''388 Arletta Avenue'' is a 2011 Canadian
horror-
thriller film written and directed by
Randall Cole
Randall Cole is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is most noted for his 2008 film '' Real Time'', for which he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay at the 29th Genie Awards in 2009.
A graduate of the Canadian Film Ce ...
and starring
Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent Stahl (born December 5, 1979) is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film ''The Man Without a Face'', co-starring Mel Gibson.
He later transitioned into his adult ...
and
Mia Kirshner
Mia Kirshner (born January 25, 1975) is a Canadian actress, writer and social activist. She is known for television roles as Mandy in '' 24'' (2001–2005), as Jenny Schecter in ''The L Word'' (2004–2009), as Amanda Grayson in '' Star Trek: Di ...
as an unhappily married couple who are unknowingly stalked by an intruder. It premiered at the 2011
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
, had a limited release in Canada in June 2012, and was released on DVD in September 2012.
Plot
An unidentified stalker records video of married couple James and Amy Deakin as they hide their spare key outside their home. When the couple leaves to go jogging, he uses the key to enter their home and set up hidden security cameras in each room. He also makes subtle changes, such as setting their alarm to go off earlier and leaving a mix CD in their car. Amy protests when the alarm wakes her up early, and the two argue over who recorded the mix CD. When James finds the audio tracks on his computer, Amy considers the mystery solved, but James insists that he never downloaded them. As they argue, James dismisses Amy's PhD research on Afghan culture as a waste of time, and she refuses to speak to him. The next morning, as James leaves for work, he writes her a brief apology. The stalker enters the house, reads the note, and records video of Amy's reaction to noise that she hears in the house.
When James returns home, he finds a note ostensibly written in Amy's handwriting in which she says that she has left to clear her head. James attempts to contact Amy many times, but she does not answer her calls. Worried, he calls her friends, including Amy's sister Katherine, with whom he has an antagonistic relationship. James refuses to explain the situation to Katherine, and she becomes suspicious that something has happened between Amy and James. James eventually turns to his friend Alex, who suggests that their childhood acquaintance Bill may be involved. James contacts Bill, an Afghanistan veteran who now works nights at an animal shelter, and he apologizes for tormenting Bill mercilessly during their school years. Although Bill accepts both the apology and a gift, a collectable baseball, he says little except that the apology does not negate the bullying.
Later, James comes to believe that his cat has been replaced when he receives taunting e-mails and the cat exhibits uncharacteristic behavior. A police officer files a report but does not take James' claims seriously. When James finds the remains of his decapitated cat and video surveillance evidence that an intruder entered his home, he contacts the police again, but the police remain skeptical, as the cat's remains have gone missing. Convinced that the police will not act, James investigates the matter himself. James receives a brief video that shows Amy bound and gagged before it deletes itself. Frustrated, James demands the unseen antagonist reveal himself; immediately afterward, the collectable baseball is thrown through one of his windows, which initiates a violent confrontation between James and Bill. Hidden video surveillance later depicts James as he digs a shallow grave.
James becomes erratic and paranoid, and, with Alex's help, he illegally purchases a handgun. Katherine becomes increasingly suspicious of James and threatens to call the police, which James laughs off. James attempts to make contact with his unseen stalker, who intentionally reveals himself as being in the house. After a brief chase, James offers a deal: for Amy's safe return, James will stop investigating and not further contact the police. At work the next day, James receives video footage of Amy asleep in their bed. James leaves for his house at the same time that Alex, Katherine, and a policeman arrive. As Katherine discovers Amy's body hidden in the basement, James attempts to confront the stalker, only to realize that he has been framed for her murder. While still holding the pistol, James attempts to explain the situation, and the police officer shoots him dead. In his home, the still-unidentified stalker labels his surveillance tape as "388 Arletta Avenue" and sets it beside several other tapes. He then starts the cycle again with a new family.
Cast
Production
Vincenzo Natali
Vincenzo Natali (born 1969) is an American-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, known for writing and directing Science fiction film, science fiction and horror films such as ''Cube (1997 film), Cube'', ''Cypher (film), Cypher'', ''Nothi ...
and
Steve Hoban
Steven "Steve" Hoban (born 1964) is a Canadian film producer. He has been nominated for three Genie Awards and won another. He has collaborated with Vincenzo Natali, David Hewlett, and Chris Landreth on multiple films. He is perhaps best known ...
, who had previously collaborated on ''
Splice'', served as executive producer and producer, respectively. Natali was drawn to the film due to the script. He said that his role in the film was minor – to offer assistance when needed. Production began in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in December 2010. Writer-director Randall Cole used his own life experiences as inspiration for some of the film's events. Cole wanted to show the downsides of increasing openness and surveillance in our lives, and he was drawn to the idea of an antagonist that documents a manipulated character study.
Release
''388 Arletta Avenue'' premiered at the 2011
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
.
[ It had a limited release in Canada on 15 June 2012][ and was released on DVD on 25 September 2012.]
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, a review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
, reports that 56% of nine surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 5.64/10. Liam Lacey of ''The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' rated it 3/4 stars and called it a "political horror movie" that "provide a timely commentary on supposedly safe homes and distant wars." Peter Howell of ''The Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' rated it 3/4 stars and wrote, "''388 Arletta Avenue'' is a superior chiller that speaks to modern fears." John Anderson of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote that the film is "a taut, often ingenious thriller" for as long as it stays focused on its gimmick, a couple stalked via constant surveillance. Martyn Conterio of '' Little White Lies'' wrote that the film's only shock comes from Vincenzo Natali's involvement. Conterio called the film "a very poor effort within the increasingly irrelevant found footage subgenre". Darryl Loomis of DVD Verdict
DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...
wrote that the film rises above its gimmick, a combination of found footage and home invasion film, to deliver "a solid story with a whole lot of tension". Rohit Rao of DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
rated it 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "''388 Arletta Avenue'' is built around an interesting idea but its execution suffers from lapses in logic and an unsatisfying ending."[
]
See also
* List of films featuring home invasions
There is a body of films that feature home invasions. Paula Marantz Cohen says, "Such films reflect an increased fear of the erosion of distinctions between private and public space... These films also reflect a sense that the outside world is mo ...
References
External links
*
* {{Rotten Tomatoes, 388_arletta_avenue_2011
2011 films
2011 horror films
2011 independent films
2011 horror thriller films
2011 psychological thriller films
Canadian independent films
Canadian psychological thriller films
2010s English-language films
Films about security and surveillance
Found footage films
Home invasions in film
English-language Canadian films
2010s Canadian films
Copperheart Entertainment films
Films directed by Randall Cole