'Don't Breathe' Review

About 3 years ago Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez gave us a surprisingly solid remake of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead, now Alvarez returns with something completely different, a home invasion suspense horror called Don't Breathe. The film follows a trio of young delinquents (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette and Daniel Zovatto) from the mean streets of Detroit who rob houses in order to gain enough money to leave behind their old lives and start anew. However, when they break into the home of a seemingly helpless blind man (Stephen Lang), things don't exactly go to plan. The film takes a different route to most home invasions, more in line with The People Under the Stairs than Hush, this is an extremely effective move from Alvarez that makes for one of the most suspenseful games of cat and mouse in the history of horror cinema.

Setting aside the hardcore gore that made Evil Dead so memorable, Alvarez now relies on suspense to frighten the audience. Not only does this give him an opportunity to show off his incredible directorial skills and masterful cinematography from Pedro Luque, including some fantastic tracking shots that would even make Inarritu giddy, but it also allows him to play with the audience in a whole different way than in his first outing. The suspense is eminent as soon as the trio step inside the house, every silence is gut-wrenching while any loud noise is perfect shock value. The protagonists thrive on silence as it's the only way to stay safe from the blind man, meanwhile every creaky floorboard, slamming door or vibrating phone acts as a threat to them. It's so simple yet incredibly effective, the antagonist cannot see them which forces them not to make a single noise (hence the title), therefore anytime they do make even the slightest sound it results in a catharsis of terror that's both exciting and terrifying to watch. I literally found myself biting my nails in fear during some sequences. The score by Roque Banos also enhances this suspense, it knows when to be minimal and let the silence take over, as well as kicking in whenever the tension rises.

Returning with Alvarez is his Evil Dead lead Jane Levy who plays the primary protagonist Rocky, she gives a truly harrowing performance throughout and finds herself facing all sorts of terrors. She also uses her acting abilities to flesh out her characters emotional depth, allowing us to see her as more than just a petty thief but someone who has a reason for her actions. Along with her is the always enjoyable Dylan Minnette as Alex, the trio's moral compass of sorts. I feel like Minnette could play the dullest character ever and still make them incredibly likeable just by acting, his character is not dull in this film but it's safe to say that Minnette was the right choice to bring him to life. The third member of the party is Rocky's irritating boyfriend Money (yes, that's his name) played by Daniel Zovatto, the dickhead of the group and a character whose death warrant is signed from the beginning. The real star of the show however, is Stephen Lang's blind man. A highly skilled army vet with a heightened sense of hearing, The Blind Man is a true force to be reckoned with. Appearing almost out of nowhere at times and using even the slightest noises to hunt his prey, the Blind Man is undoubtedly the next great horror icon thanks to a very intense performance from Lang.

The film is very well paced straight from the beginning, it doesn't dwell too much on the set up or introducing the main characters but works well nonetheless. Alvarez gets straight into things here and within the first twenty minutes or so the tension has already begun rising. Once inside the house the tension continues to rise to extremely high levels which works wonderfully, there is little gore and only a few jumpscares but that's all that is necessary. You will literally feel your heart pounding against your chest for the majority of the films duration. If there's one thing I could criticise about this film it's this plot twist (which I won't spoil) that occurs and is played out more in the final act. It just felt out of place and unnecessary and I feel like it was just thrown in there to give audiences another reason to dislike the blind man. Apart from that however, this is a really tough film to fault, it's fun, it's tense and it's scary as hell.

All in all, Don't Breathe is a masterclass in suspense horror. It's well paced and well framed, allowing for a steady yet effective building of tension that never fails to pay off. The performances are fantastic all around while Alvarez' direction proves that he can do much more than just hardcore violence. It's a truly frightening film that will have you on the edge of your seat from the second the trio enter the home of the blind man. Every silence is golden and every sound is a threat and Don't Breathe will have your heart racing like nothing before, another fantastic piece of horror cinema for 2016.