Despite the recent horror film, X, receiving an incredible 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the genre is difficult to master on its own. But add an experimental shooting technique and the list is significantly reduced. Moviegoers are likely to be familiar with recent “one-shot” films due, in large part, to the hugely popular film 1917, in which viewers experience the film as if it were shot in one take.
Not every one-shot movie shoots the entire movie at once, although there are a few who have taken the risk and succeeded. The two extremely difficult concepts, one-shot movies and the horror genre, are hard to pull off on their own, and when the two come together, they can either create movie magic or fall flat and fall apart.
Date (2019)
Appointment is a Mexican horror/thriller film about a first date between a man and a woman. They meet through an online app, and at first the night goes well. However, things start to go wrong in the second half.
Impressively, the actors were able to go through the entire film in one take. The director, Pablo Olmos Arrayales, didn’t want to fake a one-shot movie, he wanted to actually do it. With months of rehearsals and proper planning, the cast and crew were able to pull it off. The film received mixed reviews and earned a 6.1 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
Fish and Cat (2013)
fish and cat is an Iranian one-take thriller/slasher film directed by Shahram Mokri. A group of college students attend a kite event in the Caspian region, and that’s where they encounter some unsavory characters.
This film is notable for repeating several scenes from different angles to reveal more and more of the backstory. The inventive shooting technique of Mokri and his team won them a special prize for innovative content at the Venice Film Festival. Critics, however, were harsh with their reviews and it received a 50% score on Rotten Tomatoes. On the other hand, it obtained an audience score of 85%.
Let’s Scare Julie (2019)
Let’s scare Julie, directed by Jud Cremata, is about a group of teenage girls who try to prank their neighbor, but the stunt comes back to haunt them and they, in turn, are terrified. The tight camera work and shorter runtime ensure that the scares are at maximum efficiency.
What makes this film so captivating is that the camera stays with the main protagonist in the house, letting the others tell their side of events and allowing the viewer’s imagination to create an experience far more terrifying than if the camera had followed the girls into the house. . The film earned 42% on Rotten Tomatoes with an Audience Score of 59%.
One Shot: Uncut Fear (2012)
One Shot: Uncut Fear is an Indian film directed by Haroon Rashid. It’s about a group of teenagers who, in an attempt to become famous, find themselves caught in a psychological game that turns to death.
The film holds the Guinness World Record for longest uncut film and, according to Guinness, it has an autonomy of 3 hours 28 minutes. To make filming even bolder, they had four different filming locations, and all the cast and shots had to be perfectly choreographed to achieve this continuous shot throughout. The film received rave reviews at international film festivals, although no official rating was given.
Agadam (2013)
Agadam is an Indian film directed by Mohamad Issack and tells the story of three men who, after murdering a woman, are then haunted by her in true horror.
The film was shot in one take with a single camera and rehearsed over 40 times to achieve this. The film received mixed reviews, with some praising the camerawork and the director, while others criticizing the script, and a India time critic even saying, “Agadam is a cautionary tale that proves that while digital enabled anyone to make a movie, not everyone should make one. Despite the criticism, it holds a 7.6 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
A Cup of the Dead (2017)
A cup of the dead is a Japanese horror comedy zombie film. It may not be a feature, but its amazing opening scene deserves an honorable mention. The film is about a low-budget film crew who are attacked by zombies while shooting a zombie movie.
A cup of the dead has one of the most impressive opening scenes, as it’s a full 40-minute, uncut and unedited shot. The film was a smash hit, making over 1,000 times its budget and box office history. It’s now a cult classic with a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Silent House / La Casa Muda (2011 / 2010)
silent house is a 2011 remake of the film Casa Mudaboth purportedly based on true events that took place in a village in Uruguay in the 1940s. The story tells of a woman and her father who are terrorized in their country house by squatters violent.
Both films use the one-shot technique, however, they were modified to appear this way. Elizabeth Olsen was cast because of her background in acting, as the director knew she needed someone who could perform in scenes much longer than a typical movie set. Despite a higher budget, silent house received 43% on Rotten Tomatoes while Casa Muda got 68%.
Utahøya: July 22 (2018)
Utahøya: July 22 is not your average horror movie, although the content of the film turns out to be horrible. Based on true events, the film follows Kaja as she struggles to survive the deadly terrorist attack that claimed the lives of over 70 people, mostly children on the island of Ut.øyou are in norway.
The film’s runtime lasts exactly as long as the actual shoot, giving viewers as much of a feel as possible for what it was like to be on the island that day. It is an extremely effective technique and, for obvious reasons, sometimes very difficult to observe. Despite the film’s intensity, it scored 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Friendless (2014)
friendless The director, Levan Gabriadze, had a new vision for this film, which was to play the whole film on the computer screen. One day, six teenage friends are hanging out via Skype but notice that an unknown username has joined their chat. They realize that it is a student of their school who committed suicide, comes back to haunt and terrorize them.
Initially, Gabriadze attempted to film friendless in longer takes, but one of the actors asked that they shoot the whole movie in one go. So they set up several rooms where all the actors were in their own room, on a computer, playing the movie. And while what’s seen in the final film doesn’t look like one continuous shot, it was indeed filmed in one take. He holds 62% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cut (2010)
To cut is the very first horror film to be shot in one take. Directed by Dominic Burns, To cut tells the story of a group of friends vacationing in a cabin in the English woods when they fall victim to a home invasion by a group of demented clowns.
To cut received poor reviews, with many saying that although the one-cut technique was a bold move, it created a slow and boring tempo for the film. The cast and crew certainly gave this movie their all, but ultimately it flopped and received a 3.2 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
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