Super 8 Superbowl commercial and plot description

J.J. Abrams is my favorite person in Hollywood right now. Everything the guy touches is pure gold. He started Lost, Alias, Mission Impossible 3, Cloverfield, and the 2009 reboot of Star Trek. His latest movie has flown pretty far under the radar, until now. The trailer leaves me intrigued, but also a bit confused. It looks very much like Close Encounters in it's presentation, but it could be interesting. If all that isn't enough, Steven Spielberg's name on the trailer should get your attention. Here's the plot:

The Paramount Pictures release is set in Ohio in 1979 and introduces a troupe of six youngsters who are using a Super 8 camera to make their own zombie movie. One fateful night, their project takes them to a lonely stretch of rural railroad tracks and, as the camera rolls, calamity strikes — a truck collides with an oncoming locomotive and a hellacious derailment fills the night with screaming metal and raining fire. Then something emerges from the wreckage, something decidedly inhuman.

It seems like this could be pretty interesting. Here's what Abrams had to say about it:

“To me, all people need to know is that it’s an adventure about a small town and it’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s scary and there’s a mystery: What is this thing that has escaped? What are the ramifications of its presence? And what is the effect on people? But I know that’s not enough. Look, I feel we need a little bit of a coming-out party because we are up against massive franchises and brands and most people don’t know what ‘Super 8? means. We’re a complete anomaly in a summer of huge films … and we don’t want to be so silent or coy that people don’t care or don’t hear about it.” … “As the process went along I realized I had the potential makings of my favorite sort of movie, which is the one that is the hardest genre to define. That because you could say — and be right — that it’s a science fiction movie; or you could say — and be right — that it’s a love story; or you could say — and be right — that it’s a comedy; or you could say — and be right — that it’s a special-effects spectacle. That sort of cocktail is for me what I love about movies…that was the beginnings of this movie coming together.”