It all started about 6 months ago, the big summer movie of 2007 was Transformers but unbeknown to anyone about to attend cinema screenings something bigger was on its way and that would be tested in the trailers that accompanied this blockbuster. Shot in video cameras Transformers audiences got to see a party in honour of someone called Rob, the party is interrupted by a noise that draws Rob and a great number f other revellers on the roof of their apartment. It's here that they saw in the distance a building destroyed, running from the roof to the streets the revellers hit the ground just in time to be almost hit by the head of The Statue Of Liberty. The trailer ended with a date, that date was 18.01.08; no movie title no actors, nothing to help the audience figure out where to go from here in their quest for knowledge. It is rumoured that people attended multiple screenings of Transformers in order to see the trailer again; people recorded the trailer on mobile phones and posted it on youtube.com only to have it pulled down in minutes. And then still without a clue as to what was going on the news of the trailer made America's main news programs. A month later a young couples wedding website was so overwhelmed with hits it caused the site to collapse, amateur sleuths had drawn them to a website that shared the character names of two of the characters from the movie (both revealed in the trailer). Then in late August somehow the world Cloverfield became attached to this trailer. Since then the movie's producer J.J. Abrams and his team of media wizards have been playing games with the public and the media. But finally after what seems like an eternity Cloverfield is here.

Cloverfield starts pretty much from the movies first trailer, and I'm not going to float on the plotline too much other than to say that New York is bought to its knees by something you'll only clearly get to see in the movies final minutes. The basis of the story however is a quest for Rob and three fellow party revellers as they make their way across Manhattan to find Rob's girlfriend Beth (whom Rob has an on and off relationship with), on the way they encounter a variety of obstacles as well as what has caused things to go so terribly wrong.

I admire this movie so much because it uses simple premises to cover massive deficits in the films budget. Cloverfied is shot in the streets of New York, when it comes to location filming no expense has been spared , shots of all the great landmarks are provided many at very close range. As a result a lot of the movies budget went clearly went into the purchasing of filming rights. Shot with the exception of the final few minutes in darkness this allows weaknesses to be shrouded, buildings are convincing destroyed in clouds of dust, bridges ripped asunder, and despite this vast feeling of expense that lies all around you, because of the camerawork you realise that a lot of what you have seen, you actually have not, you just have the impression that you have seen these things. The same applies to what is causing all the havoc, your given mild tasters, but you never really see what the instigator is of all this terror.

The actors are pretty good but as I'll address in a bit other than the four primary roles the other characters seem a bit of a blur, it's hard to identify who is who because everything is going on so quickly, they could be great actors, and they could be awful, it's all too fast to address with any level of clarity. Black Donnelys star Michael Stahl-David leads the way as Rob, the highly loved character that everyone has gathered round to celebrate. Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, Odette Yustman and T.J. Miller bring up the other characters all of whom make the light speed journey from cult TV show cast to Hollywood's A category, with what will arguably be the biggest movie of 2008 with critics weighing the new Batman and Indiana Jones as competitors for the crown.

Cloverfield is a far cry away from being like Independence Day, Godzilla or Men In Black or similar blockbuster movies, this is a much darker form of terror and suspense, I'd say this is more horror than disaster or sci-fi. The total disorientation of the movie in that nobody knows what they are contending with (even the military) adds to the horror element. There is one scene involving one of the fellow travellers in a make shift medical hospital that firmly switches this (in my mind) to horror, with a scene that reminds me of the first Alien movie. Despite the UK imposed 15 certificate I personally would not take anyone under the age of 18 to see this movie.