Quite gripping and much better than I thought

Rating: 9/10 (17 January 2008)

I live in Thailand and caught the first show today. After all the hype I was pleasantly surprised. The story starts a bit slow, but the monster attack began before I got bored. The shaky camera work puts you in the middle of the action. Other than "The Blair Witch Project", to which this has been compared, the characters are sympathetic enough to make the story compelling. There's so much action that the movie seems to be much longer than the actual running time.
The monster design is fine, if not completely original, with flailing, spider- or crab-like legs. The "face" reminded me a little of Ray Harryhausen's Ymir. The beast has only one clear close-up shot near the end of the movie, but its massive body is glimpsed several times before. It looks very impressive. The small offspring or parasite monsters are barely glimpsed, but they are vicious.
No explanation is given about the monster's origin. The camera-bearing protagonists are all killed - no Hollywood ending for this movie.
Altogether a solid entertainment with a big potential for sequels. Also one of the best uses of surround sound ever.