Average at best

Rating: 5/10 (24 September 2008)

I didn't see this film until last week, and before it came out I spectacularly managed to miss all of the hype... never even saw a trailer.
In fact I wouldn't have seen the film at all if a friend had given it to me. I'm not a fan of Lost so I wasn't particularly thrilled when I heard the makers were making a film, but I digress...
The plot begins well, with the party and people talking to the camera wishing the guy who was leaving well, but then the monster attacked and it went downhill from there.
The thing is this: Although the film is done in an original manner (the hand-held camera) the special effects and all that don't disguise the fact that nothing that happened in the story that happens is remotely original. I have seen so many different films where the various things happen. The attack in the tunnel? Name a horror film, it's probably in there somewhere. The girl exploding cos of a monster growing in her? Alien.
I also found it difficult to accept some of things happening. Would you really film the entire thing? I could imagine it going up to say, the bridge but after that surely it would be destroyed in the confusion. I also found it unusual that there was a distinct lack of wreckage, or at least less wreckage than i thought. Hell, even most of the buildings were left intact, with the only one visibly damaged just having to be the one they want to get into. What luck. Also, the girl being pulled out and walking, running etc. after being IMPALED, with no loss of blood or anything, is also rather odd.
There were some good bits though. The moment when the monster lunges for the helicopter gave me a good fright, and the sequence in the party was also good as I mentioned before, but were these really enough to carry the whole movie? No.
Overall this is an original take on monster movies, albeit with a dull plot and the only original bit (wobbly camera) gets annoying after a bit. Worth watching maybe once but nothing to come back to.
5/10