Cloverfield (2008)

It's easy to see what sets this apart from most other alien/monster/disaster movies. Take the handheld amateur style of the $60,000 'Blair Witch Project' and add the special effects of the $130,000,000 'Godzilla' and you're left with a $30,000,000 (cheap by Hollywood standards) homevideo of an alien creature rampaging through New York destroying the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. The results are pretty stunning, and terrifying.

The very basic plot follows a group of young friends, throwing a goodbye party for one of their number, Rob, when loud noises and explosions suddenly appear on the horizon. Running onto the street they witness the head of the Statue of Liberty crashing into the road before them. They try to evacuate but the bridge is destroyed before they can really get onto it. Instead they go in search of Beth, Rob's love interest, and the suicide mission takes them back into the centre of Manhattan and face to face with the monster. The use of fairly unknown actors and amateurish camera work makes this feel that we are witnessing very real events, despite the unbelievable threat.

In fact it's quite surprising, given the film's emphasis on realism in the way the camera is used; always moving and juddering, often frustratingly away from the main action, and slowly revealing only what the characters witness; that the subject of the film - an angry monster the size of a skyscraper - should be so far from the truth. I suppose, given that it's New York, it would be tasteless to focus on a threat such as terrorism, but that's what the real issue is here. We witness, for the first time, American civilians in a war zone. The footage is not a million miles way from news reports of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, especially when a tank wheels into view, and it's quite a statment to place Americans in the role of victims. Of course parallels are easily drawn with the attack on the World Trade Centre, with mass confusion reining in the streets, and mass destruction the apparent sole aim of the attacker.

The creature itself drops smaller spider-like animals who penetrate buildings and the subway, ensuring nowhere is entirely safe. The 'climate of fear' that results is exactly the situation that many Americans, particularly those in New York found themselves in following the WTC attack. But there's also no attempts here to explain the phenomenon, bar a theory about it coming from the sea, and you feel that there is a complete lack of responsibility on the part of the Americans, whilst in the case of the terrorist attacks this is clearly up for discussion.

The first twenty minutes of the film are spent at the party for Rob. We are introduced to various characters, as well as our cameraman, Hud. We learn that Hud likes Malena, and so tends to film her a lot. Also at the party are Rob's brother Jason and his girlfriend Lily, whilst Rob's own love interest, Beth, also arrives, although she and Rob argue before she makes an early exit with her boyfriend. This extended sequence is fairly repetetive and begins to get a little boring, but then suddenly everything is shaken up. Unlike most disaster movies there's no tension or slow build up to the climax. When this creature appears everything is thrown into disarray. The partygoers are separated but we stay with Hud, Rob, Malena and Lily as they struggle to find a way out. When they learn of Jason's death with the collapse of the bridge, Rob decides he has to rescue Beth from a similar fate as is determined to find her. Rob is clearly the most popular guy here and takes the lead, with the others agreeing to follow him to an almost certain death - although I won't give away the outcome.

The film is very short making it a brief but thrilling. The special effects are astounding and the regular footage of the alien is remarkable given the fact the camera is flying around all over the place. The camerawork is often a source of frustration and I was regularly confused as to exactly what was going on. All in all, however, it's very convincing, and it's good to see a blockbuster that raises some very serious thoughts about actual situations when under attack. Unfortunately I expect most of the audience will notice this connection but will fail to really attempt to imagine the truth of the Middle Eastern war zones, or even the fear of terrorism. The filmmakers in turn, although not explicitly being patriotic, are still clearly on the American's side, but there are an increasing number of films dealing with American accountablility for the conflicts in the Middle East, particularly the effects those wars have on normal Americans back home. You can add 'Cloverfield' to that bunch, or you can just enjoy getting scared.