388 Arletta Avenue (2012)
Brief review: Premiered at last year's TIFF, but theatrically released in 2012, "388 Arletta Avenue" is a voyeurish Canadian thriller that unfolds around a young couple, disturbed by a mysterious stalker. The movie is conceptually creative, as it tries to avoid the overused gimmicks, typical for the 'found footage' genre, and boldly puts a new spin on the POV shooting style, using hidden cameras instead of shaky handy cam. But, hidden camera automatically means no camera movements and less variety, and there are mostly static camera shots, taken always from the same angle, which becomes quite tiresome after a while. Furthermore, "388 Arletta Avenue" quickly loses credibility, because in real life, it's pretty much impossible someone to put so many hidden cameras in the most unbelievable places for such a short amount of time. For a movie labeled as thriller, "388 Arletta Avenue" has far too little thrills, let alone suspense, and that makes it a boring experience most of the time. Is it disturbing? Yes, maybe a bit, but it never manages to get under your skin or really freak you out. The final scene 'reveals' that the mysterious stalker actually doesn't have any real motives for ruining people's lives, and does all that just 'for fun', which is as much underwhelming as it's predictable. The cast is mediocre at best, with Nick Stahl doing a so-so job as the confused James, determined to find his vanished wife.
Overall summary: It's fairly disturbing and it takes a slightly different approach to the POV genre, but sadly, "388 Arletta Avenue" ends up being a rather dull voyeuristic thriller, lacking in tension, that feels more like a failed cinematic experiment rather than a proper movie.
6 comments:
One of many upcoming found-footage films that I totally have to check out in the future. It's already on my must-watch list :)
Harry, it's actually a 'hidden camera' movie, not a 'found footage' flick. Anyway, I think you should skip this one, otherwise you risk to get bored to death. :)
Are you excited about The Chernobyl Diaries? I am, actually. It looks promising.
well, I did managed to enjoy "Alone with her" at some extent...guess I could try this one.
Kaijinu, I decided to skip "Alone with her", and if I knew this one was so bad, I would have skipped it as well. Give it a try if you think this is your type of movie. :)
Hmm, sounds like this one will be a skip for me since you know I'm not big into the found footage thing. Sorry, I missed this review sweetie. I've been out of it of late and am trying to play catch up.
Mel, I am a fan of FF and I didn't like it. Imagine how you would feel about it. LOL.
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