All it took to send the world’s movie geeks into cyber-rapture was the name ‘JJ Abrams’, an enigmatic title, and a trailer showing Madame Liberty’s noggin bouncing down a New York avenue.

But was this Manhattan monster mystery worth everyone getting into a soap-free lather about? That would be a mouse-down, thumbs-up affirmative.

After dreaming up the idea, TV alchemist Abrams was happy to stamp his signature on proceedings as producer, giving Alias and Lost collaborator Drew Goddard a crack at his first feature script and leaving his Felicity co-creator Matt Reeves to direct.

The fruit of their labours is an 85-minute audio-visual pounding designed to knock your (city) block off.

‘Cloverfield’ is the military codename of the incident you are about to witness, as captured on a camcorder retrieved from what’s left of Central Park.

The fun is in the watching, so without going into detail, the film follows a group of pretty young urbanites who are giving a send-off to their friend Rob (Stahl-David) before he jets off to Japan.

Then, boom! Suddenly it’s like an earthquake has hit The O.C. as everyone rushes outside to find the city in the grip of a terror attack… but not of a kind it has ever encountered before.

However, before cameraman Hud (stand-up comedian T.J. Miller), Rob’s brother Jason (Vogel), his fiancée Lily (Jessica Lucas) and the pale-and-interesting Marlena (Caplan) can join the evacuation, Rob insists on rescuing Beth (Odette Yustman), his true-love-in-distress. What is this? A fairytale?

Cloverfield is very much a product of the post-9/11 age. The authorities are calm and efficient, while, a few looters aside, ordinary New Yorkers behave impeccably.

It’s not just the relative absence of panic that unravels Reeves’ attempts to convey the fantasy as reality. The hand-held camerawork obviously helps, but many shots are too conveniently framed, the cuts are too neat, and the sound – tremendous though it is - is way beyond the capabilities of any camcorder.

As well as stealing the basics from Godzilla (New York ransacked!) and Blair Witch (Unknown cast! Shaky camera! Snotty noses!), ideas are also nicked from Starship Troopers (Bugs!), 28 Days Later (Infection!) and even, towards the end, Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky (Showing my age!).

What works in Cloverfield’s favour is its sound and energy, the clever insertion of special effects, and its tantalising refusal to clarify the origins of the otherworldly menace.

Only the eagle-eyed will spot the subtle clues. Others will struggle simply to keep their motion-sickness in check. But everyone will know what it feels like to be happy-slapped by a movie.

Elliott Noble