nan | 楠木

Cloverfield, the much talked about horror film of the start of the year, is a clever mashup of existing material, and solidly executed – the result being a economic and effective film with good cult potential.

It’s hard to miss the film’s signature style – the narrative is literally told in the first person as we witness the horror of a monster attacking New York through the perspective of a handheld owned by Rob, the main character. For the first ten to fifteen minutes, the film basically introduces us to the characters, who are all at a party (Rob’s farewell party, since he’s going to Japan) – Rob and Beth who are sort of dating and having a fight; Jason (Rob’s brother) and Lily (Jason’s girlfriend); and finally Hud (Rob and Jason’s buddy) and Marlena (girl that Hud has a crush on).

Then all hell breaks loose. Buildings tumble down, and brief images of a big creature while everyone scrambles for cover occupy the screen. People decide they have to get out of Manhattan – but Rob insists on going to get Beth, who is trapped in her apartment. And thus begins the nightmarish trekking downtown, which leads to more sinister moments.

Essentially, the film is War of the Worlds meets The Blair Witch Project, coupled with plenty of images that can be seen as having references from 9/11 footages. The film is not especially creepy, due to the not-so-subtle nature of the monster involved and a complete lack of a music score (which is quintessential to Hollywood horror films it seems), but does enjoy the novelty factor of its presentation. As such, it is quite engaging material, especially due to quality of its special effects (which enjoy an added layer of realism thanks to the handheld), and not a bad choice to spend 80 minutes on.

7/10