Cloverfield 7MATE, 8.45pm, M (2008)

MOVIE

After reading the synopsis for this disaster flick in which an unseen monster descends upon New York City at night, you’d be right in guessing it has a whiff of Lost and Alcatraz’s J.J Abrams, who was in the producer’s seat. When five friends are enjoying a going-away party in downtown Manhattan, an explosion rocks the city. Armed with a video camera, they set off to investigate, soon learning the cause of the commotion is not playing friendly. Among the easy-onthe-eye cast, Lizzy Caplan, Mike Vogel and Odette Yustman muster a tangible sense of terror as the doomed kids, but the real stars are the folks in the special effects department, whose rendering of the mayhem is first-class.