Fresh

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2008)

Well the hype and rumours have stopped now as Clovefield is officially out everywhere. It had an impressive advertising campaign to say the least, creating media speculation as to what the hell it was, (with it's teaser trailer being released before Transformers in the US, giving away very little of the movie, not even a title). Was it about HP Lovecraft's Cthullu? Or Voltron, or another Godzilla movie, a spin off of Lost. Well it's funny that after all this, after all this teasing and hype and everything else surrounding the buzz of this movie, it turns out that all it is, is a monster movie. Good thing it's a bloody good one then.
The big question is has this daring and frankly brilliant advertising campaign worked? Does the movie live up to the hype (let's remember that hype is the number 1 killer of any big movie)? The answer is a resounding yes! It's bizarre in the fact that it takes the already used premise of the "found footage" (used most famously with the Blair Witch Project) yet manages to make it seem fresh and clever all over again.
The film opens with a black screen with the words "Property of the US Government" slapped on it. We are then told, that what we are watching is footage that has been found from "Area site 447" (Or something) "Formally known as central park" and regards the "Multiple sighting of case designated Cloverfield". What we then watch for the next hour and twenty (also like Blair Witch, this film is very brief) is camcorder footage intended as a document of a going away party for our protagonist Rob. The party is rudely (and shocking) interrupted by a monster the size of a skyscraper. From then on in, all hell breaks loose as Rob and his friends attempt to survive whilst the party's camera man (Hud) documents the ensuing events.
It's quite a ride! The last time I felt to tense watching a movie was when I saw United 93 at the cinema! The reason this film works is because we know very little about what's going on. Any bits of valuable information (of which there is hardly any) is found out as the characters do. We are just being taken along with them, experience the frenetic horror as they try to survive and when some of the group die (as the inevitably do in these movies) we really feel for them. These are human characters, not action archetypes. The best move this film made, along with Blair witch and united 93 was to use unknowns. We empathise with them more than a star coz, well, they could be you and me.
The monster itself is odd to describe as we only see it in small bits with the only full body shot being saved for the final moments of the film. It ain't pretty and it's nasty. There's always some element in big monster movies where the creature has a sympathetic streak. Not in this movie. This creature is spooked and is taking it's anger out on the city. We see footage of the thing taking down helicopters, pushing over buildings, little parasite like beasties jumping off it and attacking people. It's quite disturbing sometimes too as the group watch their best friends die (one particularly nasty moment sees one of them exploding).
This is just a great, visceral experience and not for those who suffer easily from motion sickness. The beauty of this film is that we know very little and I find the idea that there's a sequel in the works a bit depressing. It should be left as a stand alone film and go down in history as landmark in film. If you don't feel physically and emotionally drained by the end of the film (trust me, emotions run high all through this) then you are a cold person. This is a brilliant film and, whilst it has it's minor flaws (as do all great films) it needs to be remembered as one of the best monster movies of all time. Original, fresh, heartbreaking and relentless are just a few words to describe this film but only one need be used: Brilliant! .
5/5