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Stephanie Myers' vampire trilogy is the hot new cult thing amongst teens and Twilight is the first film in what is almost certainly been an already greenlit series. I suspect the they've got the green light for a few reasons: 1. it made a decent return at the US box office; 2. it didn't cost very much to make; and 3. it is actually surprisingly good.

Kristen Stewart stars as Bella, a slightly insecure, slightly kooky and slightly nerdy 16 year old who is forced to move to live with her dad when her mum and step dad go traveling round the country. Being the new girl at school, Bella comes under the microscope from fellow students, and a gang of not-the-coolest-but-not-too-geeky-either students take her under their wing and give her the low down on the school and her fellow students. American schools when portrayed on film or TV always have these very definite cliques - the jocks, the nerds, the too-cool-for-school gang - and, as is so often the way - one of the latter takes an immediate liking to Bella. The significant difference in this film however is that the coolest guy in school, Edward Cullen, also happens to be a vampire. A couple more subtle twists on the norm give the story a little more dimension and make it pleasingly different: firstly no-one knows that Edward and his gang are vampires. Second, these vampires are good guys.

Twilight's vampires are also something of a reinvention - they aren't nightwalkers - they are perfectly comfortable coming out at daytime, except they are forced to hide from direct sunlight, not because it harms them but because it reveals what they really are. These bloodsuckers also have extraordinary strength, speed and agility. They're also extremely photogenic. Edward is played by British newcomeer Robert Pattinson, the hot new property

Much of Twilight is laying the groundwork for future films. There is a dramatic arc when a pack of bloodthirsty evil vampires track down Bella her irresistible blood forcing Edward to abandon his love in an attempt to protect her from harm. It probably all sounds like typical teenage angst and completely uninteresting but trust me when I say teenage angst has not been done this well since Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the brilliant Joss Whedon TV show. Interesting that both feature vampires.

Hardwicke does extremely well with such a limited budget. The production design is exemplary and Hardwicke creates a visually arresting fantasy in which to bring these stories to life. Sadly it seems her fractious relationship with the studio means she wont be back in future instalments. There are one or two problems - the special f/x are a bit ropey, especially during a sequence when Edward and Bella scale a mountain in seconds. Fortunately the big fight scene at the end is very well done - it seems the special f/x budget was concentrated on this one scene, although budget restrictions probably force them to curtail the fight a little sooner than would have been ideal. However there's significantly more good than bad. Cinematographer Elliot Davis does a very nice job and Carter Burwell, long time Coen brothers composer, has produced a magnificent moody score that I've been listening to ever since I saw the film.