Once in a very blue moon, there is a movie which grabs my attention and leaves me wanting more. A blue moon has come.

Needless to say, seeing this on a huge screen, the audience (as well as myself) were left eerily silent at the end of the trailer. One of the best elements of this movie was the very, very little information given. We only see a small glimpse of the monster, there was no title to draw conclusions from, no plot was given and no big name actors.

I loved this movie. It was a fantastic blend of blair witch and godzilla. We only saw glimpses of the creature here and there throughout the movie and really allows your imagination to run wild.

There was a little blood and gore in the movie, but it wasn't excessive and really helped set the mood and the reality of the story and set a fairly frightening ideal with some elements of the movie.

The only downside was the annoying character that holds the camera for the majority of the movie. I found myself almost wishing his demise just so I didn't have to listen to his "dumb clueless friend" lines over and over.

I give this movie 2 thumbs up... I just wish I could write more but the whole lack of information before I saw the movie added a whole new dimension.

Brittany's Review

Reviews for Cloverfield have been all over the board, ranging from amazing to terrible. It seems as though this movie left many people with mixed emotions. With the exception of the ending and lack of major plot, the movie was very unique and beautifully created.

Anyone that went to see Transformers last summer saw the trailer for a movie with no title. It was a shaky, home video at what seemed to be a going-away party. The power went off in the room and there was a strange rumbling outside. The characters went out to the roof, trying to see what the problem was when there was a huge explosion.

Everyone started running around, trying to escape falling debris, the camera caught everything on film as the head of the Statue of Liberty came tumbling to the ground. Then, it was over, the only thing we knew about the movie was the producer was JJ Abrams and it would be in theatres 1-18-08.

Up until mere weeks before the release of the movie, many different names were speculated for the film. Cloverfield was one of the many rumored titles and was soon discovered to be not only the title of this creature feature, but also the name of the exit and airport near Abrams' Santa Barbara office.

The first person view through the camcorder made it more intense, more real. It also added the appeal that viewers could easily connect with, seeing it through the eyes of a character.

As the movie slowly unfolded, viewers were strategically shown parts of the monster that dominated the film. The viewers are exposed to legs, a tail and spider crab like creatures that fell off of the monster in torrents. These creatures would pursue the humans on foot and attack them. Their bite caused ghastly bleeding from numerous orifices and certain death. All this led up to the big unveiling of the monster's true form near the end of the movie as the heroic characters try to flee the city.

The idea for the monster sprouted from a trip Abrams took with his son to Japan to promote his film Mission: Impossible III. They were in a toy store and saw many rows of Godzilla toys and Abrams decided that he wanted to create an American monster that was more terrifying than any other before.

Events in Cloverfield reference 9/11 with billows of smoke chasing after the people in the streets as the Empire State Building collapsed to the ground and the promotional poster for 1981's Escape From New York with the head of the Statue of Liberty lying in the streets of Manhattan, even though it did not make it into the film itself.

Everyone can probably admit that the ending was far from what is desired for the characters, it is the most realistic way to end the film. Without giving too much away for people that have not seen the movie yet, the ending is what leaves viewers with mixed emotions. All in all, the movie was executed very nicely and grossed $51 million opening weekend worldwide, something that statistically does not happen with films that are released in January. January is said to be the "dumping ground for bad movies," so many were shocked to see that the film brought in so much revenue at the box offices.

Even if someone has already ruined the entire plot of the movie, everyone should take the time to watch it himself/herself. This movie is worth the money viewers spend to see it and it completely loses the ultimate effect without the big screen, booming bass, dark theatre and audience reactions to get the blood pumping. A little tip for people that go to see the film, stick around for the end of the credits and be on the look out for mysterious things throughout the movie."