The Cloverfield franchise is such a bizarre film series. The first film was never meant to be the start of a franchise, just a standalone popcorn flick with an audience-attracting gimmick. Then, eight years later (long after the Cloverfield hype had died down), producer J.J. Adams decided to connect Cloverfield’s universe to another standalone film originally titled The Cellar. Thus, 10 Cloverfield Lane was born—a well-written surprise that is completely disconnected to Cloverfield save for its title and involvement with beings from outer space.
Now here comes The Cloverfield Paradox, another piece of the franchise that feels completely disconnected from its predecessors save for its title and involvement with beings from outer space. Whereas Cloverfield is a found-footage monster horror, and 10 Cloverfield Lane is a psychological thriller, The Cloverfield Paradox is a sci-fi thriller dealing with alternate realities…and it’s bad. The film’s story is bland, its sci-fi elements have been done-to-death before, and its characters are flat and occasionally annoying. I enjoy Cloverfield, and I really enjoy 10 Cloverfield Land, but I did not enjoy The Cloverfield Paradox. The film is a disappointment both as a standalone feature and as a connecting piece to the Cloverfield series.
Open House:
Open House is an incompetent, scatterbrained mess. The film brings no satisfaction from watching because its focused events are wholly alienated from one another. There are a mother and son trying to get over the death of the father, creepy neighbors who pester the pair in their new, secluded household, and a murderous stalker who targets open house events. None of these three events, in any way, build upon each other, though the film poorly tries to make it look as though they will. The film’s ending is entirely hollow because most of its characterization and a solid chunk of the build-up is tossed aside for a gruesome, yet largely lackluster ending. Open House ends up being nothing more than a complete, unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half.
