An amazing feat in immersion, tension and excitement

Rating: 10/10 (9 June 2008)

Cloverfield is the film equivalent of a roller-coaster ride, pure thrills. The story begins with a group of twenty somethings in New York celebrating the departing of one of their kind, Rob, who has accepted a job in Japan. Hud, a layabout with feelings for another girl at the party, is given the job of documenting the night on the home video camera. It is through what Hud films, that we see everything that happens throughout the night and as the party progresses we get a good feeling for each individual character and their respective romances and qualms with one another. Then the events take a turn for the worse when the city is rocked by ominous rumblings and subsequent power outages. Suddenly the city is under attack by 'something' and the friends find themselves running for their lives from a gigantic creature (and various smaller ones)that are wreaking havoc.
Cloverfield is an exercise in 'what if' and as this, it works incredibly well. The Handy cam style creates level of immersion i have never felt with another film. The style results in the building of tension and fear, through the fleeting glimpses we see of the monster, a leg and a tail glimpsed only for a second are much more frightening than seeing the monster in all it's CGI glory (which, inevitably, we do.) From the get go Cloverfield grabs you're attention and doesn't let go until the credits roll (though you wish they didn't have to.) Handy Cam style may have it's enemies but here it has never worked better, creating untold levels of realism. A a creative, original feast for the eyes and nerves, this film will leave you buzzing and hungry for more, just DON'T watch it on a small television!!!