CLOVERFIELD

Channel 4

Matt Reeves' smart monster thriller has been favourably compared to The Blair Witch Project , with which it shares the concept of using "found" camcorder footage to reveal its horrors. The film opens at a party for Manhattan yuppie Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) where the revelries are interrupted by a loud explosion. As he and his friends Hud, Jason, Marlena and Lily (TJ Miller, Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan and Jessica Lucas) emerge onto the street, the head of the Statue of Liberty cartwheels past them. Something very big, scaly and angry is trashing the city, and one of the targets is a high-rise where Beth (Odette Yustman), Rob's girlfriend lives. The group set out in a rescue bid, with Hud recording everything as they make their way through what has become a nightmarish New York, threatened both by the monster (only ever half-glimpsed, making it even more terrifying) and the parasitic lice it sheds, which develop a taste for human flesh. Will all, or indeed any, of the group make it to safety? The footage tells their stories in shocking, handheld detail in this superbly paced movie. Network Premiere.