Cloverfield (2008) - B

"Cloverfield" has a simple and clever concept. Rob Hawkins is about to leave NY City for a new job in Japan, and his friends throw him a surprise farewell party. His best friend Hud lands the job of documenting the party, including goodbye testimonials from everyone, on a hand held camera. In the middle of the party, a Cthulhuesque monster attacks the city, and Hud switches to documenting what happens to his friends as they try to escape the city. The result is a sort of Godzilla style monster movie shot "The Blair Witch Project" style.

Now, I was not a fan of "The Blair Witch Project." While I thought the idea of using the jittery hand held camera to increase tension was an intriguing one, I felt that the execution didn't really pull it off. I found the movie a rather odd mixture of boredom (I simply didn't find it scary at all) and nausea from motion sickness due to the camera work.

"Cloverfield," however, worked extremely well for me. The camera work was the perfect level of jerky camera for me. It was just enough to make the movie extremely intense as well as slightly physically uncomfortable, which I think is part of the idea, but not so much that I felt so ill that I was forced to look away from the screen (which happened to a friend I saw the movie with). The best scenes in the movie, were exactly what "The Blair Witch Project" wanted to be, but never achieved. There are several amazing scenes where the camera work augments the terror of the story perfectly. For example, in one great scene where the characters are attacked while in the subway tunnels, Hud is knocked down while filming what is happening. The sudden changes in camera angles as Hud sees what is coming, screams for everyone to run, and then is knocked down accentuate the tension of the scene nicely. In addition, you can't quite figure out exactly what is happening on screen. You see enough to be horrified, but it is jumbled enough that your mind is forced to fill in the details, making the scene even more terrifying.

Another interesting conceit in the movie is that Hud is unknowingly taping over a video that Rob shot previously, of a "good day", one that is completely normal. The movie starts with a brief clip from that day, and occasionally the film is broken up with brief interludes from the underlying tape. Clearly some of the audience didn't like this idea since they snickered or giggled nervously whenever this happened, but I found it quite compelling to see the contrast of normal life at its best with the horror of the attack.

I also have to compliment the screenplay. The character's reactions and dialogue feels real to me, and there are some great comedic moments that help relieve the tension that builds all through the movie.

"Cloverfield" is actually a movie that somewhat strains the boundaries of my grading system for me. Purely based on my enjoyment of the movie, I would have given it an "A." It wouldn't be accurate, though, for me to really state that I would recommend the movie to almost anyone, since I'm sure that a lot of people will find that the camera style is too much for them to enjoy the movie. If you're not someone who is susceptible to that, though, I would highly recommend the movie. If you're a little nervous about whether it will be too much for you, I would recommend giving the movie a try, but sitting several rows further back than you normally would, which I think will help with how upsetting the jerky camera work will be.

Final Grade: B