The Direction by Matt Reeves is geared towards showing as much of the creature as possible without leaving a clear impression of it’s overall physiology (which is in large part due to the confounding and quite brilliant design of the creature by artist Neville Page).

The footage is also well edited, although a brief intermission may at some stage be in order to avoid minor bouts of vertigo, which come with watching from a shaky first-person viewpoint.

While Sutch was a good performer, he is best known for his forays into politics, the first of which was in 1963.

When John Profumo, Minister for War in the Conservative government resigned because of his involvement with prostitutes Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies, causing a by-election, Screaming Lord Sutch decided to establish the National Teenage Party and stand as a candidate in the election. While Sutch gained few votes, losing his deposit in the process, he gained national publicity and from that point on remained in the national psyche.

What is most interesting about the National Teenage Party is that over the four decades since it was announced, almost all of its manifesto has been implemented by other parties.

The cast, despite the heavy criticism aimed at them by some reviewers, are more than passable, with T.J. Miller delivering the humour and Lizzy Caplan proving that she can bring a great deal of charisma     and presence to the big-screen.

The creature itself, of course, is the showpiece and the special effects, for a reported budget of just $25-30 million, are believable and extremely well executed.

Cloverfield is an intense and intelligently structured film. Do not listen to the hype or the criticism.

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