10 Cloverfield Lane

In case you're wondering: No. You do not need to see the original "Cloverfield" to understnad this movie. In fact, they're completely different. You can watch one or the other on its own and still enjoy them. It's going to be really hard to write this review without giving too much away (and trust me, you want to go in knowing nothing about this film.) but I'm going to try. This isn't really a "horror" movie, per se. It's more of a post-apocalyptic thriller.  The story is intriguing, but I was expecting a little bit more out of this.  It's still a very intense movie, though. John Goodman did a terrific job. I'm glad to see him finally branching out of his typical "nice guy" schtick. He's anything but nice here. In fact, he's absolutely terrifying. Watching the movie, I felt very intimidated by him. While I do say that the first "Cloverfield" was better, this is still pretty good. Just watch them as 2 different movies where the only thing they have in common is the word "Cloverfield" in the title. It works as its own standalone movie, which very few directors can do. Well done, JJ Abrams! You've done it again!

Grade: A-  9/10  4/5 stars