruel, according to Marlind.

"This is something we have not seen with Selene," Marlind said. "She has been in control in every film. She has never been off balance."

And like Selene, the directors found themselves adapting to a dramatically new environment. After all, their past projects lensed with limited resources and, by necessity, moved on tight timetables.

"We are used to moving fast and leaner; so I think that is one of the reasons we could really pull this huge thing off, because it's a lot of action and there are a lot of fantastical elements like digital 3-D," Marlind said. "And being shot in 3-D you couldn't just stand around waiting for it to feel right. You need to move. And our background served us well there."

"Underworld Awakening" is the first movie to use the Red Epic digital camera in 3-D. Although Stein and Marlind initially felt film was superior to digital, they call the Red Epic -- which eliminates ghosting and offers a crisper image -- a true game changer.

"It's a very powerful camera that has extremely high resolution, which is very good when you shoot 3-D because when you do the 3-D version you always loose resolution," Stein said.

"I'm with the audience in saying that I'm not too impressed with 3-D," Marlind added. "I think it works great in animated films and 'Avatar' … the technology really has not been there [otherwise], but hopefully with this camera it will be."

Friends and movie buffs since childhood, Stein and Marlind launched their directing career by collaborating on the short film "Disco Kungfu," and later went on to direct various commercials and television shows together, including “The Befallen,” “The Bridge” and “Spung.” They also recently co-directed the thriller "Shelter," which stars Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Their directing style, which they call "every second day," is a method they started 10 years ago that allows one to take the reins as director while the other one assists. The following day they switch roles.

Sharing the directing chair gives them time to recharge after exhausting shooting days, according to Stein. It also helps them offer the proper time to production designers, art directors and producers.

"This has turned out to be so much more beneficial than we actually could have expected when we started doing this," Stein said.

In addition to their shared directing style, Stein and Marlind are bringing their deep love of the horror genre to "Underworld Awakening."

"Horror is really what got us into film," Stein explained. "We fell in love with the genre. We always had a keen eye for the horror."

They credit the Asian horror renaissance for rejuvenating the genre and providing inspiration for their work.

"I have not seen horror that exciting … and I have not seen anything like it happening since," Stein said. "So right now I think horror is … kinda ordinary, run-of-the-mill.

"It's like I'm waiting for a good genre rock. If the Korean and the Asian horror was like punk and really turned everything upside down, then I'm still waiting for the new style to come along."

"Underworld Awakening" was written by Wiseman, John Hlavin, J. Michael Straczynski and Allison Burnett, and was based on a story by Wiseman and Hlavin. It was executive produced by David Kern, James McQuaide, David Coastsworth, Eric Reid, Skip Williamson and Henry Winterstern.

Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Wiseman and Richard Wright served as producers.

View the "Underworld Awakening" trailer here.