Not a very good film for adults. Teenage girls might like it.

Rating: 5/10 (31 March 2009)

Oh, to be a teenager again. I have to assume that this is the market for this film. The problem is, I ain't a teenager. This is the love story between a vampire boy and a human girl, and I imagine that if I were a 16 year old girl, I would love this. As it stands, I'm not, and I didn't. This is a ridiculous film that takes itself dead seriously. That's a shame. It could really have done with a sense of fun. I found it dull and boring, and way over-long. The lead actress takes hammy to a new level, but the other performances are adequate, I guess.
It had a few flashes of the better film it could have been, such as when vampire boy's family are on screen. They were all great, and I perked up every time they appeared. Then I settled back down for another thirty minute stretch of endless dialogue that goes nowhere. Also, the score was horrific, and the whole production felt amateurish.
The teenage angst is laid on, super thick. These characters are in PAIN! Oh, the agony. Compare this to the VASTLY superior recent vampire film "Let the Right One In", and this film is laughably bad. In that film, the characters are lonely and in emotional pain, and this is expressed with subtlety. This film hits you over the head. It's overwritten and bland. And I hate to say this, but the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer did everything this film does, and they did it way better, and ten years ago. Some scenes were actually directly lifted from very prominent episodes of that show.
And I'm no hater of this franchise. I've never read any of the books, and I actually really wanted to enjoy this film. It was even my idea! My significant other didn't want to see it, but I talked her into it. I should have listened. I honestly can't work out how any adult could be entertained by this. Bland, boring, and it's been done. I wanted a fun, maybe slightly cheesy, epic love story kind of thing, and I got a sullen, depressing, boring slog. They didn't skimp on the cheese, though. A real shame, and disappointment. Not a good film.