Review of Don't Breathe (2016) by Owen H — 03 Sep 2017

This 2016 horror movie is directed by Fede Àlvarez, who's name you may not have heard of but most famous film you (probably) will have - Evil Dead.

In Don't Breathe, three young troublemakers burgle a rich blind man's house, thinking him an easy target, only to discover he's actually a master in shooting people.

As director Àlvarez said so himself, this film relies on suspense much more than Evil Dead which relied heavily on frequent gore and got disapproval for doing so. He also said he wanted to focus less on shocking the audience - this seems strange as there are lots of jumpscares and - crucially - numerous plot twists.

It's considered fairly low budget with less than 10 million dollars, which shows in its cast - talented but mostly unheard of. Stephen Lang and Dylan Minette (13 Reasons Why) are the most famous names.

It opens with an aerial shot of the main antagonist (as time progresses, fondness of the house owner decreases) dragging something down the street. It's uncommon for a movie to reveal something so far down the road, even minor, yet doesn't destroy the movie's plot.

Talking about the plot, it's concise but makes sense. His daughter is run over, he claims insurance, and is obviously a big target for thieves (explaining the metal bars that encase every window).

Starting with the positives, it's scary. The special effects all around are good. I particularly single out the clouded over eyes on the old man, reminiscent of the almost demonic look from the Black Mirror episode, The Entire History Of You, as well as the more gruesome images. The acting is also convincing. Furthermore, director Àlvarez delivers blow after blow of constant plot twists and many jumpy moments, justified by almost constant tense scenes throughout. Just when the main characters (heroes is a strong term in this case) find a new way to escape, they are found again. This is especially emphasised by the relatively small size of the house. It's not nightmarish but it does well to justify its horror status.

As a side note, I liked the scene in total darkness as well. It's shot cleverly with a sort of night vision, but a grey scale dark enough to keep it scary but light enough to see what's going on. I suspect that scene took a while, as it's quite complex.

Moving onto the negatives, there are several inconsistencies, some more annoying than others. One of the worst (and most spoiler free) is in a scene in which one of the thieves, Alex (Dylan Minnette) goes flying out of a window. Every single window is barred on his house - except, miraculously, for that one! And there's one more unbarred window too - on the ground floor, where the robbers can gain immediate entry. Perfect!

There's also some silly playing to expectations going on too. Things like managing to shut down an alarm just in time, and the code of a safe briefly flashing up on a digital screen (why is anybody's guess. Maybe this safe wanted to help the criminals get the money?).

A final grudge is an almost eye-rolling attempt to set up a sequel. This is unsurprising and was probably the studio's input - indeed a sequel is set up for next year - but isn't really necessary. Who knows, maybe it could be great, but horror sequels are rarely anything to boast about. We shall see.

Surprisingly scary and unclichéd.

3/4.