HUNDREDS of Twilight fans were preparing themselves for a fangtastic time at Empire Cinema in Tower Park yesterday.

The cinema screened the saga’s final film at midnight, but the most passionate supporters of the franchise – known as Twihards – spent the whole afternoon at the cinema watching all five films.

Each of the popular movies was preceded by footage from the saga’s premieres and fan events, music videos and interviews with actors.

The epic movie marathon began at 2.50pm with Twilight, and finished in the early hours of this morning with Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

Hamworthy mum Nikki Hansford, 42, watched the whole thing with daughter Amy.

She said: “The first book is better than the film, but all of the other films stick very closely to the original stories, so they’re really brilliant.”

Amy, 18, said: “We’ve never done a marathon like this before, but we thought we had to do it for the last film. As soon as we saw the first one, we were absolutely mental for it.”

Most of those visiting the cinema said they were Team Edward, referring to the love triangle between Bella Swan, vampire Edward Cullen and shape-shifter Jacob Black.

But 15-year-old Starr Hawkes wore her allegiance over her heart as she watched the movies with her hoodie on. “I’m definitely Team Jacob,” she said.

Her best friend, 13-year-old Abi Smith, said: “My favourite movie is actually Breaking Dawn, but I’m really looking forward to seeing them all, especially the last one.”

It was also easy to tell where 52-year-old Kim Springett’s heart lies.

The Parkstone lady wore a jumper emblazoned with the face of Edward Cullen, complete with badges bearing his name, while friend Fran Carey, 39, from Bournemouth, had designed her own Team Jacob belt.

Fran said: “We came to the Twiathlon here last year [when three movies were shown back to back], and we’ve watched every single midnight movie too. My favourite one is probably the second one.”

Twenty-eight-year-old Sarah Ford and 25-year-old Laura Eaton, from Poole, had read all of the books as well as watching all of the films.

Laura said: “I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait to see the last one. I still really like the first one though – I think it’s my favourite.”