Full Eclipse

The film has received mixed to positive reviews. Kim Newman, who reviewed the film for Empire magazine, described it as "harebrained fun with lotsa guns and lotsa cool lines".^[1] Joseph Savitski, who reviewed the film for Beyond Hollywood, stated that although the film is "slick and entertaining, it's too bad Full Eclipse is never able to live up to its innovative concept and become a superior werewolf movie".^[2] Savitski also commented that "Payne is masterful as Detective Garou, a seductive and evil villain with arrogance and confidence to spare. When he's on-screen, Payne demands the attention of the audience, and you're hard pressed to resist his performance. Payne is also the perfect adversary, the kind you're supposed to hate, but who has the charisma to draw you in nonetheless".^[2] The script writer Richard Christian Matheson stated that "most monsters have a sort of grudge against humanity, but I don't think Garou does: he simply dislikes crime. That makes him interesting, and Bruce really brings all of these nuances out. He's a wonderful actor and a very bright man".^[3] Matty Budrewicz of UK Horror Scene stated that Payne's performance was "completely electric..., unleashing a turn of magnetic and seductive evil".^[4] Bryan Kristopowitz stated that Full Eclipse 'is a very cool movie and a terrific concept'.^[5] Kristopowitz commented that "Mario Van Peebles does a good job as Max Dire", "Patsy Kensit does a fine job as Casey", and that Bruce Payne is terrific as Garou because "he just oozes malice and sleaze before you even know what Garou is all about, and then Payne somehow manages to amp up all of Garou’s horrible qualities".^[5] Another reviewer stated that Full Eclipse "is an epic action/horror hybrid with enough twists and turns to keep every viewer engaged".^[6]

Gary Collinson stated that "what Full Eclipse lacks in logic (and humour) it makes up for in John Woo-esque action sequences and a reasonable budget to unleash a decent amount of destruction".^[7] Another reviewer described the film as "like an early 90's John Woo flick, only with werewolves" and stated that "while Mario Van Peebles was excellent as the lead, special attention must be made to the lead villain here, played by none other than resident bad guy Bruce Payne, and oh my word is he just amazing here'.^[8] In Dan Lopez's view although Full Eclipse 'is initially exciting and interesting, it decays into an overly simplistic, badly orchestrated horror film about midway through".^[9] Garrett Collins stated that the film was a "pretty pleasurable hour and a half, which is also infused with a real listenable, almost John Carpenter-ish score by Gary Chang" and that "Peebles is watchable enough, and Payne (Passenger 57) is a slimy bad guy".^[10] Scott Weinberg described the film as a "so-so amalgam of cop procedural and werewolf mayhem".^[11] Ryan Turek noted the influence of the X-Men comics on the film and stated that it was "awesome" and "overlooked".^[12]

• Full Eclipse at IMDb