Film review-Cloverfield

One of my favourite films would have to be Cloverfield. Cloverfield Is a found footage film documenting the events of a giant monster invasion in New York, courtesy of a handheld camera. The film comes under many different genres, mainly being a found footage horror, however elements of the action and thriller theme are also in the film, as well coming under the monster SC-fi genre, so as you can tell, a lot goes on in this movie.

 

The film first takes us to a high-rise apartment party, where three friends are indulging in a night out drinking and enjoying themselves, knowing nothing of the horrors that lay ahead. The movie does a good job of creating an ominous atmosphere a long time before anything actually happens, with their choice of colours and camera actions. The apartment is darkly lit, and the handheld camera we are watching through often has jerky movements, putting the audience on edge instantly.  The darkly lit room also gives of a vibe of uncertainty and is a good pre-cursor of things to come, as the dull and strange atmosphere suggests the film is soon going to take a turn for the worst. In the middle of an argument between ex-couple Beth and Rob about Beth’s new boyfriend, what seems to be an earthquake rocks the apartment, causing a wave of silence followed by muffled talking and alarm. What I like about this scene is the “calm before the storm feel”, as the party goers exit the building because of a power outage in the city, caused by what we believe to be an earthquake, there is a strong feeling of eeriness as the silence followed by distant whispers give us the hint that something is up. Filmed by Rob’s friend Hud, the group spill out onto the street, not expecting much as they have word that it was only a spilled oil container that caused the earth quake. Without warning the statue of liberty’s head is seen rolling past them. Hud then catches a glimpse of a gigantic creature tearing down a skyscraper. Throughout the film the creatures are kept barely visible, which adds to the atmosphere of mystery and suspense. Barely seeing the main antagonist in a film leaves the audience feeling even more scared of what it may be, as their imaginations take over, picturing the different when if the monsters were just shoved in the audience faces from scene one it would take some suspense and mystery out of the film, leaving the viewer not sure what is going to happen next is a key part of the film. 

 

The group soon see a news report of armed forces attempting to fight the monster, adding to the increasing craziness of what is going on. Hud also catches smaller parasite monsters dropping off the body of the main creature and attacking people and soldiers.

 

Rob gets a voicemail on his phone notifying him that Beth is trapped in her apartment. Going against the crowd, him, Hud and two others, Lily and Marlena, set off to rescue her. On their way to rescue Beth the group are forced to take refuge in an abandoned sub way station, while there they are attacked by the parasitic monsters and Marlena gets bitten. In a reaction to the bite, she starts to bleed from her eyes and is dragged into a tent where she appears to explode. This scene is a major shock factor for the audience, as up to this point we weren't expecting deaths that involved infection, so for it to suddenly include this, it adds on another layer of threat for the viewers to worry about.

The group, now being held under military supervision, persuades one of the military personnel to let them go so they can try and rescue Beth. They find Beth impaled on a rebar, and they make their way to the evacuation site. Lily is taken away in the first helicopter, while Rob, Beth and Hud get into a second one. While on the helicopter the three witness the creature being bombed, and are excited that the creature appears to be down, however it lunges at them from the smoke and takes the helicopter down into central park. 

Less than an hour later, a voice on the crashed helicopter's radio warns that the Hammer Down protocol will begin in fifteen minutes. The three friends regain consciousness and flee; Hud retrieves the camera when the creature suddenly appears and kills him. Rob and Beth grab the camera and take shelter under an arch as sirens blare and the bombing starts. Rob and Beth take turns leaving their last testimony of the day's events. The bridge crumbles and the camera gets knocked out of Rob's hand is buried beneath some rubble. Rob and Beth proclaim their love for each other just before another bomb goes off, with both screaming while the monster roars.

The film I think does a great job of portraying the fear the group face. The choice to film it through found footage works very well as it makes us feel more vulnerable as we are watching what they are watching, as small specs on the ground, insignificant to this colossal monster. This choice of filming also helps us feel more connected to the characters we are following, as if it was just filmed from long shots or just shots not from the hand held camera we wouldn't feel such an urge for the characters to fight to see another day and make it out of there alive as it would be much more distant than seeing the stuff they are actually witnessing from ground level.