This was something I went into fairly blind, recording it off of our HDMovies channel just because it was a new film at the time, and I was pleased to have it be a decent watch when I finally got around to watching it. The supernatural elements are almost a distraction, if I'm being perfectly honest. The main story is about a love triangle that happens when a widower takes a shine to a writer of ghost stories when she appears at a local literary festival, and the rival author who also fancies her. The visions that our widower keeps having are startling and spooky, but they really of almost feel out of place in the face of the romance and drama. Give it a look, I'd be curious to hear other opinions, see if it worked better for others than it did for me.

Here's my take.. Since the love-drama story and horror really don't mix perhaps Michael (Hinds) imagined the whole thing and what we saw in the movie, those jump scares, was his elaborate way to get his story-book to the ghost writer lady since she had connections.. Maybe the unassuming qualities of his role were actually to play the long game and like the drunken obnoxious American writer said before the silly fight scene take advantage to pitch their book ideas to successful writers.. Or it was simply about life being piece together for those left behind after death, romance at late age, drunken, crazy and rich authors with a short lived, unfolded or too obvious, ghost story?

The acting makes the movie better than it is and it also has some genuinely awesome creepy moments that were so well done. Other than these things, I just didn't care for the film as a whole.

170127: A horror drama! A soft and gentle love story that will scare the shit out of you. A bit to close to home and caught me off guard on a Friday night alone. I regrettably kept turning up the volume up because I couldn't catch what was being said. Was that done intentionally? Perhaps I wouldn't have suffered so much if I could've found something other than Spanish subtitles. I like this film though I'm not sure I'll be able to watch it again.

Engaging character-driven romance/spooky horror fare

One of the best ghost-love story I've seen. Sensitive, moving, excellent score, amazing actors. I just don't get tired of watching it.

3 starts only for the intrigue of the drama story line. I may just be completely dense, but I fail to understand the point of the horror scenes. While the jump scares were amazingly well done, they didn't seem to have a point to this story. The movie ended with loose ends galore. I'm still not totally clear on what happened or why. I almost want a sequel just to know what the heck happened in the first movie, but I'm not sure I'm willing to sit through an hour and a half of this again.

in the same year that other 'eclipse' movie came out comes this quiet irish drama with the same name

This is a very very odd film, in part romance, in part something completely different. Very dream-like, ambling along aimlessly, then BANG, the path diverts. Interesting stuff.

The Eclipse (Conor McPherson, 2009) After I hit paydirt with Outcast, the wonderful Scots urban fantasy picked up for US distribution by Bloody Disgusting not long ago, I figured I'd see what else the British Isles had in store for me. Ireland has been a solid, if not necessarily prolific, producer of good horror films over the past fifteen years (viz. Isolation or Dead Meat). The Eclipse, which boasts a cast headed up by Ciaran Hinds (There Will Be Blood), Aidan Quinn (Benny and Joon), and Iben Hjejle (Defiance) as the woman they're both in love with, seemed like just the thing with which to pass a gloomy, snowy Friday night. Unfortunately, it fell quite flat. Hinds plays Michael Farr, a volunteer at a literary festival who is still reeling from the recent death of his beloved wife (Hannah Lynch in her only screen appearance to date). He is assigned as a driver for two visiting notables, paranormal researcher Lena Morrell (Hjelje) and horror novelist Nicholas Holden (Quinn). Holden, an American, is married, but the cat is away, and he's got his sights set on bedding Morrell. Michael, on the other hand, initially sees Morrell as a possible gateway to understanding why he sees-or believes he sees-the ghost of his wife, but he, too, begins to fall for her. Ultimately, I believe The Eclipse is an attempt at the supernatural-drama subgenre that the Southeast Asian film market has honed to a fine edge, and that most of the rest of the world doesn't really know exists. It is unsuccessful, though I have no way of knowing whether to blame the original story (by Billy Roche) or its adaptation (by McPherson); either is possible. Another rewrite might have made it a bit more coherent and turned a collection of interesting scenes into a full story, but that rewrite never happened, and we got what we got. You can feel free to give this one a miss. **

A well-executed drama with a supernatural twist. The mood closer to Eastwood's Hereafter than to Shyamalan's Sixth Sense.

Its spine-tinglingly scare is not necessarily everywhere in the movie, but it is a good horror movie, and is fun watching mostly in the wee hours of the night.

Inaccurately billed as a thriller, this is actually quite a lovely little film about mourning and coming to terms with the ghosts - more figurative than literal - that haunt us.

a little too much art house, but not bad

Not what I expected but a very interesting mix of ghost story and romance. The cinematography is nice too and Ciaran Hinds is great.

Only because I have an unhealthy love for Ciaran Hinds, and for a few good pop out scares.

pretty downright dull...and all over the place.

Unusual ghost story beautifully set in Ireland with good performance by Ciaran Hinds, one of my favorite Masterpiece Classic actors.

A beautiful piece of art. Visually satisfying and emotionally engaging. Sensibly horrific, creating an atmosphere of dread without sacrificing the film's other aspects. From music to acting, this is a quality film, a movie effectively exploring the haunting extremities of our grief and regret.

Not bad but it never really got off the ground.