Cloverfield - A good old fashioned monster movie

I went and saw Cloverfield the other night and I must say I was pleasently surprised at how much I enjoyed myself. It really was a good old fasioned scary movie without being a gory movie.

I am not a fan of slasher type movies, with buckets of blood. I was also concerned about the "handy cam" shooting style of Cloverfield going into it. If handheld "shaky cam" is done badly it can just make you nauseaous. But the way the movie was shot added to the impact rather than looking like a gimmik.

A nice touch was that the "found video card" is simply played in it's entirety. The original recording has been accidently "taped over" and peeks out here and there allowing for a nice device to show the characters a few months in the past and then slam cut back to the present catastrophe.

Don't get too hung up on what the monster looks like. I will tell you that the popular "spoilers" showing the monster as some big whale thing are completely wrong. Ultimately the monster becomes unimportant other than as a device to bring these people together and a frame for thier story.

Ever wonder what a godzilla movie looks like to the poor bastards on the ground getting stomped? Go see Cloverfield and enjoy your self.

Buzzhawk's Journals

Cloverfield - A good old fashioned monster movie