Cloverfield 'better seen at home'

The monster film has been likened to Godzilla and King Kong

Monster film Cloverfield will play even better when watched at home, according to its producer JJ Abrams.

"The thing about this movie - probably more than any I think - is that it is better on DVD than in the theatre," the US filmmaker told Reuters.

"The movie is like a videotape. It lives on your TV. In many ways, it is supposed to be viewed on a monitor."

Abrams' blockbuster film, in which a giant monster terrorises New York, is out on DVD in the US this week.

Released to cinemas under a veil of secrecy earlier this year, it topped both the US and UK box office charts.

The film, directed by Matt Reeves, follows a group of friends as they are caught up in an attack on New York City.

'Terrifying'

All the viewer sees, however, is the shaky handheld video camera footage of the disaster one of the group records as he flees the carnage.

"We really tried to take the position that less is more," Abrams told the Associated Press.

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"When you're not actually seeing things but anticipating them, it can be much more terrifying."

Named after a street near the filmmaker's office, Cloverfield was originally a code name for the movie.

In the end, though, it became the title because Abrams could not find one he liked better.

The director and producer is currently working on a new Star Trek film which shows the crew of the Starship Enterprise in their early days.

The challenge, the 41-year-old told Reuters, was "to take something that was imaginative and unreal and make it feel as real as possible".