Action sequences that provide pure cinematic excitement
The initial party scene serves two purposes, it introduces you to the movie's key characters and gets the audience accustomed to the handheld footage, which incidentally is interspersed with previous camcorder footage of Rob and Beth together. Twenty minutes later, and not a moment too soon after my first-and-only yawn during the movie, the shit literally hits the fan.
Cue the action. A power cut, explosions, massive fireballs and then the Statue of Liberty's head flying straight past the camera, accompanied with ear-piercing screams from panicked New Yorkers, all filmed by camera holder, Hud. Struggling to come to grips with current events, New Yorkers look for answers but news coverage and suggested terrorist links provide little in terms of clues.
For the majority of Cloverfield, the audience is left to make its own interpretations. One of the main characters, Hud, the man behind the camera for most of the movie is rarely seen but you do get to know him fairly well through his commentary and borderline-cheesy remarks. By seeing only what Hud sees, you're left clamouring for more. Glimpses of the monster whilst Hud runs and hides leave your eyes shuffling around the screen in the hope of seeing the monster in its entirety.
A scene that particularly stood out, was that of the first real close encounter with the monster itself. As the group of friends head down a set of stairs on the side of a New York street, the monster appears above and as Hud looks up briefly, you get a glimpse of the sheer size of the monster and horror grips you as you look up at its mouth. It is pure cinematic excitement.
