Cloverfield - Beware big scary monsters!

Rating: 7/10 (8 June 2010)

THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
This movie is told from the point of view of a small group of people who are initially being filmed at a going away party for one of their friends. However the party is soon ruined by what at first appears to be a natural disaster but is in fact, a monster attack. A monster is attacking New York, a huge scary monster. The guy behind the camera keeps on filming whilst all this madness is going on around him. Personally I would be too busy running away to keep on filming, but I digress.
I have heard this compared to the Blair Witch Project in terms of the hand-held camera work throughout, but as I have not saw the aforementioned I cannot comment on the similarities or otherwise. I have to say that the camera work did not distract from the plot, but instead worked as part of it.
The relatively unknown cast do a great job of depicting a small group of people caught up in events that they can't escape from. The special effects are excellent and the suspense and tension derived from not knowing quite what is going on applies to both the characters in the movie and the audience.
What I liked best about the movie was the fact that there was no escape from the monster. Just when our small group of people think they have found an escape route, they are outdone by the sheer enormity of the beast.
This relentlessness on the part of the enemy is terrifying and in the end, none of the group survives. Fortunately for us, we don't know or care enough about the characters for that to be a problem.