Matt Reeves: Cloverfield Monster was a Baby Monster!

Cloverfield (2008) Movie, Horror Movie News — By Nix on January 29, 2008

If you thought all the “Cloverfield” hype was over, you’re dead wrong! Well, you’re mostly right, but there are questions that still looms, such as: Where did the monster come from? Did it come from outer space? And just why is it so gosh-darn pissed off at New York City? Well Matt Reeves, in an interview with Den of Geek, has your answers.

In short, Reeves says that the monster in “Cloverfield” was a baby monster, and it just woke up!

So the secret that we had was that the monster was a baby. Having just been born it was going through separation anxiety and had no idea where its mother was and was freaking out and was in a completely foreign place, didn’t understand a thing and that that would be sending it into a kind of infantile rage. Which was very frightening, but the thing that was also frightening to me was the idea that not only was it going through an infantile rage but, because it was suffering from this separation anxiety, it was spooked. It was really afraid. And as the military started shooting at it, I started thinking, like if you were attacked by a swarm of bees for the first time, it wouldn’t necessarily kill you but you’d be terrified, you’d be like, “What are these things doing?!” And for me there’s nothing scarier than thinking of something that big that’s spooked. Like if you’re at the circus and suddenly the elephants are spooked, you don’t want to be anywhere near that, you’ll be crushed. And so that just became a way to again find an approach to giving an emotional or a grounded point of view to something that was completely outrageous. I mean a giant monster is absurd, but you have to find a way to make it real. And part of it was the stuff that Neville was doing, and then the secret that it was a baby. When we were talking about that I said, “Well, can’t we communicate something in the eyes?” So he started showing us like the look that horses have when they have that spooked look, and all of that was to convey that kind of feeling. So those are sort of the sources of it. We also really loved the idea that the creature in contrast to other creatures you might have seen was sort of a pale, white and again because it’s a baby, it’s just been born and it has this ugly translucence to its skin.

Read the rest of this massive interview for yourself here.

And in case you forgot what the “Cloverfield” monster looked like:

Cloverfield Monster


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    8 Comments

  • So, kinda like “Gorgo,” huh?

  • The Unknown says:

    Well, I can understand this. It seems to make more sense on why the monster was attacking NY in the first place. It also adds a lot more to ‘Cloverfield’.

    Sorry, don’t have much to say since I’m in a bit of a hurry.

  • The Unknown says:

    Now that they mention it…I wonder what happened to its Mother…Or, if there is a whole nest of these creatures somewhere…What happened to them…

    Possible sequel, maybe? =3

  • kid in class says:

    I’ve seen people mention their being more than one monster in the city. If that’s the case who’s to say that the entire nest is already awake? That makes some sense doesn’t it?

  • nykspree8 says:

    i definitely think there was more than one, no way it could just have been one big monster in the city. First it was rampaging thru the streets, then it destroyed the bridge with its tentacle/tail, and i’m thinking if it just came from the water into the city why would it go back to the water? then theres the one that looks like its walking on 2 legs when they’re saving Beth, which may have been the same one from the beginning, and lastly the one that attacks Hud which looked like it was walking on 4 legs, was not as big as the BIG one, and also did not look like the big one the army was shooting at when they closed in on its face, *shrug*, I WANT A SEQUEL ALREADY! lol

  • Sylar says:

    all i thought when i saw the monster was ” holy sh**, its a friggen angel!” (and by angel, i mean evangellion angel).
    lol, i was just waiting for eva unit 1 to come charging in all berzerker style.
    anywho. I really did have my hopes up with this one, and i was kinda disappointed. The concept really was good, but i don’t know; it felt a little short and i guess the part of not knowing anything about the monster was exciting at first but after all is said and done all you have left is questions and no answers.
    If it was an earth dwelling animal, i’d like to see darwin explain this one.

  • I see it on Doovde ahem.. I mean DVD
    anywayz, The monster is obviously a monster and theres at least twenty
    they all got matching hair cuts
    One of them had its Bah Mitzvah at the trump towers on the 18th of the first two thousand and eigth and the dancing jewish clown got killed as you can tell the monsters got really annoyed and went on a rampage
    Mystery Solved.

  • Wayne says:

    The monster came from outer space guys. The last scene of the movie, shot at Coney Island on the Video Cam (date: April 27) shows the space ship splashing into the ocean. So the critter was in the water for nearly a month before capping Miss Liberty.

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