"Cloverfield" | It's "The Blair Godzilla Project"!

"Cloverfield" doesn't waste much time before it starts shaking you like a rag doll and never letting up.

Maybe "shaking" is the wrong verb. Anyway, it's a rigorous and short shaking that'll leave you thinking: Whoa! I never thought I'd be into that, but it was good! Hey, I don't even know this person's last name ...

Or something like that. Ahem.

After the massive Internet hype and cryptic-but-thrilling trailers over months of viral marketing — a term that suddenly makes the metaphor distasteful — the movie fully meets expectations. Unlike "Snakes on a Plane," which was fun but not the smash predicted. But since "Cloverfield" is presented as "found footage" like "The Blair Witch Project" (and the movie it borrowed from, "Cannibal Holocaust"), here's another way to put it: I walked out of "Blair Witch" thinking "What the [expletive]?" I walked out of "Cloverfield" thinking "Holy [expletive]!" It delivers in a way that "Blair Witch" never did.

A group of New York 20-somethings throws a going-away bash for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who's going to Tokyo to start a new job. Everything is shown through the camcorder of Rob's pal Hud (T.J. Miller), who's documenting the party and getting testimonials from the guests. The event turns awkward when Beth (Odette Yustman) shows up with an unknown dude, because — according to camcorder footage that Hud is apparently taping over as he shoots — Rob and Beth have had something together that went unresolved.

At first, the constantly jittering, tilting camera is irritating if not nauseating. But that gives you sea legs for what's to come. A huge tremor shakes the building. When partygoers rush up to the roof to see what happened, they witness a huge explosion in the distance. New York is being attacked.

The panic seen through Hud's digital camera seems joltingly real as the party spills out onto street and into chaos. Something hits the Statue of Liberty and its head crashes in the street. Buildings come down. Citizens flee in stark horror from ... a giant monster that looks like something out of an H.P. Lovecraft nightmare.

Hey, wait a minute! They've spent months suckering me into a kind of Godzilla movie?

How at this late date do you make a giant-monster movie without the cheesiness, without a guy in a rubber suit (or phony computer effects), and without adding Raymond Burr? If you remember the enormous cow-pie that was 1998's "Godzilla" remake, the scope of the task is apparent.

Producer and "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams and his crew do it by shrinking the scope. They stick with the camcorder and a small group from the party — all unknown actors — and they don't show too much of the monster. They also take a large cue from 9/11, with destruction and mayhem that seems startlingly immediate. In other words, it's a giant-monster movie from the point of view of some of those little people running and shrieking in the street — and it works incredibly well.

With director Matt Reeves and screenwriter Drew Goddard from his TV shows ("Felicity" and "Alias" as well), Abrams deftly shoehorns human drama and even humor into the action. After a cell call from an injured Beth, Rob and his friends go back into danger to rescue her. While shooting it all, Hud spouts hilariously idiotic questions and observations.

After seeing what Abrams did with "Mission: Impossible III" as director, I was dreading his upcoming relaunch of the "Star Trek" films. Now I can't wait.

But after an abrupt 85 minutes — which seemed like less to me — all sorts of questions remained: Where does the thing come from? What happens to it? How about the brave soldiers and brilliant scientists trying to stop it? Without knowing any of that larger picture, is this just an empty experience? Did I get a phone number?

But sometimes a good ride alone is what you need to shake off the cobwebs. Of a genre, I mean.

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259

or mrahner@seattletimes.com