Half Light

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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!