As you may have noticed, vampires are pretty big in Hollywood at the moment. The reason studios are snapping up any script with fangs is largely due to this, the phenomenon that is ‘The Twilight Saga’. With both the first film and last year’s ‘New Moon’ proving decidedly popular, we now have third instalment ‘Eclipse’, the last full book to be released as the final chapter, ‘Breaking Dawn’, will be filmed in two parts.

‘Eclipse’ finds Bella (Kristen Stewart) once again in peril, and torn between two supernatural heartthrobs. Her relationship with her Vampire soul mate Edward (Robert Pattinson) is getting ever stronger, with her eventual ‘changing’ becoming ever more a probability. Life gets (even more) complicated, however, when a group of ‘newborns’ (newly changed vampires) go on the rampage and seemingly head for Bella, meaning the vampires and werewolves, and more significantly Edward and Jacob (Taylor Lautner), must try and co-exist to fight this common enemy.

‘New Moon’ suffered from a slow pace, questionable effects and a whole lot of angst. Luckily this is cut down a bit for ‘Eclipse’, as the plot is more driven by the ‘Newborns’ sub-plot and less by the girl-vampire-werewolf love triangle. Happily, the effects are also a bit sharper, particularly with the wolf fighting scenes. This is possibly as the director’s chair has been handed to David Slade, whose experience directing ’30 Days of Night’ and ‘Hard Candy’ has brought an edgier feel to the film. Indeed, as the movie progresses into darker and more violent territory, so we feel a little bit more is at stake than the central relationship.

What can we say about the starring trio? Fans will no doubt know every line and nuance from repeated viewing of the first two, and whilst there aren’t huge differences there are subtle changes in performances. Lautner is less conflicted, more overtly macho (and still struggles to find a shirt), Stewart is still the damsel in distress but has more to do thanks to the ongoing Edward/Jacob ‘situation’. As for Pattinson, He’s a little more serious this time out, given fewer corny lines and a huge scene towards the end of the film. The ‘other Cullens’ get more screen time, particularly Jackson Rathbone, and Bryce Dallas Howard is brief but memorable as the recast Victoria.

Of course these tweaks are minor, given the studio would never mess too much with a multi-million dollar formula, but it’s enough to keep the series interesting. Darker than the previous two, and with hints at even darker times to come, we’re three quarters through the series and it’s not getting boring yet!

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is on general release from July 9.