388 Arletta Avenue (2011)

I enjoyed the heck out of 388 Arletta Avenue. No bombs, no bullets, no intrigue; just a slice of life, and another, and another, all progressing toward another slice. What is happening, next? But Why? How can he? Why doesn't he? Since that didn't work, should he? The viewer is the creep by perspective but has the plagued man's identity. No thoughts of creep's purpose are revealed, the reactions of all others were reality-typical. It did have a few over-long moments, but whose life doesn't? I didn't miss the bombs, or the bullets, and the intrigue WAS there, upon reflection, but just from my own mind.The ending was mostly expected AFTER I saw the ending, but NOT before, which to me is even more of the attraction.If you want the easy-answers-ending tied in a happy bundle, go elsewhere; if you want a very possible real-life nightmare, watch it.

***MAY CONTAIN SOME KIND OF SPOILER*** Not many seemed to enjoy this movie, but i found it rather good. The whole movie was based on the unknown. Today it seems that everyone wants to have a finale.....a final fight. Sometimes, a movie is better without it. It basically seems as if the guy goes crazy....everyone around him thinks it too. At his work you can see his boss talking to someone and they keep looking over at him, and then he ups and leaves. They obviously think he is having some issues. In the end he wasn't crazy, but no one around him ever finds this out. There is no big finale, no simple answer for anyone to give....and this is what i loved about it.

388 Arletta Avenue is a solid little low budget film that brings the "found footage" trend to the thriller genre.The movie stars Nick Stahl and Mia Kirshner as a yuppie couple being menaced by a voyeuristic stalker that enjoys playing elaborate mind games. Sound familiar? Well, in theory this is pretty standard thriller territory but it's given an unsettling realism as the entire film is seen through the stalker's elaborate camera system which he has discreetly rigged every facet of our hero couple's life with.Watching the whole movie through slightly fuzzy, often awkward camera angles might become tiresome to some but I liked the overall effect. It makes everything seem so much more real, dramatic, and more disturbing.Adding to the realistic tone of the movie is the great cast. The leads are played by Nick Stahl (Sin City), Mia Kirshner (The Black Dahlia), and Devon Sawa (Final Destination), who plays a loser Stahl's character tormented in high school who may or may not be responsible for what is happening now. All three have been great in the past and this movie is easily the best any have been in many years. I will mention that Stahl is the focus and he carries the movie brilliantly bringing an unassuming everyman quality to his stressed out character. I particularly enjoyed watching how he goes from a mild, mannered suburbanite to an erratic, paranoid mess.388 Arletta Avenue is a short movie and it won't be to everyone's taste. As a film from the makers of Cube and Splice, it is also appropriately off kilter and original, an engrossing, character driven thriller that will actually creep you out if you have the patience to sit through a slow burn.Incidentally, it reminded me a bit of My Little Eye, a ridiculously under appreciated horror movie from a few years ago.

The trailer for this promised much, but in actual fact there is very little here. Maybe a great movie for a voyeur, everyone else should stay well away. At around 1hr 26mins it is quite probably a good 26mins too long, and could have been done as a TV special or similar. The main problem is that very little happens apart from the stranger watching them, which is happening from the opening shot, this is then dragged out for the rest of the movie and you find nothing out about the stranger or his/her motives. After an hour we just wanted it to end, and when it did, it gave absolutely nothing away and left you just thinking you should have maybe washed the car or done something useful rather than waste your time on this. This maybe harsh but, sorry, a complete waste of time.