Incredibly immersive and nearly flawless

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2008)

Well, I thought it was pretty terrific. The characters were likable enough to make me root for them and believable enough that I felt completely absorbed in the action. You won't find any outstanding performances, but they were solid enough and never took me out of the movie - which probably couldn't have happened anyway. The way it was filmed, while making the film incredibly intense and immersive, also allowed for the story to not center on the monster, and I found that really refreshing. Even still, the monster, when seen, is a terrifying beast, mostly due to the impressive effects, and I really loved that you never really found out what it was. This film wasn't about the monster. I thought the end dragged out the inevitable too long, and it got kind of ridiculous when Hud was attacked, but other than that, this is as thrilling a movie as you're likely to find.