The Greatest Trick

Before I get to Cloverfield, here’s a brief overview of what I experienced in the cinema prior to the film. After onscreen warnings about motion sickness and strobe effects in the main feature, I was then treated to additional warnings not to call someone on their mobile phone when driving, not to drink too much alcohol (that laughable Home Office one with the man in a Batman suit trying to help a hen party by climbing scaffolding to retrieve a balloon), and three times I was urged to wear a condom. By the time the film began I was feeling thoroughly patronised and wondered exactly why I was being treated like a brainless and irritating teenager/early twentysomething (with apologies to the very intelligent teenagers/early twentysomethings who read these reviews).

Then Cloverfield began with ten minutes of plot about a group of extremely irritating New York yuppie teenagers/early twentysomethings and their silly relationships, akin to a cinema-verite episode of Friends (a series I passionately detest). By the time the rampaging monster struck, I couldn’t wait for this ghastly group of individuals to be sliced and diced. The film’s introduction (and the commercials preceding it) had done their job well. I was howling for blood and well and truly on the side of the monster.

Much has been said about the supposed originality of Cloverfield. It has been described as a monster movie for the Youtube generation or Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project. An ominous note at the beginning of the film says what we are about to see is classified material on a videotape found at what used to be Central Park. Yet, this concept is not particularly original at all. In the past few years, films like Spielberg’s War of the Worlds have already capitalised on the hand-held “run-away-from-the-monster” approach to superb effect. The Blair Witch Project itself wasn’t even particularly original (a similar film called The Last Broadcast was out earlier but largely overlooked). And the “fake documentary” concept has been done before (and better) in things like the BBC’s 1992 Ghostwatch programme, and most memorably by Orson Welles in his 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds, which convinced several Americans that an actual alien invasion was taking place. Cloverfield is also highly derivative of many other films in the genre, most obviously Alien and Aliens.

That said this is a surprisingly relentless, frightening and ultimately merciless experience. In its relatively short running time it packs in several intensely exciting sequences, and is extremely effective as a horror film. Even though it could be argued the obvious 9/11-type imagery is crass, it does add believable realism. The apparently random plot disguises a very well written three act screenplay by Drew Goddard and director Matt Reeves does well with the hand-held, shaky-cam look. Producer JJ Abrams (best known for TV series Lost) is to be commended for creating a big monster movie with excellent special effects for comparative peanuts. Many factors will have kept the budget down, such as the cast of unknowns, all of whom do reasonably well (especially TJ Miller as Hud the cameraman who has a somewhat thankless role since his face hardly ever appears).

In short, this comes with my recommendation, though if like me you prefer to sit closer to the screen I suggest suspending that habit on this particular occasion on account of the shaky-cam.

Simon Dillon, February 2008.