Half Light

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Craig Rosenberg directs. Ashley Rowe behind the camera. Brett Rosenberg scores. Bill Murphy cuts. Produced in Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 20 years ago.
• 2International production across 3 countries: Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America.
• 3Directed by Craig Rosenberg, shot by Ashley Rowe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Brett Rosenberg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Bill Murphy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Demi Moore and Henry Ian Cusick and Jordan El-Balawi carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "When the darkness falls the dead will rise.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0412798 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Ashley Rowe

Original score

Brett Rosenberg

Editing

Bill Murphy

Production design

Don Taylor

Costume design

Ruth Myers

Makeup / hair

Gemma Waugh

Sound

James Feltham

Stunt coordinator

Jamie Edgell

Runtime

110 min · 1h 50m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Half Light (2006) ↗

Also by

Craig Rosenberg

• 
  Hotel de Love

  1996 · ★ 5.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Half Light Trailer [HD]

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2019-04-21
  ★ 7/10

  Melancholy, drama, romance, ghosts and thrills on the secluded British coast After the death of her son and impending divorce, a successful writer (Demi Moore) moves to a cottage on the remote Scottish coast where strange, sometimes ghostly things start happening as she develops a relationship with the handsome lighthouse attendant (Hans Matheson). Henry Ian Cusick plays her husband, a failed writer, while Kate Isitt plays her close friend from London. Other important characters include a woman with second sight and the constable of the village. As you can probably tell, “Half Light” (2006) is a drama/mystery with ghostly elements and even some thrills in the last act. I wouldn’t call it horror. It’s not far removed from films like “Dark Water” (2005), “The Wicker Man” (1973/2006), “The Fog” (1980/2005), “The Haunting of Seacliff Inn” (1994), “The Sixth Sense” (1999) and “Loch Ness” (1996). If you liked those movies you’ll probably like this one. It features a haunting ambiance combined with magnificent British coastal locations. Early on there are a couple of predictable clichés, like a creepy event that turns out to be a nightmare, which itself is a nightmare, but this only happens once. At the midpoint there’s a twist that I didn’t see coming and another Hollywoodized one in the last act. Despite the magnificent locations, the first half is lugubrious and mundane with slow drama that pretty much morphs into a romance novel, but everything perks up with the twist in the middle. From there to the end it’s quite compelling. Some viewers have complained about the unlikely conspiracy of the last act, as well as it containing too many uncertain variables. But it makes sense when you factor in the great success of a certain person and the “little foxes” of envy, bitterness and greed, not to mention other things that I can’t share without spoiling. As for the “variables,” they can be easily explained away when you consider the fluidness of the root scheme. It might be Hollywoodish, but Forensic Files shows that these kinds of diabolic trickeries aren’t as unlikely as we might think. The movie runs 1 hour, 50 minutes and was in Wales and England (Cromwell & London), none of it in Scotland. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Lakeshore Entertainment

  US

• SA

  Samuels Media

  US

• 

  VIP 3 Medienfonds

• HA

  Half Light

• RI

  Rising Star Productions

  US

Key crew

• ProducerClive Parsons
• ProducerGarth Drabinsky
• EditorBill Murphy
• ProducerAndreas Grosch
• ProducerSteve Samuels
• HairstylistGemma Waugh
• Sound Re-Recording MixerJames Feltham
• Foley EditorOliver Brierley
• Foley ArtistPeter Burgis
• Sound Re-Recording MixerNigel Heath
• Art DirectionSarah Bicknell
• Production DesignDon Taylor
• Set DecorationJohn Bush
• Executive ProducerBrian Oliver
• Supervising Sound EditorJulian Slater
• Executive ProducerSimon Franks
• Executive ProducerZygi Kamasa
• Art DirectionNick Palmer
• Makeup ArtistAlison Rainey
• Makeup ArtistErin Ayanian
• Foley EditorArthur Graley
• Foley ArtistAndie Derrick
• SoundJohn Hughes
• Stunt CoordinatorJamie Edgell

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• loss of loved one
• lighthouse
• lighthouse keeper

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2006-01-17R

Also known as

International titles

• FélhomályHU
• En las tinieblasAR
• En la TinieblaSV
• En la tinieblaES
• Half Light - Gefangen zwischen Licht und SchattenDE
• СумеркиRU