Twi-harder - Twilight saga returns with Eclipse

The scenes resembled a pop concert rather than a cinema. But for fans of the Twilight saga - known as Twi-hards - last night's debut of the latest instalment was better than watching any old band.

More than 1,000 attended a special midnight screening of Eclipse at Cineworld in Wednesfield -

with extra screens opened to cope with demand. Similar scenes were witnessed at Showcase in Dudley and Walsall.

Around 900 cinema goers pre-booked for the movie and hundreds of others queued for up to two hours before to get their hands on a ticket.

Some fans wore T-shirts showing the film's main characters, Edward and Jacob, while a few even painted their faces with vampire fangs.

Bosses said a "huge" amount of people had paid to see the film, which is also showing today and tomorrow at cinemas across the West Midlands a week before its official launch on Friday.

One Twilight fan who was desperate to see it at midnight before many others was teenager Louise Arnold, from Fallings Park, Wolverhampton.

The 13-year-old said: "I came tonight because I could not wait until Friday to see it.

"It was so amazing. I can't believe how good it was. It was the best Twilight film yet.

Action

"I'm going to watch it again next week," added the pupil at Heath Park Business and Enterprise College.

Supermarket worker Laura Parkes, aged 25, of Lavender Grove, Bilston, booked tickets in advance to see the movie with eight of her friends.

And she said Eclipse was the best of the three films to date. "It was brilliant and much better than the first two films," she said. "I think I'll go and see it again about four times," she said. "There was not a bad bit in it. "I love Twilight. I think the books and films are just great.

"I loved every scene with Edward in and there were a lot of action scenes which were very good."

Kerri Jones, aged 17, of Jones Road, New Invention, Willenhall, added: "I really love all the Twilight films and the books.

"This film has been the talk of school.

"I'm sure I'll go to see it more than once."

Twilight Eclipse is based on Stephenie Meyer's novel of the same name.

It is the third installment of the series and follows on from box office hits Twilight and New Moon, which are thought to have grossed worldwide more than £650 million.

The film stars English actor Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner and is proving a hit with adults as well as the teenagers it's aimed at.

By Laura Blyth