J.J. Abrams, superstar?

What “Super 8’’ does have going for it is the triple-threat talent behind it: director, writer, producer J.J. Abrams. Abrams is well on his way to becoming that rarest of Hollywood phenoms, a behind-the-camera superstar. Think of him as Judd Apatow without the laughs — or fewer of them, anyway, and mostly just to relieve the tension.

Frank Capra, who won two best picture and three best director Oscars in the 1930s, called his autobiography “The Name Above the Title.’’ If Abrams ever writes his bio, he could call it “The Name That Supports the Title.’’ The Abrams brand has been building for more than a decade, first on TV, courtesy of distinctive, innovative series like “Alias,’’ “Lost,’’ and “Fringe’’; then on the big screen, with “Mission: Impossible III’’ (2006), which he directed and co-wrote; “Cloverfield’’ (2008), which he produced; and “Star Trek’’ (2009), which he directed and produced.

“Super 8’’ is set in a working-class Ohio town in 1979. A group of middle-schoolers are making a zombie movie on a Super 8 camera. They sneak out one night to shoot some exteriors at the local train station. When something completely unexpected happens, not to mention extremely scary and very, very loud, the kids become enmeshed in a situation of possibly intergalactic proportions. What that something is … well, ask yourself this: What’s the US Air Force doing in charge of a train?

Abrams has clearly made “Super 8’’ as an homage to Steven Spielberg, who’s one of the film’s producers. In fact, the film could just as accurately have the title “Super E.T.’’ (does that qualify as a spoiler?), right down to Fanning and Joel Courtney, the other juvenile lead, looking uncannily like slightly older versions of Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas in Spielberg’s film.