Half Light

Rosenberg's 'Half Light' is just another typical 'supernatural' thriller (a.k.a. horror-chiller) wannabe. The script has nothing new to offer while it's got some plot holes and the overall plot is hackneyed. It tries to be a Steven King style story but grossly fails. Moreover, the characters are caricatures (e.g. the unintentionally funny townspeople, the friend and husband who turn out to be the villain, the cardboard clairvoyant chick), the acting is poor and the dialogues are plagiarized. Demi Moore is a good actress but she's mostly alright here. There are a few scenes of great acting but overall the writing does not give her much scope. She looks radiant though. I loved Kate Isitt in one of my favourite TV series 'Coupling' but she's quite awful here. She plays her character as though she doesn't care. Might as well, since it's not a great role. On the positive side, I loved the soundtrack. It's mostly calming Scottish and Irish instrumental tracks that are pleasing to the ears. The visuals, particularly the location shots, are beautiful. Though Wales isn't anything like Scotland (the film pretends to take place in Scotland), it's quite a beauty.

Everyone has a real motive to be hyped about this great little thriller. It was the film Demi Moore chose to do one year after her come-back in the overdone "Charlie's Angels" sequel. After constant scripts and offers knocked on Moore's door like it was 1996, it is VERY obvious why Moore chose a film like this. This film was approached in the very manner that her earlier films were, and this film shows that she hasn't lost her judgment. It is also obvious that she was careful about what to do after America went banana's over her still-hot looks, and a strange fascination with younger guys. To me, this was the best possible decision she could have made. When novelist Rachel Carson looses her small son to the devastating nature of water, she also looses her life. Her marriage is failing, and she is suffering a severe case of writers block. To ease the pain of her son's death, she takes a leave from her home in England, to a quaint island with a beautiful village. There, she starts what she could call, a better life, while it is anything but (Illusions, Betrayal, Fear of Insanity, etc.). As she begins to see her son, she hears him tell her things involving people she knows. Such a great choice made by Moore, as I said, is very evident by the way the film opens, subtle and soft, with just a touch of eeriness. The films charm comes not only from appealing writing and likable cast, but also from (as earlier stated) the approach. This is what movie-goers want to see when they go to the theaters. This film is painted with bucolic shots and scenery of the European countryside. Hauntingly depicted in long shots, and pacing, in light of a film released in the early 1990's; much better than anything released today, or in the last five years. Director Rosenberg seems to know what his audience is looking for, and weaves the story as if he were writing a book. It is all quite poetic and still; not all violence is mindless. Such high quality frames and stunning imagery make this one a film you love to watch. You also love to endure the presentation of the characters, and the story through the impeccable pacing. It moves along very surely, but never too quickly, and the tactics it uses keep you in tune with all that is happening, on screen or not. We get to know Rachel Carson, as Demi Moore still enchants the screen with charisma and presence. Other characters are drawn out well in the same style, and the fact that we Americans haven't the best familiarity with the actors, really helps. Why this film was passed onto video is not clear, but one thing is for sure, it isn't a viable reason, whatever it be. For all my reasons, I can only conclude that it was TOO good to be seen in American theaters. Most US audiences are used to fast-paced action crud that only appeals to little brats who spend the day lounging at the cinemas anyway because they're so useless they have no lives. "Half-Light" is a great example of modern day thriller. It was unexpected, it was natural, it was eerie! Most of all, it was REAL! What is not to like? Answer that America, if you can!

I just finished remodeling my back lanai to watch the Florida skies. I did it in a nautical theme including a mural of a lighthouse in stormy weather. I thought this movie, which boosts a beautiful lighthouse in Scotland, would be the perfect way to inaugurate the new room, And I was so right. It was perfect. The movie has elements of mystery, romance and the supernatural. From a murder in the past to a mystery in the present, a dead child, a mystery writer trying to recover -- to a handsome, no, sexy lighthouse keeper and strange village folks nestled away in a small Scottish fishing village on the coast of the North Sea -- this movie was wonderful to watch. I don't understand why it wasn't at the movies when crappier movies are released weekly. Demi Moore reminds us she is quite the actress and Hans Matheson is about as dreamy as dreamy gets. The rest of the cast is flawless and the writer earns his stripes by toying with us. You never really know what's going until all is revealed. All in all, folks, what we have here is a throw back to the days of Gothic romance, dark shadows and Wuthering Heights with a killer twist ending. Rent it with your lover, sit back and be entertained.

The scenery is beautiful, but that's about the only thing this movie has going for it. The storyline is rather unbelievable and predictable in the first half. It got slightly better in the second half, but then at the very end it got very rushed and confusing. I still don't understand the whole broken cross thing. Was the guy a ghost? The actors were good though, and with a slightly better story this could have been a very very good movie. I think I'll be following Hans Matheson from now on. Positive: Grogeous scenery, good actors/actresses Negative: Horrible CGI lighthouse, rushed at the end, predictable beginning, very confusing with all the subplots (broken cross, etc)

I think the problem with this movie is that it could not decide what it wanted to be. A ghost-story? A psychological thriller? A gore movie? Movies seldom turn out well, when movie-makers mix styles and elements like that. One somehow wants to know what to expect - roughly at least. I, for my part, had hoped for a traditional ghost story - and I was disappointed when it turned out that the culprits were human. And also by all the dead people, violence, and gore. It did not have any good scares either. I think the plot was also wildly improbable. A husband and the wife's best friend falling in love with each other, and cooperating about killing the wife and living off her money. Yes, I can buy that. It has happened. But their plot was too extreme and improbable. There are thousands of ways to kill a person and make it look like an accident or a suicide. Especially as this woman already had a big grief and a lot of bad conscience after her son died. No one would have doubted her reasons to kill herself. But to involve a third person, who wanted his share of the inheritance, and who could blackmail them later...? And to have this person act as a ghost - a very virile, fleshy ghost at that..? And to take the trouble to clean up and furnish the old light-house - and then take everything away again, and make it look as if no one had lived there for eight years..? The longer they stayed in the neighbourhood, the greater the risk that somebody should see them, and recognize them later... Another question: how could they even know of the tragedy in the light-house eight years earlier..? They were not from there. No, this movie was a mistake, I think. I still give it four stars for the craggy nature scenery from Scotland, and some fine love-scenes and mother-child-scenes.

I enjoyed this movie a lot since I love horror/mystery/thriller/ghost stories. However, I would put this in the category of ghost story/love story. I think Demi was Demi - not great, but good. I thought it was interesting that they have her coupled with someone almost 20 years younger than she is, just like her real life. I do question some of the scenery. The village looks authentic Scottish with plaster and stone houses. However, the cottage, looks pure Appalacian mountain cabin - certainly not able to withstand hard weather in that part of the British Isles. Also, the lighthouse looks more USA than Scotland. The rest of the scenery looked genuine. I loved the musical score and the GREAT twist at the end. It really leaves you wondering about some things, and that's why I watched it again the next day. I do recommend this movie! I wish it had been based on a novel so I could clear up some questions I still have.

Ever horror cliché from the last fifty years (no Frankenstein or Dracula) badly put together. Demi Moore tops her performance in Striptease by minus 30 points. But she has amazingly got ten years younger through strenuous face-exercises. The story? Her son dies and start to haunt her. But off course it is all for her well being. If you like exceedingly long shots of the Scottish scenery then it is a must see, for about 5 minutes of scenery footage but it is played slow-mo so for all you lighthouse voyeurs, get your Kleenex ready. For the rest it is trite and obvious in every sense of the word, no suspense, no thrills, not even the odd attempt at the shock value boo moment. I wouldn't know how to class the film, it is definitely not horror, not a drama, thriller or comedy. How Demi manages to find these stinkers I don't know.

Initially this had some very good potential. Rachel Carlson, a best selling author at the top of her game, loses her son in a tragedy that all mothers fear. Fast Forward and the viewer becomes aware that she is now separated from her less than successful husband (also a writer) and she decides to hermit herself away to finish her next book. Her dearest friend finds the perfect charming cottage for her across the bay from a lighthouse. She begins to see/hear/feel creepy and downright scary things like toys turning on, horrible nightmares, visions and the like. Then... a wonderful, handsome man comes into her life - Angus, the lighthouse keeper. He lifts her spirits, making her think maybe life is all good again. He wines, dines and romances her, until she finds out he is a ghost (well, not really). Supposedly he died some years ago in a local scandal - which the local psychic had foretold. Rachel's mental state degrades and the locals think she is a loon. Then in true 1940's fashion, it becomes clear that all the whole thing was some plot by her soon-to-be ex and the friend that rented her the cottage, who is the ex's mistress now. They plotted - using a felon actor to play Angus, to make her death look like a suicide and thereby get all her money. Things really start to unravel here. The conspirators are picked off one by one... ostensibly by the "real" ghost of the lighthouse keeper... and the odd "messages" from her son are never fully explained. Overall - great start out of the gate and plot thread. I was quite taken with the spooky feel of it until the odd turn to an old 1940's favorite theme noir - with the modern blood-lust at the end. Excellent locations, with beautiful scenery. Demi Moore kind of floats through the whole movie, and the only actor that really stood out was Hans Matheson- who played the dashing, sensitive, yet very dangerous Angus.

I think that many people today equate a good movie with a movie that totally deceives you until the very end where the truth is revealed and you're left in awe of how clever the filmmakers were. I think we have Shyamalan to thank for this. And so now we have a bunch of people out there that come up with this great idea for a movie, but that's it. Yet people don't seem to care because they are just interested in being duped and surprised. The difference is this: Shyamalan carefully crafted ALL aspects of his movies, not just the "big idea." What we see today -- in movies like this -- is an interesting "big idea", but other the other aspects of the film are not very well done. But when we judge a movie, we need to look at it for what it is, every single part of it, not just how much it surprises us. Half-light has a beautiful soundtrack, and the scenery was spectacular as well. However, it just seemed like one cliché after another. All throughout the movie (but especially in the beginning) there was just one conversation after another that was obviously setup to establish ideas, setting, character, time lapse, etc. They spent all their time trying to creatively deceive us, and hardly any time creatively establishing these elements of the story. I also found the characters uninteresting and flat; not that the acting was bad (it wasn't great) but the characters were not developed. But that's just my two cents.

I think this movie was excellent...i really enjoyed watching it and the plot was extraordinary....this is a must see thriller...:)Demi Moore always gives it her best. She is an inspiring actress. This movie had me surprised towards the end........but i wont say how u will have to see it to find out.....This is something different for her....she usually plays a role in a movie as a seductive person,but here she played as a loving,committed,,stressful mother who feels like she is guilty for the death of her son. Like I have mentioned before, this is a must see thriller....it has many turns and parts in it that really scared me.