6) 10 Cloverfield Lane – The Invasion Is Real
Even if it is a Cloverfield movie, we’re never quite sure whether to trust 10 Cloverfield Lane‘s creepy Howard (John Goodman), regarding whether or not aliens have invaded outside his underground bunker. After all, he’s clearly a deeply unwell man, a conspiracy theorist and doomsday nut who also happens to have kidnapped Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and stranded her in his lair. Surely he can’t be telling the truth?
Well, as Michelle discovers towards the end of the movie, crazy old Howard was right all along. Michelle’s reaction – exasperated, wryly disbelieving, as though she simply can’t believe the past few days she’s been having – as she escapes the shelter and is greeted by the sight of murderous extraterrestrials, sums up our own. Coming at the end of a taut kidnap thriller, the lurch into science fiction horror is a sudden shock to the system.