Intense and Thrilling

Rating: 9/10 (30 June 2008)

After long months of clues scattered about the internet, teaser trailers for a nameless film about the decapitation of the statue of liberty and viral sites, Cloverfield was upon us : a movie that thrills, chills, terrifies and leaves you with a pounding heart and a gaping mouth...
I have heard some say that the video camera-style filming made a lot of people dizzy at the theater. I couldn't say so myself as I saw the film on DVD. My personal viewing of the film on a small screen added a little to the feeling that the movie was a Youtube-Clip or something like that which felt pretty cool.
Being a relatively short film, Cloverfield doesn't wait too long to plunge you deep into a cataclysmic event that plunges Manhattan into chaos. The special effects--which are fantastically rendered despite the ever-shaking camera--are oftentimes frighteningly believable and dump you straight into the event which makes you feel like your part of the crowd; a feeling that is as exhilarating as it is terrifying. The actors' screams of terror and traumatized expressions are good enough to add to the experience, though some of the dialogs during the quieter moments do sometimes feel a little off, especially those of the too-talkative cameraman.
Cloverfield is an exciting film with a core idea that brilliantly succeeds: you really feel like your seeing an apocalyptic event take place. If not for the story, which--in the end--only plays a secondary part, you should definitely watch this film if you're searching for a high-intensity thrill-ride of a movie!