 Tagline: This house looked like an easy target. Until they found what was inside. Rocky, a young woman wanting to start a better life for her and her sister, agrees to take part in the robbery of a house owned by a wealthy blind man with her boyfriend Money and their friend Alex. But when the blind man turns out to be a more ruthless adversary than he seems, the group must find a way to escape his home before they become his newest victims. Storyline: Rocky, a young woman wanting to start a better life for her and her sister, agrees to take part in the robbery of a house owned by a wealthy blind man with her boyfriend Money and their friend Alex. But when the blind man turns out to be a more ruthless adversary than he seems, the group must find a way to escape his home before they become his newest victims. Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, December 2, 2016 There's an old blonde joke that goes something like this: A blonde walks into a salon wearing a pair of headphones. The blonde tells her hairdresser not to remove them. But the hairdresser can't do anything while they're on her head, so she removes them, anyway. Moments later, the blonde dies. The baffled hairdresser puts the headphones on and hears a voice calmly repeating "breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out." Seems like Don't Breathe is out to get blondes! All kidding aside, there's really nothing funny about Director Fede Alvarez's (Evil Dead) latest film. It's a lean, intense, and disturbing movie, a Horror film in which the boogeyman (boogeymen, really; there are no clear-cut heroes in the movie) is a man and man's own vices and a symphony of misguided youth, wrongdoing, and evil that converge in one night of terror, terrible revelations, trembling teenagers, and a tank-top-wearing old timer. Three young adults -- Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette), and Money (Daniel Zovatto) -- are Detroit residents who make a living robbing the wealthy, taking only goods from homes, not money. That's one of their tricks of the trade and a credo by which they live and die. Their secret weapon is Alex, whose father runs a home security firm that handles the alarm systems for the homes they target. But when riches come-a-calling, it seems their rules are meant to be broken. They catch wind of a major score at a run-down house in a crumbling suburb that's been largely abandoned save for one man (Stephen Lang), a blind war veteran who the thieves believe is stashing several hundred thousand dollars in cash in his home. It's a risky proposition. Money is all in, and so is Rocky; she wants nothing more than to flee Detroit for California. Alex, however, isn't so sure, but he's eventually talked into joining the raid. Little do they know that a simple heist could turn into a night of terror in a world they couldn't have expected to exist behind ragged, unassuming, closed doors. Don't Breathe is in many ways the antithesis of the modern genre movie, playing things straight and honest, and even if it doesn't always surprise, it works on atmosphere, straightforward storytelling, and streamlined direction rather than hoping that a flood of stuff and gore and jump scares can mask the fundamental flaws that prohibit so many other movies from succeeding. In fact, the movie's best scene, and a couple of others to a lesser extent, take the reverse course of the jump scare, silencing the stage to build tension rather than inundating it with the sorts of sudden bursts of chaos that have lost their effectiveness over the years. Instead, the movie plays to its story and strengths, living up to its title but also doing what it can to, contrary to its namesake, breathe new life into a stale genre that's largely grown ineffective and tiresome over the years. It's very well paced, too, wasting almost none of its sub-90-minute runtime on needless filler or fluff. Characters and their motivations are quickly established. While not necessarily novel, it's enough to propel the movie forward and reach the crux where the only slowdowns occur by design to increase tension. Audience attachment to characters grows as the story develops, as new revelations come into focus. Again, much of it isn't exactly going to rewrite the screenwriting 101 handbook, but what the movie does do well is cater to its strengths and only fuss around where it must, not where it can. If for no other reason, Don't Breathe is worth a watch if only to revel in its well defined simplicity and the know-how that runs it. Alvarez is the real hero here. He's put together a movie that's not only fluent in its terror but that's supported by a terrific atmosphere and location that play to the movie's strengths. The house is just open enough to give the material room to work while dark and claustrophobic enough to engender a real sense of terror. Hiding places are few, but strategically positioned to allow heightened tension in various scenes. Then again, the movie's best moments are those aforementioned bursts of silence where characters stand off like an old west showdown where it's not who is quick on the draw but who can remain still and quiet the longest that's destined to win. Acting is fine. Much like the characters the performers play there's nothing exactly revelatory but the three youthful primaries find enough realism in character shape, contrasting fear and aggression and necessity before the robbery and terror during. Stephen Lang handles the challenge of playing the blind elderly victim -- who himself harbors a few secrets -- very well. The performance is certainly impressive physically -- he seems to know his way around the house by feel alone and showcasing what remains of his hard-edged military training -- but also in engendering a fair bit of real depth that only slowly comes into focus as the character develops. Good work all around. Don't Breathe is a rock-solid movie that works thanks to a lean plot, terrific atmospherics, good performances, and no-frills construction. Its title isn't great, but beyond that there's not much room to complain. Genre fans are going to love it, and those who are more Horror-averse may very well find its psychological bend and emphasis on narrative and structure rather than crudeness and gore to be an enticing draw. Sony's Blu-ray features terrific video and audio. Supplements are good. Highly recommended. [CSW] -3.8- This reviewer said it better than I could: Don’t Breathe seems like nothing more than a gimmicky premise parading around as an unique thriller. Luckily, it’s more than that. Eschewing the uniquitous teeny-centric scare-fests we are so often bridled with, director Alvarez has sidestepped convention to give us a brutal genre picture full of “What in the world?!” surprises and jaw-dropping twists. Thanks to the strength in its accomplished direction and focused scope, Don’t Breathe is a pull-no-punches, edge-of-your-seat nightmare. It’s a reverse of the home-invasion story, like a slightly less compelling (although more purely plotted) version of 10 Cloverfield Lane: a group of burglars is terrorized by the homeowner, blind war veteran who is more than meets the eye. Alvrez’s direction is unexpectedly strong, as the clever camera work and immense details pull us right in. In particular, the way a blind person may setup up their home is perfectly realized (empty rooms, backwards-facing TVs). On top of that, the fight scenes are well-staged and the sound editing mixed with the score beautifully manipulates the tension. The characters, unfortunately, are not as successful. The cool meta-element that speaks of film-going voyeurism gets a bit lost when the characters aren’t quite engaging enough. A movie-personification of the axiom “hurt people hurt people”, and Lang as the blind, pseudo-villain is the only real high-point as an effectively imposing and volatile presence. Otherwise, the motivations range from clichéd to weak, desperately needing more layers and better dialogue (again, see 10 Cloverfield Lane). Luckily, when you’re deep inside this joylessly demented thriller, it’s roller-coaster scares are the perfect post-summer escape at the theaters.This one grew on me and after renting it on 12/01/2016 I slowly was further intrigued and decided it was worth owning. [V4.5-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box Cast Notes: Stephen Lang (The Blind Man), Jane Levy (Rocky), Dylan Minnette (Alex), Daniel Zovatto (Money), Emma Bercovici (Diddy), Franciska Töröcsik (Cindy), Christian Zagia (Raul), Katia Bokor (Ginger), Sergej Onopko (Trevor), Olivia Gillies (Blind Man's Daughter [Young Emma]), Dayna Clark (TV Anchor), Athos (Dog), Astor (Dog), Nomad (Dog). IMDb Rating (12/24/16): 7.2/10 from 81,668 users
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