388 Arletta Avenue

This is a movie that rides on the trend of the whole found footage/hidden camera movie sub-genre. But is it doing anything new or interesting enough with it? Not really.

It's of course hard to come up with something new and remaining fresh and interesting, since most had been done with the concept already and there is only so much you can do with it, since it's a quite restricting concept. It's restricted with its settings and movements and it is hard to keep things interesting for about 90 minutes, without starting to repeat yourself. This movie however does become a bit tiresome after a short while.

It mostly becomes a tiresome movie since it maintains its 'mystery' for its entire running time. You don't know what is going on exactly, or what direction the movie will be heading at. This all sounds like some good and positive points about the movie but it's actually more sort of annoying, since basically everything can happen at the end, when the big 'reveal' comes. The movie doesn't drop any hints and stuff just happens, without you feeling involved with any of it.

I kept thinking to myself; there better be a good resolution to all of this by the end, that explains everything as well, to let all of the events make sense. But no, in my opinion the movie takes a cheap way out and it absolutely wasn't satisfying enough and it's the sort of ending that leaves more questions than answers, especially when you start thinking back about the movie.

It of course still could had been good and worked out all if the movie was a bit more tense. For a thriller it is surely lacking some good tension at times and doesn't ever gets you involved enough as a viewer, though the movie still tries to achieve this through its concept.

The concept and camera-position are supposed to place you in the mind of the stalker. It's a voyeuristic movie but again, since you don't know any of the motivations or reasons for the events, you don't ever feel involved with it. It just doesn't do a good enough job at making and keeping things interesting and fresh enough to keep you interested in the story, its mystery and to what will happen with its characters.

I did like Nick Stahl in his role, on a more positive note. He has to carry most of the movie entirely on his own and does a pretty good job with it. Too bad that the movie didn't really knew what to do with his character.

It's not the worst thing you will ever see but it just isn't exactly a good or original enough movie to recommend either.

5/10

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This whole "found footage" genre is really being run into the ground. "388 Arletta Avenue" attempts to take on genre in an original way, but due to unlikeable characters, a dull plot line, and a terrible ending this film just falls into the endless pit of bad "found footage" films.

The main character in this film was just one of the dumbest characters ever in any horror film. His actions will frustrate you to the point where you will want to shut the movie off. The way he goes about things is just so unrealistic and stupid, this makes it pretty much impossible to root for him.

The main problem I had with the movie was the fact that it was just plain out uninteresting. I honestly didn't really care about anything or anyone in this film because they did such a terrible job of setting everything up. Things start out very fast but not in a good way. You never really get a chance to get to know any of the characters, so once things start happening to them you don't really care.

"388 Arletta Avenue" was a very dull experience. A huge waste of time, avoid this one. Only positive thing I can say about this movie is that it wasn't the worst "found footage" film I've seen.

2/10

This is not a good movie... Even though it has nick stahl and devon saw a, this film falls flat on its face immediately. There is a TOTAL absence of any real atmosphere, dread, or tension. I literally own at least 200 found footage movies on dvd and blu ray and I am VERY fair when judging a movie because as a filmmaker myself, I understand just making a movie is a huge feat. However, Arletta Ave will always be remembered amongst all my ff movies......as being one of the worst right along side "the house on the wrong side of the tracks" super low budget ff films are better than this drudge because, in them, there is usually some level of tension... 388 Arletta Ave: what not to do when making a movie

I am always up to watching a movie that is slightly out there, not your usual Hollywood blockbuster but I have to admit that I wasted an hour and a half of my lifetime watching this. I realize everyone has their own opinions when it comes to a movie but I was left disappointed and scratching my head in bewilderment at this movie. It lack any sort of meaning, the story line was weak and I think I only watched it all in the hope that maybe it may get a little bit better but it didn't. The acting it's self wasn't too shabby but I wouldn't recommend this movie unless you have an hour and a half to waste and don't feel like watching the kettle boil.

388 ARLETTA AVENUE is a stalker thriller that's so long-winded, low-key, and drawn-out, that it becomes a literal chore just to sit through it from beginning to end. The box proclaimed that it was from the makers of CUBE, which seems to be a bit of a lie given that CUBE's director and writer aren't involved and producers count for nothing anyway. Unless they had a guy who formerly worked as a runner or tea boy on CUBE and put his name on there for the hell of it.

In any case, this is firmly a found footage movie, with an ordinary suburban couple whose lives are being unknowingly filmed by a stalker who has set up dozens of cameras throughout their house. A not-bad premise as it goes, but that's it; that's the story, and nothing else happens. Sure, there are a few incidents involving the police, pets, kidnapping, and the like, but this comes across as a non-supernatural PARANORMAL ACTIVITY but without that film's jump scares or creepy moments. It's just boring.

The film's husband protagonist is played by Nick Stahl (TERMINATOR 3), who could equally have played the stalker character. His wife is played by former child actress Mia Kirshner, who has very little to work with. Devon Sawa, former star of FINAL DESTINATION, is in the film as well, and he's aged into a convincingly hard-looking thug which fits his role quite nicely here. A shame they didn't have a real story to go with the set-up.