In honour of The Sitter, which I do plan on seeing this weekend, I’m revisiting the topic of “Films that Happen in One Night”. This niche subgenre of film is one that without a doubt has it’s fans (myself included) and at the same time has a lot of entries that without the frenetic plot required to keep this movie going would fail completely.

Approximately a year and a half ago – for the release of Date Night – I did a similar list over at TheFilmStage. This list, unlike the linked list, will not include any film listed previously (for the sake of expanding the canon) and at the same time I will no longer limit the list to comedies. With that said let’s get started:

10. Can’t Hardly Wait (1998) (dir. Harry Elfont & Deborah Kaplan)

Here’s a film that I remember watching as a teen and enjoying and am surprised everytime I hear anyone talk of kindly. It’s a silly movie with nothing spectacular about it besides that it’s one of these “one night” movies. We love that story of so many things happening at once and it manages to still make me smile at the end of the day.

9. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008) (dir. Peter Sollett)

The film from 2008 which some may say I was too kind to. It follows a group of twenty-somethings as they run around NY chasing after their drunk friend and a mythical underground band so indie that they can actually play at 4am at an unannounced location and still get a crowd. It’s a fun flick and deserves more attention, it helps that the soundtrack is kick-ass.

8. A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas (2011) (dir. Todd Strauss-Schulson)

I think I said everything I need to in my review but if you missed that just know that it brings the franchise back for me and I love it for that. It takes the stupid idea of 3D in a comedy and makes it into a fun gimmick that I look forward to seeing what they’re going to do with it next from scene to scene. NPH will live forever.

7. American Graffiti (1973) (dir. George Lucas)

Here’s a classic that while I don’t hold it in as high regard as many other critics I do agree that it’s a great film of it’s own little sub-genre. Watching Ford and others just drive around all night having drag races and mucking about is the teen rebellion of the 70s that’s worth seeing.

6. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) (dir. Robert Rodriguez)

Rodriguez is a director who always finds a way to make these fun horror films that expand the genre’s audience by always making it into a more fun action film than an eerie horror film which is just trying to play the R rated version of “peek-a-boo”. It helps that Salma Hayek is a stripper in the film.

5. The Hangover (2009) (dir. Todd Phillips)

This I guess is the only real cheat of the list. While this movie is about one crazy night it’s more a film that takes place over a period of a weekend as these friends try to figure out what the hell they did the other night and where the groom (their best friend) is. It’s able to play up all the same plot points of the one crazy night film with a whole new look on it all.

4. Halloween (1978) (dir. John Carpenter)

Michael Myers has escaped and is back in town and stalking Laurie and making sure that all her friends are dead. You ask why? There is no why. It just is. It’s the film that scares us of the unstoppable force and brings back the hot girl running up the stairs away from the big scary guy. The film’s score is what elevates its intense sequences to more than the everyday slasher film.

3. Escape from New York (1981) (dir. John Carpenter)

Yup, I’ll say it, it’s better than Halloween. Kurt Russel plays Snake Pliskin and he’s going to war again. He’s going into New York City, which has become the biggest and most advanced prison in the United States of America to rescue the President before the night is over. He reminds us that “I’m an asshole…”.

2. Die Hard (1988) (dir. John McTiernan)

It’s the film that noone can actually ever say a bad things about. It probably not only redefined what an action hero is but also what a villain is. He doesn’t need to be the guy holding the gun to the bank teller’s head walking out the front door, he can also be the suave business man trying to do things professionally until a McClane (i.e. monkey wrench) gets thrown into the mix.

1. 12 Angry Men (1957) (dir. Sidney Lumet)

I guess this is a cop out pick for me. It’s a classic and I don’t know a man alive who can dispute it’s greatness. It’s the film where no matter how many TV remakes there are remains engaging and brilliant from moment to moment as we slowly but surely watch a room full of men who could care less about what happens to this child from the wrong side of town go from guilty to innocent just because one man felt it was a topic worth discussing at least.

What’s your Favourite Film That Lasts One Night?