22
Cloverfield
Chosen by Shawn
A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.
Directed By: Matt Reeves
Written By: Drew Goddard
Starring: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan
“I worked at a theatre when Cloverfield was released and the lead up to that release was incredible. We are all speculating and obsessing over every detail and there was actual drama around who got to take home this poster (it was me, probably flexed those manager muscles). While I still love the movie and think it’s a very fun monster movie that makes great use of its found footage angle, the pre-release stuff is what I will always remember.”
Shawn
Cloverfield Trivia from IMDB
The decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty in the street is inspired by the poster for John Carpenter‘s Escape from New York (1981), which depicts the head of the Statue of Liberty lying in the middle of the street.
The opening party scenes were filmed without music, and the guests in the background were silently pretending to talk to one another. All the music was added in post-production.
The movie is viewed primarily from the point of view of Hudson “Hud” Platt, the character who uses the camera the most. H.U.D. is also short for “Heads-Up Display”, a method for overlaying information onto a view of one’s surroundings such as timestamps on video footage.
Whenever something scary or big is about to happen, groans of buildings and stomps can be heard, or even something as small as the hum of fluorescent lights. The sound effects are used in a subtle fashion, but listening closely, it’s easy to see the filmmakers are manipulating them as a score.
Check back every day through the month of October for our Halloween Cover Countdown 2020 – Come back tomorrow to see what Gracie has in store for you!
GracieKat was the first co-host of Sci-Fi & Scary, Lilyn’s partner-in-crime, and sub-head of the Kali Krew. She reviews horror books, movies, and games for the site. She also does a weekly Focus on the Frightful feature, and is the site list-maker. She is also in control of the Sci-Fi & Scary podcast which will relaunch soon.