Smart

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2018)

'Cloverfield' is a smart and engaging found-footage monster horror that will keep its viewers on edge.
The team of director Matt Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and writer Drew Goddard create a great horror flick that is surprisingly unpredictable and one of the tensest films I have seen in a while. The well-thought out pacing enables it's viewers to know just enough about the main characters to care about them, so when the action starts you're actually hoping that the characters will make it. Character establishment is an important aspect of any film, particular horrors because the audience needs to have some sort of attachment to it's characters in order for them to actually enjoy the movie because you have people you want to root for. From the very moment that the terror begins, it essentially doesn't stop, resulting in that edge-of-your-seat feeling that we all love. The fact that the entire film is done in an amateur manner, through a shaky camcorder, helps the viewer immerse into the film and it adds a sense of reality. Therefore, when the scares come, they are nothing short of frightening. However, this film did have a few flaws as some scenes seemed rather far-fetched, particularly at the end, which broke the sense of realism. There was also some predictability, but it was balanced with a few moments that were surprising.