Half Light (2006) User Reviews

Surprisingly Chilling Little Movie.

[drownsoda90 · 7/10 · 8 September 2006]

"Half Light" is one surprise of a movie. The film is about a writer, Rachel Carson (Demi Moore) who tragically loses her young son when he drowns by the dock near their house in England. Devastated from the event, Rachel's friend rents her a secluded island cottage on the Scotland coast so she can relax and recover in the comfortable atmosphere, and conquer her current writer's block. But when she arrives to the little old cottage on the edge of the ocean, weird things start to happen. She has strange visions of her son, she spends time with a man living in a lighthouse who has supposedly been dead for seven years, and the townspeople are also quite strange. Real life terror and supernatural events drive Rachel into hysteria from there, as she tries to unravel a complex mystery.

This was a surprisingly chilling little thriller film, the atmosphere of the whole secluded ocean village was unique and neat, the little village set itself sitting right on the sandy beach. There are a lot of dark gray and foggy tones in the film, which add even more to the atmosphere. I liked the whole feeling the film had, it was isolated and eerie. It's kind of hard to explain, I can't really put my finger on it, but the whole atmosphere was foreboding and spooky. Demi Moore was great, she's a pretty believable actress from what I've seen. Her performance was realistic and fit the film well. The settings are great and really spooky on many occasions, particularly the small cottage and the old lighthouse. The story was rather original, and very subtle with overall good writing. The ending was a bit of a twist-ending, blending real-life horror with a supernatural addition, but it fit well and I wasn't disappointed with it (like some twist-endings leave me).

Overall, "Half Light" is a good little thriller film that caught me off guard, I was expecting something along the lines of cheap straight-to-video garbage. It's quite the contrary though. The Gothic, seaside atmosphere was excellent and well put-to-use in the film, and the creepy little story was well written with a satisfying conclusion. Fans of supernatural thrillers will definitely want to check this one out, it's a good one for sure. 7/10.

Surprisingly good... give it time!

[donjuanramirez · 7/10 · 16 January 2006]

I was lucky enough to see a copy of this with my wife recently... and wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised! The acting of all characters was very good, with Ms. Moore putting in an excellent, yet sometimes implausible (scripting?), performance. The shooting of the film is excellent with the locations adding much to the feeling of the film. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing, even if you think you have it worked out within the first half, as we both did, you'll doubt yourself from then on in.

My one criticism is the start of the film. It feels somewhat piecemeal and directionless, perhaps on purpose to mirror the main characters state of mind, but it just doesn't seem to gel, and the scoring feels the same, however don't let that stop you watching this film as once past the first few scenes you will be tripping over yourself trying to figure it out.

All told this was a well produced, well filmed, well acted movie, and don't believe any of the 'horror' tags, it's more suspense/thriller, and very good to boot!

Scary Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 28 July 2006]

This film will give chills up and down your spine not because of horror or blood shed, but just the simple location in Wales,UK and a mysterious cottage and naturally, a Light House. Demi Moore,(Rachel Carlson), a successful author of mystery novels wants to have a different location away from everyone and finds this very spiritual place, or you could say a purgatory for the living dead. Rachel encounters Henry Ian Cusick, (Brian),"The Gospel of John",'03 who seems to know a great deal about the Light House and its history and has some fun burying a Mother-0f Pearl sea shell in the sand as a symbol of lasting love. There are many twists and turns in this film and it is very well produced and directed. I must say, I have never seen Demi Moore looking so young and very sexy. Great entertaining film, enjoy.

Eerie Little Thriller

[delhart2001 · 18 November 2005]

This movie is good, well acted, well scripted, well directed, and above all, it will keep you guessing to the end, I do not know enough about "The Technical Side" of movie making to comment, all i know is, if i see a film i like, or for that matter dislike, then i will make a comment on it, after all its only entertainment. Too many times you read about the, ins and outs of film making, and all the back stage stuff, when really all you want to know is, will i enjoy this film, and the answer to Half Light is yes, no swearing, very little sex content,just a nice put together thriller, enough twists and turns to keep the momentum going. i am trying to find something to moan about in this movie, and to be quite honest there is nothing, Demi Moore is very good in the lead role, and the mainly British cast is excellent Go see it, judge for yourself, i do not think you will be disappointed.

Can you feel the chill, really spooky.

[baranj · 7/10 · 7 January 2006]

It was a really nice surprise for me, I didn't expect so good movie. What's it about? Rachel Carlson is a successful mystery novelist whose life falls apart when her 5-year-old son drowns at her country home. A year later, in an effort to heal her wounds and help her to start writing again, her best friend rents her a secluded cottage in a remote fishing village, where events unfold that rock the tranquil village and cause Rachel to fear for her sanity and her life. The main actress was Demi Moore, and I think she played her role excellent. To beginning, it was a little bit confusing because you don't know that is fake and what is real.

Euro..enjoy

pretty good actually

[camandsoph · 7/10 · 10 January 2006]

not a bad movie at all. more of a love story than a ghost story - but the two are woven together pretty successfully. The ending falls short, but the rest of the film is well planned.

Moore is an odd choice for the lead, but she turns out pretty good - despite a general unbelievable reaction to later events in the story ( but this is more script ).

some beautiful cinematography and settings, and a few creepy moments. Some good acting too ( but some mediochre stuff mixed in ). Its clear why this movie was not mainstream enough for the theatre, but its a worthy DVD rental or download. On the whole Its a strange one - i thought it was very good, but also not very good at the same time.

7/10

"not sufficiently mysterious for a mystery, not sufficiently thrilling for a thriller..."

[Specksynder · 6/10 · 30 January 2006]

A stereotyped script resulting in increased predictability combined with a flat but nonetheless decent direction leave an bland aftertaste of something seen a hundred times before, albeit filmed much better. The scenery is incorporated in the plot in a stylized way imbuing an overall "cliche" character to the whole endeavour manifested primarily in the various plot twists. I think the rebuffing comment ("not sufficiently mysterious for a mystery, not sufficiently thrilling for a thriller...") received by the heroine's spouse and inept writer in the beginning of the film, ironically emerges for "Halflight" as a fitting portrayal of a "tepid cup of tea", although i am not by origin the most appropriate person to pass such a judgement being not a fan of such a infusion.

Distraught author seeks solace over son's death on remote Scottish seacoast. Things are not as they seem!

[adrid · 8/10 · 5 February 2006]

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.

Stolen moments

[john-souray · 3/10 · 2 September 2006]

I didn't enjoy this, but perhaps I was in a bad mood. Right from the start, though, it got on my nerves. In the opening scenes, we discover a youngish professional couple at home, and it becomes obvious they work in the arts. Various everyday domestic events take place, while their young child plays outside with a talking Action Man figure near a body of water. And then, guess what? Discovering the drowned body of the child, a parent lets out a howl of grief......

What film am I watching? Don't Look Now, of course, with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Except that isn't: it's Half Light, with Demi Moore, and some bloke off the telly.

But I'm sorry to have to tell the Director, Craig Rosenberg: Nicholas Roeg, you're not.

And so the film goes on, a bit of this and a bit of that, a bit of Les Diaboliques, a bit more of Don't Look Now (fey psychic women), a bit of the Shining (writer's block), a bit of the Wicker Man, and none of it quite as good as the original.

And I'm sorry, but while I'm being rude - the music. Composer: Brett Rosenberg. Wouldn't be a relative of yours, would he? All this terrible, oppressive, wistful plinky-plonky noodling on the piano. A hint about the music: if you want to create a supernatural effect with music (i.e. a tape recorder that switches itself on) then if you have to shut the soundtrack up specially so this can happen, you need to consider the possibility that you might be overdoing the soundtrack in the first place. Or worse, your audience might find find itself wondering whether the music is really supernatural at all, or just your relative at it again. Listen: some of the scariest moments in film take place in absolute silence.

And the plot doesn't stand up to scrutiny. I can't really say why without introducing spoilers, but in very general terms, it's one of those complex conspiracies that implausibly depend on everything happening just so. If you look at it all from the point of view of the villains, there's just too many things that could go wrong. I mean, what would have happened if she'd asked the policeman about the lighthouse on her first walk into the village? (That question will make sense if you see the film). Things don't go wrong, of course, or not until the authors want them too, because the authors haven't really thought it through from that point of view: their only intent is to attempt to deceive the audience. And we know it; you have failed to weave the magic spell that ever lets us forget it.

And I'm sorry, for me that opening rip-off, whether cynical plagiarism or just incompetent homage, meant I could never even get started.

More spooky than horror

[albertovalls · 26 November 2005]

Writer Rachel Carlson played by Demi Moore is left unable to write after the tragic death of her son.

In a hope to remove her writers block she moves to a remote island off Scotland. A local psychic startles her with a comment about her son and after befriending a local lighthouse keeper things begin to get creepy. Is she imagining strange things happening because of the isolation and the fact she has recently stopped taking medication for depression, or are they real? There is an unfortunate plot stopper 3/4 of the way in the film where a conversation opens out the plot to a point you may think why continue watching, but there is still a twist in the end.

R17 rating but no profanity or nudity (but did have short above the shoulders tasteful sex scene). I think the rating came from one violent scene in particular involving a child. A little bit of gore toward the end but not too graphic.

Very well

[denis888 · 7/10 · 11 September 2006]

A very good film is this. I am a big Demi Moore fan and this time I was not certainly disappointed. The film starts like a sweet idyll, a famous writer and her family enjoy life, everything goes on well, then, suddenly, the main heroine's son gets drowned, she is devastated, goes far away to the sea coast, to live her grief alone, and then the strange, mystical events start to pile up. The sudden change from the warm, sunny colors of the first part of the movie, to the cold, bleak, mostly blue and gray one of the main part is so great, and I must state that apart from Demi's superb play, the best part is the cameraman's work. You have to watch it to the end, as the film doesn't give you time to change breath or even have a break. A real winner!

Pretty good

[jo-davies3 · 7/10 · 5 September 2006]

I have read other comments.. its got you talking hasn't it. I really enjoyed it.. I am one of those that gets great pleasure from spotting whats coming next.. this did have me going "oh right.." I enjoyed it, films with children in always upset me a bit, when there in danger or dead..lol but thats because i'm a mommy. I am a big fan of Demi's always have been shes just got something about her I love.. she gets you really liking and understanding her so easily... some people have been confused by the final scene, I felt a little like that in a few places.. obviously the lighthouse was furnished on Rachels visit before the birthday party, then the removal van swam to the island and emptied it in time for Rachel to get back and see it empty... also how they managed to skid across the sea so effortlessly and quick.. did you see the size of those waves?? but other than that.. it was fun to watch, and thats what films are for, Ay.

Surprisingly Good

[Mr_Saxon · 7/10 · 27 September 2007]

When her son drowns in an accident, novelist Rachel Carlson (Demi Moore) moves to a small Scottish town where she hopes to pick up the pieces of her life. Whilst she is there, she encounters and then falls in love with the local lighthouse keeper Angus (Hans Matheson). However, strange things begin to occur. Her dead son begins to send her messages from beyond the grave, the local medium starts to act strangely around her and then Rachel discovers something shocking about Angus....

I hadn't really known that much about this movie before I picked it up at my local rental store. I had initially believed it would be a mediocre horror movie but was pleased to discover that it was actually very good! It has a gentleness to it at the beginning and the scenery was beautiful to look at. As the supernatural elements increase, it becomes similar in tone to the movie "What Lies Beneath". Fridge magnets move by themselves, type writers spit out their own messages and dead people appear in dark doorways.

Although never really scary, the movie has some good ideas and an almost dreamlike quality to it. The central mystery is a good one and engages the viewer, keeping you interested in the story and what the outcome will be. The two main leads have a good chemistry allowing you to believe that they could fall in love and, about three quarters of the way into the movie, there is a nice twist which turns things on its head in a way that I didn't see coming.

Demi Moore offers a very good performance here. I've never been a big fan of hers but this is certainly one of her better movies. Henry Ian Cusick (who fans of the television show 'Lost' will recognise as Desmond) is also very good. I'd like to see him in more films.

In summary, I'd recommend this movie. You'll probably find yourself as surprised as I was.

Is "Cliche" too cliché to say?

[javathehutt · 4/10 · 27 January 2006]

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.

Nice thriller with a great twist!

[mario_c · 7/10 · 31 May 2007]

Half Light is a thriller that has a little bit of everything. It has suspense, mystery, a lot of twists (some of them were predictable, but some surprised me a bit!), drama, romance, supernatural, but especially great scenarios! I was amazed by the great landscapes of the Britain's North lands (I think it was filmed in Wales, but there are also some references to Scotland). It's really fantastic all this natural beauty, and it's also a great place to be alone…

When I decided to watch the movie I was expecting a ghost story, a "typical one", and for many minutes, it really seems like one; calm, monotonous, where the main character "see" things that other people can't see… but then something happened…it was a twist that didn't "ruin" the ghost story, but gave it a lot more of suspense and also something new/refreshing… I guess I did like the movie even more because of that twist… (which I won't spoil, of course!)

The soundtrack is also great. The main theme is very melodic and beautiful. It was said in the film it was inspired in a Welsh folk song. I don't know if it is or not, but I really appreciated its melody. It made me remind the main theme of the film "PIANO" (soundtrack by Michael Nyman) which had the same kind of tender and evolving melody…

To sum up, it's a nice film. If you're searching a movie with some great twists, watch this one!

What a pleasant surprise!

[tennrose · 10/10 · 24 January 2006]

I had never heard of this movie when my husband rented it, and was pleasantly surprised. Demi Moore was excellent, but i felt like Hans Matheson really was the top performer in this movie. His wonderful Scottish accent and sweet face made him extremely appealing, making you want to check out other movies he was in. The scenery was beautiful, and I absolutely fell in love with the light house. It was really neat to see wild horses on the light house island.

I loved the mysterious plot, but the movie left me a little sad. There were a lot of plot twists, and I watched the movie two days in a row to see if I could figure out a couple of things! This is a movie that I will probably buy to keep, so I can watch it from time to time.

Typically desperate British fare...

[mattsteel101 · 2/10 · 16 March 2006]

I just attended a test screening of this film and left after half an hour. It was boring, hammy, predictable, clunky and unoriginal.

All the shots are 'picture-postcard' shots of the Scottish coast, reminiscent of an appalling episode of ITV's Cold Feet where they go to Scotland for New Years Eve and "stay in a castle".

There's the hunky fisherman who runs the lighthouse. (and literally walks around holding a fishing rod and fish because... he's a fisherman.) It would not have surprised me to see a young lad carrying his lunch folded up in a red polka-dot handkerchief tied to a stick, whistling and tipping his hat as he went on his merry way. Demi could wave from her log cabin (that no one has lived in for years yet is immaculately tidy, warm and cosy.) Yes, she could wave whilst typing on her "cool" typewriter! What are those? Well, they're like laptops but really s**t and pointless nowadays as any serious writer would tell you. So Demi is an American, who has moved to London, is a writer and doesn't have a laptop? Chances of that? Hmm... er none?

The look of the film is somewhere between a Calvin Klein commercial shot on a beach, an Arena style poster of two young lovers huddled over coffee in a Volkswagen Beatle watching the rain, any cheesy 70s romance movie (I mean in this film, they are even riding on horseback at sunset down a beach within the first 20 minutes!) I could go on but let's change tack.

It is the Sixth Sense and I bet the director and everyone involved is sick to the back teeth of people saying that. Well, they're saying it for a reason, so listen. Yep, Sixth Sense meets Don't Look Now meets a few bits from American Wearwolf in London.

Where were the nasty, violent, Scottish smack-heads drunk on Buckfast? Ooh, everyone's so lovely and friendly in Scotland.. so wee... like bairns.

I'm going now. I won't even mention Demi's 'hard-nosed' friend who works for the "Daily Press" tabloid in London Taaaan. (nice art direction lads, real subtle) "Always looking for the edge that's me, ooh, the scoop, what's the big story? That's what we do in Landan Taaaan... luv a bit of gos" Someone stop me please.

I won't say don't see it. You won't have a choice. There's no way anyone would release this. It was awful.

Clichéd, Confusing, Clueless, Caricatured, Could Care Less

[Chrysanthepop · 7 September 2008]

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.

supernatural thriller and love story

[ghost60 · 7/10 · 28 August 2006]

The scenery is gorgeous and the soundtrack is beautiful. The acting by Hans Mathiason I thought was particularly good. I also liked a sex scene that wasn't bare-all, for a change. And there's nothing like a good ghost story. I recognized some effective eerie techniques that have also worked in other recent films, and that is why I was disappointed with other things that could have been left out... the typing while wearing heavy black gloves (ever tried it?) was cheap and stood out as unnecessary, and the murder plot as a whole seemed predictable and badly written. But I was impressed overall and glad I saw it.

Surprisingly Good Movie

[gemini5683 · 7/10 · 11 July 2010]

I am surprised to hear some people review the movie as if they were paid movie critics. Personally, I enjoyed the movie. When I brought it, I had never heard of it. I wondered if I would like it or just turn it off in disappointment. I couldn't stop watching it out of sheer curiosity. It was obviously a low-budget movie that wasn't intended for the mainstream. Yes, there were some actors who weren't great and the script wasn't fantastic. Trust me I've seen far worse movies. However, overall is was worth watching and buying. I will be recommending this movie to friends!! Don't listen to the critics, professional or otherwise. Decide for yourself!!

Smoothly efficient but otherwise routine ghost story...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 25 June 2006]

Successful American novelist (Demi Moore) living in England is recuperating slowly from the drowning death of her beloved little boy; she moves to a seaside village to work but is continually surrounded by apparitions and dreams of her child. European theatrical release only made it to DVD in the States, perhaps because it is so routine, with musty clichés clouding the script. Naturally there's a cute lighthouse keeper who lives across the bay (we know he's heterosexual from the start: he invites Moore to dinner and, of course, burns the fish) and a town psychic who wanders about making creepy comments ("Your child is trying to hold your hand!"). We want to like the picture because luminous Moore is so good, but the scenario is full of red herrings (starting with that lighthouse, which is right out of a 1950s thriller) and lots of unplayable melodrama. Handsome production, sharp past-and-present editing, but otherwise unimaginative. **1/2 from ****

hysterically funny supernatural thriller

[donaldking · 1/10 · 1 February 2011]

The minute it starts you know it's going to be terrible. The sonorous background music rises and falls. We see Little Venice - the sun is shining. And, guess what, Demi Moore is a novelist! Well, not exactly a novelist, but a writer of what look like cheap, hackneyed supernatural mysteries. This alerts us that the film itself is a supernatural mystery that is cheap and hackneyed. And we're not going to be disappointed, certainly not as far as its cheapness and derivative character go. We like good supernatural mysteries such as 'The Village' or 'Don't Look Now', but this is something altogether different.

Ms. Moore sits in her Sunday Supplement house at a glass table, writing on an old manual typewriter. This reminds us that she fancies herself as a serious writer - not a hack (although in fact she obviously is exactly that). There are pristine copies of her own books on her shelves. You can tell, by one look at her house and her tastefully arranged art books and her cute blonde kid, that this woman has never written a word in her life - and likely as not never read one either. No, 'Rachel Carlson' spends her life with her 'shrink' and her agent. She does NOT, as suggested later in the film, dip into 'The Goncourt Journals' when she has a spare moment.

Anyway, the cute blonde kid dutifully drowns in the Grand Union Canal, and Rachel berates herself for not having locked the gate that was supposed to separate him from the turbulent waters. I must say that I can't imagine anyone drowning in the Grand Union Canal - maybe a drunk or an aged pensioner, but not the cute kid. He drowns without making a sound. Neither does the water.

Then Rachel falls out with her husband (a bitter book editor who harbours - wait for it - a certain resentment of his wife's achievements as a sort of fourth rate Ruth Rendell) - and drives off to the Scottish Highlands to sort herself out. Rather unwisely, she decides to try a spell without her medication. Not good, Rachel. Soon she's seeing her son's ghost and goodness knows what else.

The shots of her driving up to the Highlands look like one of those car adverts on TV - designed to make people think that 'driving' involves speeding along a country lane with the sun shining, and not another car in sight.

The first half of the film is simply terrible, and the second half not much better. It's just not quite as mind-numbingly moronic, and marginally less comic.

The first half has it all: scenes that look like they belong in 'The People's Friend' or a Mills & Boon. The waves roll, horses prance, the friendly Scottish inhabitants welcome their new neighbour, and Rachel meets the local 'hunky' lighthouse keeper.

At the halfway point one of the characters announces, 'Things are going to get worse...' I thought it beyond the realm of possibility that they could get worse. In fact, things perk up a bit as revelations come thick and fast and some people die.

In this film, no predictable 'shock' is omitted, no unsurprising twist unused, and no hilariously inappropriate line of dialogue unspoken. 'Half Light' makes Neil La Bute's remake of 'The Wicker Man' look like the work of a Lean or a Scorsese.

Favourite things I admire about this film:

1) The way the weather is either 'car advert' sunny OR 'horror movie' thunderous. There are no compromises.

2) The 'hard-bitten' tabloid journalist. She says things such as, 'I know what I write is crap, but it pays the bills.' She walks through Leadenhall Market - which is about the best bit of the whole thing. You can get somewhere by simply sticking a camera into Leadenhall Market and switching it on.

3) Rachel's 'shrink,' who blithely discusses his client's most intimate affairs with her (by then estranged) husband - while standing by the lifts in a corridor where people walk past every two seconds. So much for client confidentiality. This 'shrink' has also unwisely given Rachel his private mobile number - so she can phone him up (from the spooky ghostly supernatural Scottish lighthouse) while he's out to dinner. You can see that this man is no more a psychiatrist (and certainly not an NHS one) than Rachel is a 'writer.'

4) Rachel has her 'novel' all sketched out on little index cards which remind her things such as 'Character', 'Structure', and 'Tie up story ending.' Perhaps some people do write like this (Jeffrey Archer), but when we actually hear a few lines of one of her books it sounds like excerpts from Count Arthur Strong's pastiche of Raymond Chandler.

'Half Light' is half dead (and that's a compliment), but it isn't half funny.

Not very outstanding

[maestroinferno · 6/10 · 7 April 2010]

Everything about this movie is trying too hard to be mysterious and scary. This results in characters reacting unnaturally and irritating. This applies for Rachel, the main character, but especially for the town villagers.

They are strange and sometimes plain rude (switching to talking in Celtic (or whatever) in front of Rachel (=American), because they don't want her to know what they are talking about). What is meant to be a portrayal of small-town cozy Celtic life, becomes a village of unpleasant people where no-one in their right mind would want to live.

And then there's Rachel who never seems to ask the right questions, but keep running around, deranged. I don't find her very sympathetic.

The movie has some nice twists, although somewhat predictable. But this doesn't seem to prevent it from being too long. I have (just) managed too keep watching till the end, but I don't have to see it another time.

Boring !!!

[bigmutt · 2/10 · 10 August 2006]

I'm not a fan of Demi Moore so maybe this affects my enjoyment of the movie, but most of it was very slow and very boring. A couple of medium-to-good scares, but otherwise fairly predictable. Much of my enjoyment of a movie concerns character-development in the story: do I begin to care about any of these people? In this movie (like so many others these days) I really did not care what happens to any of these people in the end. Sure, there were some sympathetic characters, but only minor players in the story. Demi Moore's acting was labored and contrived much of the time. And the days of Demi as a sex-pot are certainly gone. So it came down to mostly the story and the acting, neither of which was at all compelling.

Underrated Psycho Thriller

[Luigi Di Pilla · 8/10 · 3 September 2006]

I discovered HALF LIGHT in a cinema magazine and after I have read the critics on this site I thought it must be an interesting psycho thriller. In fact my low expectations have been met more than I imagined. At first, there is the sweat music. Then, I have great respect for the very great performance from Demi Moore and Hans Matheson. I agree completely with all the reviews that the scenery with the light tower is wonderfully done. What I liked the most is that the director mixed many ingredients of the genre romance, psycho and thriller all in one worth-seeing movie. I am surprised why this film didn't get out in the US theaters and in Europe. I think they missed a great opportunity here but for all DVD fans of this genre I recommend highly to see it. At the end my wife had even some tears and me too. A great one that deserves a solid 8/10 and that is too underrated on IMDb. If you liked it you may also try MURDER BY NUMBER with Sandra Bullock.