It was nice to finally watch movie that didn't seem like anything I'd ever seen before. This, much like Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" and "Children of Men", completely immerses you in this incredible situation with absolutely no knowledge to comfort you. It's very disorienting, which adds to the experience; you never figure out what the hell is going on but you're so into survival that you put it past you. You're placed with a bunch of characters whom you get to know and eventually must join in their frenzied search for a friend while being subjected to some horrifying imagery and new threats.

The effects look great and realistic thanks to the hand-held camera, which isn't too bad-looking if you manage to get a seat further from the screen. The filmmakers came up with some really great creature designs that were menacing yet very much original. If you're bound to be upset over seeing a movie with a lack of music, then stay for the credits, during which a fantastic suite of music composed by Michael Giacchino titled "Roar! (Cloverfield Theme)" plays.

All in all, a fantastic time at the movies. A little more background on the monster would be nice, though the absence of this information is intentional. Everyone in the theater was rooting for a sequel; maybe a second set of footage is found elsewhere? Or perhaps there is more the the viral marketing -- what exactly were Slusho and Tagruato? Also be prepared to suspend some disbelief, but considering the movie is about a monster destroying New York City, that shouldn't be too difficult.

Having read through a sampling of some of the other comments on this site,I gotta say that I'm very struck by the fact that this film doesn't inspire much "in-betwens": a fair share of either 8s,9s or 10s or else 2s or 1s on the star rating,and more than a couple of angry,sardonic dismissals paired in with a few positive "I get it" type reviews.

I suppose,having to chose between the negative and positive reviews,I'd be counted on the latter,though barely.

At this point,I don't think I'm telling any secrets or revealing anything that isn't already known about this film:producer J.J. Abrams,director Matt Reeves and writer Drew Goddard have constructed a spare,seemingly low-budget concept movie. That this is a creature movie--and what a creature it is,replete with nearly impregnable skin and spouting offspring that's much smaller but nasty and plentiful--seems to be somewhat of a subject experiment. In other words,this is a monster movie,but the monster seems to be of less direct interest than the viewpoint and survival of some of the New Yorkers who are enduring it,in this instance the five-some of friends/family who are coming from a going away party for one of them in mid-town Manhattan. While the five actors Michael David-Stahl,Jessica Lucas,Lizzy Caplan,T.J. Miller and Mike Vogel(searching for a sixth,played by Odette Yustman)seem to show some sparks of interest,humor or emotional depth,their characters have almost no depth and hence,no real reason to care about them. It isn't until the more intimate,scary and tangential moments of the later film does it seem that there's much reason to have any interest into their fates,and by then,it feels like too little and too late.

The best part of this film is by far the concept and,in a grudging sense,the execution of it. The hand-held effect of filming a movie,particularly in a horror/sci-fi sense,is something of an work in audience endurance. Since there is a premium on audience fear,confusion and apprehension in any scary film,the objective of the filmmaker is to make that fear roundly and emotionally real. If one can stomach(Literally and figuratively)the bouncy,disjointed and shaky filming process--which seems fairly credible given the circumstances--then the movie's creators have done a fantastic that said viewer will be impressed. Promotion of this film,as mentioned by others,also is the grand mark or opus of this creation,being able to achieve a sense of audience interest and curiosity WELL before its release,an accomplishment that puts it up there with such cult films(which became equally famous for the public interest burnout that followed the initial swell of turnout)as "Blair Witch Project" and "Snakes on a PLane".

Overall,I'd say this movie is certainly worth a look,though I wouldn't give any grand superlatives for how brilliant or great it is. It's effective,"BOO!"-type sci-fi/action/horror,that revels more in the concept and image than the volume of the product. NO more,no less.

Some people have derisively compared this film to The Blair Witch Project because it was all told from the point of view of someone's shaking camera. Unless you have motion sickness, I don't think that's a bad thing. What matters is who's in front of the camera. While The Blair Witch Project featured annoying people screaming at each other, this movie actually made me care about the characters. In fact if it had continued with the romantic drama tone established during the first half hour, I STILL think it would have been worth watching and that's the biggest compliment I can give it.

Of course people will be watching this movie for the visceral pleasure and Colverfield delivers. Many thrilling visual and sound effects wowed me (there were a few times I yelled out in shock at a sudden scare). Any horror film will also benefit from a sense of entrapment and this movie pulls off the seemingly impossible feat of making New York City seem claustrophobic because there was seemingly nowhere to hide from the monster.

What is the monster? Whatever it is clearly is meant to be an allegory for the carnage 9/11 inflicted on New York, much the same way Godzilla was meant to be an allegory for the damage inflicted on Japan by the atom bomb. There are moments seemingly recreating the documentary footage from 9/11, and they give the film verisimilitude. Touching upon real life horror, plus creating characters that we can relate to and care about, and assaulting our senses with incredible sights and sounds leads to entertainment worth watching many times over. Perhaps the 80 minute run time will bother some people, but on the other hand I think that's better than a film wearing out its welcome. Great job J.J. Abrams and company!

This film wasn't too bad and I guess they used the camcorder as a means to capture that mockumentary view of the movie. The storyline was interesting and icould of used a betterview to see what the creature was and why all of this was happening.

This was a good movie and the ending could of been better.