'Don't Breathe' Review

In an effort to expand the reach of my blog I'm foraying into also reviewing horror, as earlier this year I decided I would review all new releases I see and so I'm maintaining that standard with this review. I'm only just now really reviewing horror because I was never really particularly drawn to the genre, there are some great horror films but the vast majority are generic. So don't expect a constant flux of horror film reviews but if there's another that garners critical praise I'll check it out. Also, I recently put out a poll on both my Twitter account and my Facebook profile to determine if I should adjust my scoring system and the results were decisively split between the social media platforms (FB favored the Letter Grade system and Twitter favored the Number Grade). I've decided to try out the Letter Grade system for a little bit and see how that works and once I decide on one I will change all previous scores to match the selected format and continue onward with that scoring system.

'Don't Breathe' Review

Don't Breathe is a home invasion thriller about a trio of house-burglars who discover a blind man with a huge settlement and the obvious events that ensue. There's a catch though, the blind man is a war veteran played by Stephen Lang and if I learned anything from this experience it was never to mess with Stephen Lang, blind or not.

Fede Alvarez directs and seems to have shown all the good marks of a great horror film director building suspense beautifully by constantly raising the stakes higher and higher, effectible using jump scares, and never forgetting dangling plot threads. A few nice touches of smart filmmaking Alvarez demonstrates are when he lingers the camera on seemingly subtle objects that later factored into the narrative and the initial break-in where the camera sweeps through the house providing a tour of the nooks and crannies our protagonists will eventually be crawling through.

If anyone should be lauded for Don't Breathe though, it should be Alvarez and co-screenwriter Rodo Sayagues. The pair's screenplay brilliantly traps the characters into corners, both literally and figuratively, and finds creative solutions only for the characters to find themselves in a whole new pickle. The screenplay cleverly makes use of it's claustrophobic setting to escalade suspense and forces unlikely actions upon the protagonists as they must do whatever they can to try and escape. Don't Breathe relishes in sound design and it's focus on noise unearths a creepy score and some haunting sound editing.

The primary performances in Don't Breathe are solid but never stretch past the boundaries of their respective character clichés. Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, and Daniel Zovatto prove to be fine in their respective roles but also feels constrained to the boundaries of plot when you never truly learn much about their characters aside from their skill set and motivations.

Stephen Lang however is unhinged in his portrayal of the sociopathic blind man. Lang's blind man becomes increasingly sick twisted and downright creepy as you discover more and more of his secrets and he plays the monster of the piece remarkably well.

Don't Breathe is a rarity in that it only progressively becomes better and better, the suspense grows and grows and Alvarez constantly finds new ways to frighten the audience. Don't Breathe exemplifies clever filmmaking subverting genre tropes as a pulse-pounding thrill ride that will leave viewers on the edge of their seats.

Film Assessment: A-