31 by 31 Challenge #22: CLOVERFIELD (2008)

Perhaps the best film about 9/11, and arguably about the 21st century as we have thus far experienced it, Cloverfield is a work of expressionist horror that mixes contemporary found footage cinematography with old school monster rules to create something that is both an homage to the kaiju films of the 1950's and a potent commentary on paranoia, documentation, and the Age of Terror. 

Cloverfield (U.S.A.)
Released: January 18, 2008
Director: Matt Reeves
Screenplay: Drew Goddard

Tagline: "Some Thing Has Found Us"

Cast:
Michael Stahl-David as Rob Hawkins
T.J. Miller as Hud Platt
Jessica Lucas as Lily Ford
Odette Yustman as Beth McIntyre
Lizzy Caplan as Marlena Diamond
Mike Vogel as Jason Hawkins

There are those who argue that movies concerning giant, rampaging monsters are a class of genre film all their own, independent from horror; I for one consider them but another of the varied sub-genres of horror since their primary aim matches that of all the other flicks in this twisted corner of cinema that we love so dearly: to shock and to terrify. Initiated with King Kong (1933) and then booming onto the scene in the 1950's, the giant monster sub-genre faded into relative obscurity by the 1970's, to then be revitalized with 2008's Cloverfield, a mega-hit found footage style movie that not only made gigantic beasts scary again, but provided commentary on the ineptitude of the military in the face of mass panic and destruction and the delicate threads on which society itself was bound together, and how easy those threads can unravel.

On a fine, lovely May evening, a giant monster, believed to have come from the sea, attacks Manhattan. A group of twenty-something party goers, who have gathered to bid their friend Rob farewell before he moves to Japan for his new job,happen to have a video camera on hand and thus "document" the attack and their escape attempts as best they can while simultaneously recording their own hysteria and panic. It's this element that makes Cloverfield a radical reinvention of the giant-monster subgenre in that the entire story is told and shot from street level, making the camera just as much of a character as those that wield it as weapon, flashlight, and journal.

Cloverfield was the first giant-monster movie to take this approach, as well as to show the monster only in quick flashes and glimpses until the climax. It's a shift towards naturalism and realism that was completely absent in the kaiju men-in-monster-suit movies of the 50's and the Kong movies of the 30's and one that brings a sense of immediacy to the film as well. There are no visual impediments preventing our belief in the monster now, and when we do glimpse it, we understand that it is not only large, but terrifying in appearance. For perhaps the first time in the history of giant-monster movies, the monster is actually scary.

At its core, the film is about how easily normality can be shattered by sweeping, uncontrollable tragedy; how a safe, inconsequential life can be faced with disaster in the blink of an eye. It's an exploration of the apocalyptic fear that gripped America in the wake of 9/11 and that we wallowed in up through Hurricane Katrina as well. By splicing in "old" footage of Rob and Beth jaunting to Coney Island, we're constantly reminded of normalcy destroyed and lives upended, because the video of the monster is overtaking this pleasant memory, as the present must always overwrite the past. This juxtaposition also allows our characters to feel more human, and thus their plight more tragic. We see what they stand to lose as society crumbles around them. It's a facet of the film that resonated with audiences in 2008 and, in a testament to both Cloverfield's staying power and to our current climate, continues to unsettle audiences today.


Cloverfield
5 - Totally Terrifying
4 - Crazy Creepy
3 - Fairly Frightening
2 - Slightly Scary
1 - Hardly Horror