Review: Monsters (12A) ****

British writer-director Gareth Edwards challenges the conventional thinking that bigger is always better when it comes to special effects-laden science fiction films with his ultra low budget feature debut.

With a background in visual effects, Edwards sent ripples through the industry a couple of years ago by creating impressive digital trickery from his bedroom.

Now, the innovative filmmaker makes the seamless transition to the director's chair with Monsters, a brilliantly executed thriller reminiscent of Cloverfield, which puts various multi-million dollar blockbusters to shame.

Edwards and a small team, including two actors, travelled to Guatemala and Mexico with a skeletal script, a camera and boundless enthusiasm.

The crew found locations they loved and improvised scenes, intending to stitch everything together in the editing room, where hundreds of special effects would be added to evoke a futuristic world in which aliens and humans live side by side, segregated by massive concrete walls. It's through this infected zone that womanizing newspaper photographer Andrew (Scoot McNairy) must lead his boss's daughter, Samantha (Whitney Able) and ensure she is safely returned home to her family in America. Everything fits together snugly and the special effects are terrific, including the creatures which are revealed in their full, hulking glory in the final 30 minutes.

On general release