Cloverfield

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Originally Posted by Chernabog

Just like what happened to Donnie Darko. Ever see that film? The original cut was brilliant, made you go rewatch to figure out what was going on, etc. etc. Then the director (proving that the original cut was a fluke) decided to make a director's cut which spelled out exactly what was happening. One of the worst films I'd ever seen, completely destroying any sense of fun, wonder and ambiguity. Yet I read reviews that think the directors cut was great because they "finally understand what was happening". F**k them.

Truer words. I wanted to beat up that director's cut in a bar brawl.

I am still on the fence about seeing Cloverfield in theaters. I really wanted to see it. I love Drew Goddard. LOVE. But I am prone to get motion sickness watching something like that on a big screen, so I may wait. What most excited me about the plot was seeing a monster/disaster film in the first hours of the attack, when chaos and ambiguity reign, and the terror is paramount because nothing is explained. It's what you would experience if it was happening to you.

That's what so many horror film creators don't seem to get (or perhaps its the studios, and not the writer/directors): the less you know about what lurks in the dark, the scarier it is. There can be a clever/cool set-up (a neglected boy who drowns in a lake while camp counselors are macking on each other; a child molester killed by a mob of angry parents), but the moment you explain *how* those monsters come back from the dead, the moment you try to explain what evil is, etc., SNORE.

There's a reason why people like Goddard and Joss Whedon are fans of H.P. Lovecraft. The guy knew how to tell a spooky, puzzling and exciting tale.