The formula was the freshest I've seen in a very long time - and sets a new standard for the horror flick.
Basically: Godzilla Meets Blair Witch via 9/11.
The real coup was in using very rudimentary camera work to feature CGI. So it was the first CGI horror movie which wasn't so in love with its new technology to be confident enough to hide it, and to subjugate it to story and narrative. Yeah, The Host was pretty cool, in a pomo kind of way. But Cloverfield actually scared me - because it was so realistic for a movie about a mega-monster terrifying Manhattan.
This is the case with all new technologies, of course. The first-adopters simply play with it. The second wave uses it. This was the second wave, and worthy of the hype.
