I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that nobody on this website has geeked out more about Godzilla than me.
I’ve ranked every Godzilla era, I’ve discussed Godzilla’s best enemies, and I’ve even watched a Godzilla show on the side of a building in Tokyo. So, if I haven’t written the most Godzilla pieces overall, then it’s got to be damn well close.
That said, even though I’ve seen every Godzilla movie (including the animated ones), and he’s my favorite kaiju, by far, I’d still argue that the greatest monster movie of all time is 2008’s Cloverfield, and I have a few reasons why.
It Truly Feels Like What It Would Actually Be Like To Experience A Giant Monster Attack
Here’s the thing about Godzilla movies. As much as I love them, it feels like the camera is mostly focused squarely on HIM (Or her if you’re referring to the 1998 Godzilla movie-which I actually like-in which Godzilla is called “him,” but also lays eggs).
There are some exceptions, where the films put the focus more at a ground-level like Shin Godzilla, Godzilla Minus One, and the MonsterVerse movies. But, a lot of the time, we see these huge shots of Godzilla walking through buildings, falling through castles, and stepping on tanks. Yes, a lot of this is to show the immensity of Godzilla, but at the same time, we kind of lose that human element in many of his movies.
Not so with Cloverfield, which takes place entirely on the ground level. Being that this is a found footage horror movie, the whole conceit is that this event took place, and we’re watching the uncovered results. Sure, like most found footage movies, you have to suspend your belief quite a bit, as a lot of the time you’re just thinking, Put down the damn camera and run!
However, there is a visceral quality to watching a movie from this perspective. You really do feel like you’re actually there with the characters, experiencing this monster attack along with everybody else.
And, this human element is vital to this kaiju picture. Hell, there’s a reason why Godzilla Minus One director, Takashi Yamazaki, took some lessons from watching Cloverfield when he made his monster movie. It’s because Cloverfield is the real deal, and it really does capture that existential anxiety that would occur if a strange beast actually did start destroying our world.
The Fear And Panic Never Lets Up Once It Gets Started
Another aspect about Cloverfield that makes it stand out from other monster films is that it never lets up once it gets started.
There are no discussions in war rooms about how to attack the kaiju, no boring moments of people talking about their daily lives, and no family business that has you yawning toward the ceiling. No. Once the explosions start happening in Cloverfield, the movie is off to the races.
That’s where the found footage aspect really makes all the difference. Since we’re seeing the events from the cameraman’s perspective, we don’t have the ability to see what the military thinks of the situation or what scientists are saying about the creature. In fact, the only time we actually do see the military, it’s rolling out with tanks and firing weapons in the streets.
The fear also never lets up. Bridges collapse, strange spider monsters appear, and the overall panic persists throughout the entire film.
It’s something that I wish more monster movies did. You know, keep the focus on the action and the fear. I mean, damn, I love my kaiju stories, but why are some of them soooo slooooowww (I’m looking at you, Godzilla Singular Point).
The Cloverfield Monster Is Scarier Than Godzilla
Like the headline reads, I’m Godzilla’s Number 1 fan. I love the King of the Monsters with my full heart and soul, and one of my happiest moments is when I met Haruo Nakajima (RIP) at Comic-Con and got him to autograph a picture. I LOVE GODZILLA!
Even so…Godzilla isn’t really all that scary. Perhaps it’s because I’ve seen so many versions of him…with some of them being downright comical.
Yes, some versions of Big G have been absolutely terrifying (with the one featured in Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack probably being the scariest version that we’ve ever gotten). But, for the most part, Godzilla has always just been cool, and not really all that scary.
And look, that’s fine! Yes, I much prefer a devastating, “evil” Godzilla, but I don’t watch Godzilla movies to be terrified. I usually watch them just to see what kind of destruction he causes.
But, the monster in Cloverfield? Genuine nightmare fuel. What I love about him is that we really don’t see him very often. He’s mostly cloaked in shadows or rushing behind buildings. It helps that the movie takes place at night (for the most part), so it’s difficult to make out exactly what he looks like. When we do see him, it’s terrifying. He’s almost Lovecraftian in nature, and it really adds to the distress that this movie presents.
The Hopelessness Of The Situation Adds To The Overall Tension
One thing that also makes Cloverfield work on so many levels is that it feels utterly hopeless. The characters we get in Cloverfield are just regular people attending a going-away party. Everything feels normal on the onset, and you definitely don’t feel like you’re watching a monster movie, which works in its favor.
Once the monster appears, you never get a sense of calm. There’s a tension that comes from being stuck with regular people for the whole movie that makes that sense of hopelessness feel all the more pronounced.
For example, in Godzilla Minus One, our hero was a disgraced kamikaze pilot. He had a personal vendetta against Godzilla and was willing to go on a suicide mission just to kill him. We follow his story, as well as the people around him who devise a plan to take out Godzilla.
None of that is present in Cloverfield, though. In fact, each new event makes things even worse for our protagonists, and they don’t fight back because they can’t fight back. They’re just trying to survive. For example, when the spider-creature-parasite-thingies arrive on the scene, one of them bites a character, and she literally explodes later on. When our heroes get into a helicopter, the monster brings it back down again, so there’s really no escape.
It’s this constant tension that truly makes Cloverfield the best monster movie of all time, but I have one last reason why I don’t think it will ever be beaten.
There’s Still Genuinely Nothing Else Like It
I watched Cloverfield on opening night back in 2008, and you know what? Almost twenty years later, there’s still nothing like it.
Yeah, I really loved Colossal (with its ironically minuscule budget), and I thought Godzilla Minus One should have been nominated for Best Picture. But those two movies were great and unique in their own ways. I definitely wouldn’t consider them in the same league (or even the same lane) as Cloverfield.
No, Cloverfield is the de facto monster movie for me, and for all the reasons that I listed above. I’ve actually soured quite a bit on found footage movies, but I still think it works for Cloverfield. It’s likely because it feels necessary to the overall experience, and not just tacked on.
There’s genuinely nothing else like it. And, even though I kind of hated The Cloverfield Paradox, and LOVED 10 Cloverfield Lane, neither of them felt like Cloverfield, and nothing else probably will.