Even people who could care less about vampires, or are oblivious to the wildly successful book series from Stephenie Meyer, have undoubtedly heard about “Twilight.” The book made its long-anticipated screen debut last Friday, a squeal-inducer for the novel’s readers, but, unfortunately, “Twilight” is the first in a series of four books by Meyer about a vampire, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) and his love interest, Isabella Swan (Kristen Stewart, “Jumper”). For an inexplicable reason, Edward, with otherworldly powers and apparently no need to age, eat or sleep, and Bella, a normal high school student with nothing special about her except an inability to walk without tripping, have fallen in love. However, since Edward is a vampire and, therefore, very dangerous — he could easily kill her or accidentally bite her if they kiss — they must always be guarded.

When the last preview before “Twilight” ended, shrieks of high school students filled the audience, which would become a recurring incident.

The film begins as Bella moves away from Phoenix to live with her father (Billy Burke, “Untraceable”) in the rainy, small town of Forks, Wash. Bella first sees Edward and his siblings in the lunchroom — cue audience hyperventilation. In the book, the Cullen family is described as being stunningly attractive, and the casting for their characters is spot on. Their pale skin, bold styles and confident air makes it clear why the family is the hottest gossip topic in the school and all of Forks as they hide their true vampire natures.

Pattinson, a British heartthrob, mastered his mysterious gaze well. His words are sometimes lost because of the long pauses in his speech and an accent that sounds not quite British, but rather seems like he has something wrong with his vocal chords. Overall, however, Pattinson is just the right combination of mystery and allure. After he stops a car with his own strength, he amusingly justifies it: “Yeah. Um, I had an adrenaline rush. It’s very common. You can Google it.”

Every interaction between Edward and Bella is exaggerated. When they sit next to each other in biology, the wind blows Bella’s hair and cheesy music plays. Overall, too much time is spent in silence, with Edward and Bella merely staring at each other. Those who have read the books understand what is going on in their minds during these staring matches, but others will find the stillness uncomfortable. This, ultimately, is the shortcoming of the film. The overdone romantic music and sultry looks are confusing and awkward.

Stewart has two moods throughout the movie, confused and skeptical. She makes Bella appropriately awkward — she is about as graceful as a crow — but rarely escapes from sounding indifferent and mystified. Sadly, “Twilight” does not give Bella’s character the time to develop into the normal high school student that she should be.

With Bella’s character — and throughout the film — the timing is amiss. Ninety-nine percent, if not all, of the audience members know going into the movie that Edward is a vampire, yet somehow screenplay writer Melissa Rosenberg felt she must wait until almost an hour into the film before Bella realizes Edward’s secret. Because the beginning of the film is so stretched out, the fun part (i.e., Edward and Bella’s time hanging out and being romantic) is curtailed, leaving audiences without an understanding of the deep relationship they share. Thus, the film views like a mystery that everyone knows the answer to, whereas the book is an absorbing romance.

In one scene, Bella and Edward are laying in the grass and the romance of the novel is realized. They lay side by side, not touching but just looking at each other, inducing more shrieks of happiness throughout the theater. It is the mystery of a deep romance with an almost nonexistent physical relationship — though the movie is rated PG-13 for a tame scene of sensuality and some violence — that made the books such a hit, and, unfortunately, that only partly translates to the big screen.

“Twilight” satiates fans (read: devotees) of the book but fails to captivate others. My advice: Read the books, skip the movie.

2 out of 5 stars.