Hand-held horror

Today was a good day...

For those who suffer from motion sickness, cinemas do not provide paper bags and ask you to excuse yourself to a garbage receptacle or bathroom in the lobby. Thank you and enjoy the show.

This would have been a welcomed warning for those lucky enough to get vomited on by weak-stomached spectators.

Experiencing Cloverfield is like taking every episode, monster, twist, turn, and head-scratching moment from Lost and combining it into an 85-minute ropey compilation of cinematic snuff.

Six months ago when the very first teaser for Cloverfield premiered at screenings of Transformers, the movie plot was shrouded in mystery.

Eventually, details were leaked that the film was a monster movie similar to Godzilla, filmed through a first person point of view. As more and more previews revealed less and less of what the creature looked like, audiences across America began to salivate.

The wait is finally over, and the building hype has proven to be worth every bit.

Producer J.J. Abrams has done a fantastic job in dreaming up a true "American" monster movie. In the marketing genius' opinion, the Japanese have had Godzilla for far too long and it was about time for the red and white to be replaced by red, white, and blue.

The film was completed on a low budget of $25 million. It is seen through the lens of a home video camera manned by the best bud, and appropriately named, Hud (T.J Miller, Carpoolers) of leading man Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David, The Black Donnellys). Rob and his friends get caught in the middle of the monster's attack and must fight overwhelming odds in order to survive.

Little-known actors and actresses were chosen for the film, which adds to the realism of the project. It isn't another Blair Witch Project, but rather one of the most gripping and intense movies in recent years.

One worry concerns the lack of developed characters and a dull storyline. Readers will be pleased to hear that this worry is unnecessary; the film is as terrifying as it is emotional. After the first half-hour, audiences will begin to feel a deep sympathy for the characters.

Considering that the filmmakers took a "cloak and daggers" approach to keep the details of Cloverfield under lock and key, there are many questions moviegoers will have heading into the theater.

Sadly, many of these questions will go completely unanswered, but not without reason.

Keep in mind that the film is a first person documentation of the attack and every scene comes from one small video camera. If the small group of characters isn't aware of something, then neither is the audience.

Some of the most epic scenes in Cloverfield are the battles between the monster and the military. The audience is thrown into the war zone, sensing the pure power and devastation of the situation as bullets and rockets fly through the city streets, mere inches from where the characters huddle on the sidewalks.

One of the few problems with Cloverfield, though, is the ending. The filmmakers were clearly looking to shy away from the usual horror/monster movie clich?(c)s. Unfortunately toward the end of the film, these attempts fall short and the conclusion becomes riddled and soaked with just that.

In the end, however, the film is one of those rare movies that is more of an experience than a narrative story. The overall feel of the film may be substantially weakened in its translation to DVD, so make an effort to see it on the big screen. It's a mid-winter, monster-size treat that'll leave you begging for more.