Factual error: When the kids enter Joe's house, late 80's architecture can be seen in the brickwork around the garage door.
Continuity mistake: When Joe and Alice are talking in his room, there is a book in the background on a desk or such that changes position between shots. Sometimes it is upright and sometimes at an angle.
Factual error: When Joe goes to the cemetery, all the trees have fall foliage (yellow/orange/red). The movie takes place during the first week of June, when all the leaves are green. (00:53:52)
Factual error: The movie is based in Montgomery County Ohio. But a deputy said his dog was found in Brookville, Ohio, one county over. Brookville, Ohio is in Montgomery County Ohio, not a different county. (00:49:19)
Continuity mistake: When the kids are gathered to film on the hill with the train crash in the background, Joe grabs the camera to get a closer look, setting up the tripod a couple feet away from Alice. Joe hunches forward to look through the camera. Then the group is shown from behind and Joe isn't hunched forward anymore. Alice is still a couple feet to the right and Cary a couple feet and forward to the right of her. When the camera comes back around to the front of them, Joe is hunched forward again, and Alice & Cary are right next to him. (00:32:00)
Continuity mistake: After the train wreck, all the kids are looking for Alice. When she shows up behind Joe, his fringe swaps between brushed and messy, back and forth. (00:20:15)
Continuity mistake: Jack stares at an army truck and turns his head to the left. From the opposite angle, his head is still and he is turning it again.
Plot hole: Things have gone "missing" throughout the movie, without leaving extensive damage... I find that very strange. This is a HUGE alien that looks around for things he needs, carelessly flinging junk around in a junkyard, including a toilet, a motorcycle, and a stove which ends up landing out in the street. Izzy, the owner of the Auto Sales lot, shows the deputy that something is missing from the cars in his lot by lifting the hoods up. He doesn't say, and the camera doesn't show, WHAT exactly was missing from the cars, except the Bonneville. "Look at my Bonneville over here! They'd have to have a winch to take that out." This implies that it was only the Bonneville that had the engine removed, because you would need a winch to remove the engine from ANY of those vehicles. No other damage was visible. I don't see the huge alien being able to free the hood latch and lift out the engine without leaving other damage. Also, Debbie said there were 20 microwaves missing from her inventory - just "gone". I don't see the huge alien opening the door of a warehouse or store, walking through the doorway, and walking out with 20 microwaves. Even if he used a warehouse garage door. There would be other damage. It would have made sense if any business' missing items ended up looking the way Kelvin's Gas Station looked when the alien grabbed Sheriff Pruitt and Breen.
Continuity mistake: Jor's hair changes scene to scene from short to long.
Continuity mistake: During the wake, a red/burgundy car is parked along the curb after the Lambs' driveway sometimes but not others. It is first seen at 00:01:30 immediately past the driveway but is not there when a light-colored (white, grey, light blue?) car is parked along the curb two or three houses down. When the sheriff's car has backed out of the driveway and onto the road, the red car is suddenly back again, a little way past the driveway entrance but before the light-colored car. The red car could not have just got to that spot because Mr. Lamb backing out of the driveway would have blocked it from getting there plus the road may have been slippery/icy (where drivers need to go slowly). (00:03:43)
Continuity mistake: There is no center line dividing the lanes on the street where the Lambs live, but the street is divided by a double-yellow line when Mr. Lamb puts Mr. Dainard into the sheriff's car. (00:02:43 - 00:03:43)
Deliberate mistake: The scenes involving the 8mm projector and screen did not also contain legitimate light rays from the projector to screen or show any obstructions on the screen despite Joe or someone else between the projector and screen. What showed on the screen is what would be expected if using a videotape or DVD.
Continuity mistake: When Joe goes to Alice' porch and trying to convince her to come back to film more of the movie, her arms are down at her side in her close ups. But from the side shot, her right arm is extended up some and holding onto the chain of the swing. (00:29:57)
Continuity mistake: After the train crash and Joe is back home, his dad wakes him up and he is facing off to the side as he opens his eyes and starts to lift his head. It cuts to a different angle showing the white cube in the foreground and suddenly Joe is looking up fully at his dad. (00:26:40)
Suggested correction: I watched a few times and saw a rather good, smooth series of movements - they did not look awkward at all. I did not see what you saw, which leads me to suspect corrections were made or your DVD player "skipped."
Maybe one more person will check his/her copy.
A small hiccup in the stream might be an even better explanation for the discrepancy - in which case "I saw what you didn't see" would be more accurate than "I didn't see what you saw."
Continuity mistake: While the boys are looking at Dr. Woodward in his smashed truck, there's a quick close up of Joe's face before Charlies asks Cary about the teacher taking his electronic football. Joe's face is mostly in shadow on his right half with his left half in the light from fire. When it cuts to a different angle showing Charles talking, suddenly his whole face is lit up. (00:22:30)
Continuity mistake: Once they find the smashed truck with Dr. Woodward in it, they are standing in a way that Preston and Charles are almost shoulder to shoulder but with Martin between them slightly behind them. When the shot cuts, suddenly Charlies is in front of Martin with Preston behind Martin. (00:22:20)
Continuity mistake: At the train stop before they start filming, Joe is about to put makeup on Alice and asks her "Do you mind?" In the view of his face, the wind is blowing Alice's hair and several strands are over her cheek and blowing into her face. When it cuts to an angle showing Alice's face, it is clear of hair with it blowing back. (00:12:25)
Other mistake: Joe and Alice were somehow able to get the sheriff down from his inverse suspension, but - given the height of the ceiling and depth of the hole - the sheriff's feet (where they would be tied for the inverted suspension) would be out of reach. Moreover, surely a knife or cutting instrument of some kind would have been needed to cut the rope (assuming a rope was used) - did Joe happen to have something in his backpack? What was shown to the viewer was Joe and Alice using their hands on the sheriff's waist to lightly sway him two or three times in an attempt to get him down. The viewer next saw the sheriff when all but his feet had landed on the ground. For the sheriff to fall unharmed - head first - is far-fetched.
Other mistake: The scene after Mr. Lamb puts Joe in the sheriff's car has background snow (in June). There's a little snow visible when Mr. Lamb and Joe are going into the house and, once inside, out the window. A little later, much more snow can be seen out the window, similar to the opening scene when it was February. (00:52:40 - 00:53:27)
Other mistake: After the train wreck, Alice would not be able to see the fake blood standing so far away in the dark and with Joe's body blocking her view... or with all the still-falling ashes floating in the air to boot. (00:20:28)
