Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

bob_meg "Karma's a bitch," says Devon Sawa's Bill to James, the protagonist of 388 Arletta Avenue.James (played with a nicely dead-on everyman vacancy by Nick Stahl) has just confronted Bill with several disturbing facts: his home has been repeatedly broken into, his computer tampered with, his cat has been "replaced," and now his wife is missing. And that's just the beginning.Turns out James and his friends tormented Bill relentlessly during grade school and James, in his desperation, believes Sawa's character is behind it.Though that's far from the central thesis of Randall Cole's latest feature, it's a very engaging sidebar and probably the most alluring plot point in what seems at first to be a pretty standard found-footage psycho-stalker creeper.Except that 388 is actually a very intelligently-crafted film with an almost diabolically clever script. Stahl is tormented by everything from phantom mix CDs, footage of his wife bound and gagged somewhere, and ultimately set-up for her impending murder (after he actually DOES kill someone). While I was never bored by this film, I does suffer from a low-energy level at times. Stahl is left, quite unfortunately, to carry the film as Kirshner, an enjoyable and underused actress, is MIA (no pun intended) for most of the film. He does a commendable job, playing his ordinariness with an unsettling true-to-life banality, and he's never very likable... which is a very hard thing to achieve and still keep an audience's focus. It also probably contains one of the most creepy, amoral villains you'll encounter on film.Don't expect a traditional thriller, and certainly not something that will make you feel warm and cozy. It's one man's descent into hell for absolutely no reason other than someone's sadistic kicks.

wim moras It's Friday night. It's raining. It's one week and then we have Halloween. A perfect night for a horror movie. We don't check '388 Arletta Avenue' on IMDb, so I can see this film very objectively. The movie starts, as a true movie lover, I'm excited about what's going to follow. 10 minutes later, I start regretting. Because I realize the acting is so bad and there is no actual story. It's a dumb and stupid movie trying to make money out of the popular 'documentary style' movies. OK it's fine ,as a director you choose to use that technique, but that doesn't mean you don't need a DECENT STORY. Or that you don't need DECENT ACTORS. The movie really annoys, a lot of dead moments and the main actor ... is no actor at all. After a while you see this movie as a big joke. Big, big disappointment, don't ruin your evening by watching this... eh movie is not the right word. I would say 0/10. But IMDb doesn't have that option so it's 1/10.

bwilkening This film is shot from the perspective of a stalker who torments and manipulates a young couple. He installs some sort of monitoring devices in their home, and much of the action is seen from the perspective of these hidden cameras that follow the couple around the house. Thus, the film has the feel of the Paranormal Activity films, despite the different subject matter.The villain breaks in on multiple occasions to set up traps to toy with the couple. Fairly early in the film, the wife (Mia Kirshner) leaves following a heated argument that ensued as a result of one of these traps set by the stalker. The vast majority of the film, then, involves the husband (Nick Stahl) trying to figure out where she went and who the person is who has been messing with him. The sense of danger escalates as the film progresses.The one major complaint is that the film requires some pretty major suspension of disbelief regarding the capabilities of the villain stalker. Specifically, he is almost like an omniscient puppet-master who is able to manipulate Stahl's character to do exactly as he wants. There were numerous times when Stahl could and SHOULD have reacted to some provocation by the villain in a completely different way, but instead reacted exactly as the stalker wanted, thus propelling the plot to its desired end. Stahl's troubles are compounded by some stereotypical inept, unsympathetic police and pesky in-laws who are suspicious of his story.Overall, it's a decent little film, in my estimation certainly better than the low rating here. Just go with the flow and the film will give you some genuine chills.

Nathan Adams Good movie/plot, but poor directing. Could have been more dramatic! For a low budget movie that relies on video camera and stuff, a little more action could have elevated the movie into a block buster. The role of the Bill is very ambiguous. He's not supposed to die the way he died. He should have been given the opportunity to defend himself in a more dramatic way or even be given a better edge as a payback to all the suffering he endured in the hands of James while in school. Police investigation should have been more thorough and done in parallel to what James was doing. Overall it's a good movie with intermittent scenes of actions and suspense, but could have been spinned in a more dramatic manner