Cloverfield product reviews

Like 'Godzilla' meets 'War of the Worlds', done in 'Blair Witch Project' style, this movie is something of an acquired taste. Believe it or not, the monster doesn't really seem to be the key plot of the story, this is basically a mid-apocalypse love story. Rob and Beth were best friends who became lovers. This is clearly shown by the bits of tape revealed during the movie as Hud, best-mate to Rob, stuffs around with the camcorder he has been handed to film Rob's farewell party. Of course no-one told him to swap out the tape containing Rob's treasured memories of a wonderful day with Beth almost a month previous to the 'Monster Mash', but because of this we get some glimpses into the reasons why Rob does a whole pile of stupidly dangerous things to save her. More than a few of his mates lose their lives to pay the blood-price of his quest.
There are a lot of little details hidden in the segments of past-taped, such as hidden images, key plot elements that dont really make much sense until you look at a bigger view of the story, etc. One of the key elements that explains how it all started is actually shown right at the end (HINT: It's a lovely view of the ocean from the top of a ferris wheel) but you'll need a keen eye or a habit of hunting around online before you watch the movie to really spot them the first time around. Took me 3 viewings AND some online digging to find out the majority of them and I still get the feeling I missed some.
Probably not the best movie for kids, this one is M-rated for a reason. There are some pretty stunning special effects scenes, including a few 'people getting eaten in close-up, Mr DeMille' which arent actually gorey but pretty nightmare-making if you are squeemish and have a good imagination. The views we get of the creature are pretty stunning, and the little baby aliens are downright NASTY! (They actually remind me a lot of the 'Sammaels' from Hellboy because no matter how many die, there always seem to be a few hundred more, they are fast, can climb along any surface, and are just plain vicious!)
All in all a pretty good movie. Really took me by surprise as I was expecting a lame movie no better than a polished 1950's era Godzilla 'Grr! Look at me, a big nasty monster rampaging through New York! Snarl. Grr, even." movie. Worth a look at the very least.