This movie is all that is good about the series: faithful to the books, lots of keen special effects magic, and just enough dark and creepy to keep my interest. However, like the book on which it is based, "Half-Blood Prince" is mainly a vehicle to set up the last of the series. Someone who has not seen the other films or read the books will be lost in this one as it starts exactly where the last one left of in the way "Lord of the rings did and ends with more of a cliffhanger than a real ending.