Cloverfield, the new film from producer J.J. Abrams (Lost), has reaped box office glory by taking in nearly 65 million to date. Shrouded in secrecy, the production team was able to keep their cards close to the vest as the storyline and important visuals were held under wraps until opening day. The mystery has now been unveiled and Cloverfield has America in its clutches.

The story begins in New York City as the audience is invited to a surprise party for Rob Hawkins, whose recent promotion calls for an impending move to Japan. Unfortunately, what begins as a celebration soon turns into a nightmare as a camcorder captures Rob and a group of friends trying to survive a monster’s assault on the city.

From the outset, Cloverfield is fighting an uphill battle given the myriad of embarrassing attempts at capturing the terror of a larger-than-life monster (see a scaly Asian, last name ’illa). With this in mind, the film does an admirable job and engages the majority of the audience despite its insistence on catering to generation Facebook. However, to stay focused, the audience must endure numerous deflating one-liners from the fool working the camcorder (Hud Platt), who absurdly maintains possession of the device for the duration. If moviegoers can look the other way when Hud acts an idiot, then Cloverfield shall reward with a sufficient supply of scares.

Director Matt Reeves has constructed a tight little film in Cloverfield; however, it leans heavily on material resurrected from the Horror genre. One can obviously call on Blair Witch and its use of camcorder confusion, but the list of borrowed elements extends much further. Aside from the recognizable attributes of the beast, Cloverfield also has a close stylistic link to Chris Kentis’ Open Water. The scenarios are very different, but the visual presentation of both films and their conceptualization of the inevitable are quite similar. However, the convention of borrowing conventions is a staple of the genre, so why pile on? Cloverfield comes recommended as a good “popcorn” flick, but make sure you creep to the multiplex because CGI and sound rule the day.

Adam Neal is the founder of www.featurefilmreview.com. Please e-mail comments to adam(@)featurefilmreview.com.