Director Fede Alvarez is back with his sophomore effort “Don’t Breathe” after making a name for himself a few years ago with his riveting reimagining of Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic “The Evil Dead.” It’s a fascinating transition to see Alvarez bring his first original movie to life after handling a cult classic.
Working under Raimi’s production banner, Ghost House, twice now shows that one of the masters of horror is bringing up a new class of filmmakers to take over the genre. That gives hope to the fans that have been disappointed for years with barely mediocre horror movies.
Straying away from the supernatural, Alvarez blends real life fears with his horror. Being alone in the dark, strangers and the loss of loved ones are elements that can combine beautifully to create a landscape of true pain.
Rocky (Jane Levy, “Suburgatory”), Alex (Dylan Minnette, “Goosebumps”) and Money (Daniel Zovatto, “Fear the Walking Dead”) are three young thieves that are desperate to run away from the lives they currently lead. When they catch wind of a heist that could give them the chance to truly start over, they go for it but soon discover that their plan will not go well. The man who lives there, The Blind Man (Stephen Lang, “Into the Badlands”) is more than he appears. His tortured past still runs deep inside him and his home might be too much for these unsuspecting thieves to deal with if they really want his money.
Lang deserves some recognition for his portrayal of The Blind Man. With only a few speaking lines, he brings much more than the average horror villain usually does pain, anger and a secret past fuels all of that. The intense look in his dead, cloudy eyes would make the strongest men run in fear.
These thieves aren’t strong, they’re practically children that need to fend against this monster in the dark. Every moment with Lang on screen is a moment to be mesmerized; he is the perfect villain for the real world. Being old, blind and helpless is almost too unsuspecting for an attacker to be, but he is not who he seems to be, as many people are, and makes the audience wonder about their own lives.
“Don’t Breathe” is beautifully shot, a look that adds something very unique to the violence and horrible things that are about to be displayed on screen. Alvarez does a great job setting things up and getting the ball rolling, a truly suspenseful experience from the opening shot until the end, but not without its flaws.
Some moments are stretched out a little too much to keep that high intensity feeling in the gut. That feeling is lost a few times but appears again as the journey continues. Some twists and turns happen along the way, but they don’t live up to what the film seems to be escalating to.
This was a masterful display of prowess in horror. Alcarez a natural behind the lens and brings plenty of bang to the film, but sadly not enough bite.
