Pretty decent 'prequel' to CLOVERFIELD - and even more so as a stand-alone sci-fi chiller.

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2016)

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (2016) *** John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher, Jr. (Voice of Bradley Cooper) Pretty decent 'prequel' to CLOVERFIELD - and even more so as a stand-alone sci-fi chiller. Winstead, getting in touch with her inner Sigourney Weaver, finds herself more-or-less imprisoned in a bunker/shelter after she is rescued from a car accident by her newfound host Goodman (formidable and foreboding) who informs her she cannot leave due to an attack globally wiping out mankind. Along for the ride is his neighbor Gallagher who helps Winstead try to make sense of the secret and lies and a plan to escape from their surreal existence. Written by Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken and Damien Chazelle with clever and frequently darkly humorous zeal that incorporates all the paranoia and dread one would expect in an apocalyptic thriller while director Dan Trachtenberg gooses its audience with just enough jeopardy and uncertainty.