Film of the Week: Cloverfield

By now most people have seen this film and before I saw it, they were all wondering why I hadn’t yet. I mentioned once before that I would sit down and watch pretty much anything people recommend, but Cloverfield fell into that category, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. That category makes up only, but a small percentage of film recommendations, but most of them, I’ve heard so much about, when I piece all of what I’ve heard together, I’ve pretty much watched the entire film anyway, so I know what happens, meaning I’ll get around to watching it at some point.

Not only that, but Cloverfield was a horror film, and for me, a horror film has to stand out from the rest for me to pay any attention to it. The Shining, Dracula, Oculus, It Follows, and the Insidious trilogy. All those give something new to the horror genre, that’s both clever and gripping. Sure, The Shining was an adaptation of a book, so technically no originality was added except to make it an adaptation, but the book itself was an instant classic, and did make you feel scared which a good horror book should do. Seeing that on the big screen, was scary, and new, and when I was old enough to watch it, it fell straight into my top 5 horror films. I think I got slightly off topic there, so let me bring it back round.

As well as Cloverfield is a horror film, it is also a found-footage horror film, and that particular genre of film needs to be done right. I do very rarely watch any found-footage films, because I find it difficult to pay any attention to what’s going on for a period of time due to the camera moving so fast for me to make any connection to the characters who are going through the experience. A film is supposed to take us along for the ride, but if we can’t concentrate on the ride, it doesn’t become that much fun. That being said, when done right, found-footage films are incredible. The Blare Witch Project is a sensational found-footage horror film, because it’s done in such a way that you can’t help but feel as if it’s really happening, therefore making a connection to the characters. The science fiction film, Project Almanac is also a found-footage film, and despite time travel being completely unreal, there is still that sense that it is really happening, because of the first-person perspective we’re watching the events from. When done right, found-footage is brilliant, but when done wrong, it isn’t at all that great. Paranormal Activity was boring: Sure it’s about a family living in a haunted house where they are constantly tormented with a demon, and during the night many strange things happen that are done in such a way that you can’t help but think for a moment that it is actually happening and this isn’t a film – but then it cuts to a bunch of talking and constant yelling at the person who’s filming. For me, too little happened for what the premise of the story told me was going to happen.

Cloverfield is a mixture of the two elements. The camera is too shaky, but there’s still that sense that it’s really happening and you do make a connection. It starts off with Rob and Beth in the morning the day before the monster hits. Rob has plans to move to Japan, so whilst Rob and Beth are at Coney Island, Jason (Mike Vogel) Rob’s brother, and his girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas) prepare a going away party for Rob. That night, when the surprise party is sprung on Rob, the night is going well. Jason has asked his friend, Hudson Platt (played by T.J. Miller) to document the party from beginning to end as well as recording testimonials. After some revelations are discovered, Rob and Beth have an argument and Beth leaves the party, right before a sudden earthquake shakes the apartment. This is the first sign of the Monster’s arrival. And from then on, the film picks up and doesn’t stop going up. When evacuating, the Monster attacks the Brooklyn Bridge, and killing Jason.

After escaping from the bridge, Rob finds a voicemail on his phone from Beth which he listens to and hears that she is trapped in her apartment. Rob immediately goes after her, which his friends follow for support, even though they make it clear that they shouldn’t venture any closer to the monster. Along with them is Marlena, a girl who Hudson tried to flirt with.

Even though almost everyone I know has seen the film, I don’t want to give away any more major elements, but I will say one more thing about it and that’s you have no clue as to what that monster is. When a film includes a massive monster that’s destroying the city, there is always someone at hand who is able to explain away where it came from, what it is, and theories of how to destroy it – or to that effect anyway. But in this film, there is no explanation. Many questions are thrown around as to what is going on, but no one is answering them, and that’s how it should be. All the film gives in the way of information is that it is a massive monster and it is destroying the city and that’s it. The army is trying to take it down and if they have to they will take extreme methods.

Having no explanation helps with becoming connected with the characters, because that is exactly how people would react when suddenly finding themselves in that situation, and the camera perfectly represents that via all its shaking about. Whilst there are moments when I would like the camera to be stiller, I can’t really ask for it to be because it is truly a terrifying situation they’re all in, and they are not going to stand still because they don’t know they are in a film.

This is one of those rare found-footage films where they actually implement what I dislike as a way of emphasising the story. It was a surprising film and I am glad that I did watch it. As for whether it is going to be in my top 3 horror films list, that needs some more thinking about, but as for a good horror movie, and found-footage film, I did very much enjoy it. And to add to the realism, there is no music except when at the party and during the main credits. Most of the time, music is used to increase the tension, but this time, having no music increased the tension, and it absolutely did work.

The sequel, 10 Cloverfield Lane, isn’t directly connected to the events of the first film, but J.J Abrams has stated that there may be some sort of connection between the two. This won’t be found-footage, so it will be intriguing how they will go about that when the first film made such an impact within that genre. When it was first announced, a lot of people were excited about it, which may have been one of the reasons why I sat down and watched Coverfield, and I am happy to say that when I get the chance to, I will watch the sequel. I’ll try and make sure it doesn’t end up in the “I’ll get around to it eventually” category.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)