As with the Harry Potter movies, different directors have taken charge of the films in the Twilight series.

Catherine Hardwicke made Twilight, Chris Weitz did New Moon and a new director, David Slade is at the helm of Twilight: Eclipse.

He's no stranger to teen "angst" as we saw in the chilling Hard Candy, and he has previous experience with vampires with the sleek and scary 30 Days of Night.

This relative newcomer to the big screen says he struck it lucky with Twilight: Eclipse.

"We were lucky we get the best story, filled with the most action. It goes back to explore the original stories and it ends in a major battle," said Slade.

"We still have the difficult emotional triangle between Edward (Robert Pattinson), Bella (Kristen Stewart and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) but I got the instruction to make Edward dangerous.

"Audiences want to know more about the history of these characters, and it's all about vengeance.

"In the previous film, Edward was a more romantic figure, but in this story he lives up to what he is - a vampire.

"There's a carnivore under that handsome surface.

"This third book in the series is written from Bella's point of view, and it is all about her emotional conflict about her feelings for Edward and her attraction to Jacob. That, of course, angers Edward and we shot several sequences - all of which are in the book - in which we explored Edward's actions, showing that he is clearly capable of being a very dangerous person."

That is not necessarily a bad thing because, as the title tells us, the darkness is gathering around the "newborn vampires", led by a new character Riley (Xavier Samuels).

"These vampires are stronger and more powerful. Their family lines don't stretch back into history. Understanding the pathology of those vampires is very interesting and Xavier Samuels gives an extraordinarily intense performance that gives the film a new impetus, and, of course, a new rival for both Edward and Jacob," said Slade.

• Twilight: Eclipse opens on July 2.