So, I saw Cloverfield on Tuesday

How to put this? Well, if Juno was the first real movie for the bloggers, Cloverfield is the first movie for the YouTubers.

But wait, you say. The Blair Witch Project did the same thing, with the handheld camera and the motion sickness and all the other trappings. Sure, but the makers of Blair Witch used a clever device because they had no money, and then worked that shit online. Now it’s almost 10 years later (believe it or not). We actually watch video on our computers, all the time. Cloverfield taps into that and makes the complete POV film, teaming a considerable budget with the wily smarts of J.J. Abrams and the standard monster movie concept and turns the dial up to 11. It’s Blair Witch meets YouTube meets Godzilla meets Tremors meets Lost. If you’re a fan of the genre, your time has come. Your stomach may turn but you will be rocked.

Here’s the breakdown. The first few minutes take place at a hipster party on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, as all of Rob’s friends meet to say goodbye—the dude is moving to Japan in the morning for some goofy corporate job. His brother’s there, his brother’s girlfriend, and his best friend, Hud, who is handed a video camera and told to document the evening. Also in attendance is his longtime, recently requited flame Beth, who shows up with some guy and wrecks Rob’s night. She leaves, he gets all depressed, and then a giant motherfucking monster attacks New York, decapitating the Statue of Liberty and throwing all of these good-looking snarky people into a serious set of circumstances.

That, in a nutshell, is it. The monster is huge and scary and fucked up. The dude with the camera is funny. There’s a love story and some scary bits, and you do actually find yourself caring about some of the characters. The handheld-ness of it can be off-putting, but gives the entire movie a different flair than previous monster flicks, and makes you want to rewind some of the serious moments. It’s a terrific movie ride, a totally visceral experience that will leave you feeling shaken, just from the way it’s shot, and maybe by the way it all ends.

When the lights came up at the pre-release screening I attended, the crowd was quiet. Then one guy stood up and yelled “Yeaaaah!” and started clapping and some other people joined in. It’s not a standard monster movie at all, even if it follows the standard monster-movie plot points. Look, if you’re looking for a great film, go see There Will Be Blood. That’s not what Cloverfield is all about. If you’re wondering whether or not this is the kind of movie you’ll like, well, you might not. But for horror/monster/sci-fi enthusiasts, though, it should already be deservedly at the top of the must-see list.