And... Cut! One-Take Movies

Not only do they apparently complete the movie in one take, they even work in a flashback by redressing a set on the fly. There is a scene in the middle where Bettis giggles, thinks she's blown the thing and says "sorry", but the other actors keep going and they soldier through to the end.

Dramatically, the technique lends itself to making the events seem dreamlike and unrelenting. Of course David Lynch did the same thing for years without that sort of gimmick. I also thought it tipped the ending really early in the game, though that probably makes the movie make more sense.

The story takes place in several locations (and by necessity, all points in between), which is a daring stunt on its own. The story takes place in the wee hours of the morning, so sunlight vs. artificial light doesn't seem to be a problem.

Was it worth it? As expected, it's more interesting than good. Form trumps function. Probably not recommended generally, but as a demonstration of some daring

I have mixed feelings about this. A girl spends time mostly alone in a dark house and gets the creeps. There's no camera in the story and the one we're watching from doesn't cut, and, although it mostly follows the lead, it's not always seeing things she can see. That makes it (and us) seem like objective observers. To avoid spoilers, I won't finish that thought, but you can probably connect the dots.

I'm curious if the remake changes the ending or any of the details that make this one iffy for me. I'll watch it soon and revise this when I do.

Overall, though, the movie is maximally creepy and suspenseful. Probably helps that I watch movies in a big dark room in an old house, but I found it effective and the continuous nature makes it more real, immediate, and inescapable.

I thought I was watching the wrong movie at first as the opening three minutes are seemingly full of cuts, but it's a trick. I'm guessing this was intended to contrast with the style of the rest of the movie, but it's scarier and more interesting than a lot of what follows.

The story takes place in and around a house in the country and the biggest logistical problems were probably going up and down the stairs so much and the number of actors that had to squeeze into one room along with the crew.

The intention was to make the action claustrophobic and inescapable. I'm not sure that always works because it sometimes just slows things down rather than increasing suspense. The story also ends up being less interesting than one would hope.

As usual, it's more interesting than good, but it is very interesting and I'd recommend it- especially for anyone considering making a similar movie themselves.

This needs to be off this list and probably onto another one. It's not one take. It is a series of very long takes though. The cuts move us forward in time or to a new location (two of the things cuts were designed to do, of course). It is a highly effective film, putting you into a home invasion instead of just showing you one, but it's not continuous in action or time.

I need to go back and watch the original again, I think. Other than maybe tipping its hand too early, this strikes me as much better than the original version. The continuous nature of the film makes sense and keeps a strong hold.

Other than some montage at the beginning and near the end, one shot that spans days of real-time and makes a few tricky changes of location. Suits the magical realism (or magical reality?) of the story and makes for engrossing viewing.