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 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.