Mid-party, something starts attacking Lower Manhattan and destroying everything in its path. The partiers are all flung out onto the streets, along with the rest of the city, when the shaking and booming begin. They wander around in a shock state. Rob and his group, all covered in the dust of crumbled skyscrapers, frantically make their way through the city, trying to save Beth and themselves.

We get fleeting glimpses of the biggest monster between buildings, at one point it is so close to the camera it fogs the lens. Cloverfield kills its prey with cruel precision, and thanks to the brilliant, post–Blair Witch Project formula to tell the story through gritty, determined low-tech camerawork shot by one of the refugees, it plays out like a big-picture disaster seen through the viewfinder of little, self-absorbed people.

While director Matt Reeves doesn’t take us into the heart of the maelstrom, his film remains a harsher, more demographically calculating brand of fun. This monster mash-up is not so terribly clever, but it manages to pump out some intense gross-out moments and maintaining suspense throughout its speedy running time. And it is a quite effective thrill ride.