Don't Breathe

At last! A horror/thriller which doesn't send a bunch of students into the woods to die. It just sends three thieves to fight a blind war veteran. The film has a very decent plot, a great suspenseful atmosphere, and a fair amount of brutality and insemination. The only thing that didn't work for me was the attempt to convince me that if you steal to give your little sister a better life you are actually in the right. For me personally, the main good guy was the blind man who was just trying to defend his property from invasion by local raiders. I enjoyed the film from start to finish. (2016-11-15)

Alvarez is a master. In Don’t Breathe he delivers a similarly intensive and energetic horror story as in his recent remake of Evil Dead, but with a more focused and, in many aspects, more surprising tale, based on a simple premise that is exploited to the maximum effect. In other words, satisfaction in every aspect. My only quibble is all those “endings”, where it seems that it’s “done”, but it turns out it isn’t due to bad decisions. Regarding the small time criminals from Detroit, nobody would expect them to behave rationally in a crisis situation, so OK. Don’t Breathe, however, stands out formally and with the performances. Stephen Lang as a blind war veteran is one of the best horror villains in recent years and Jane Levy is a candidate for the modern Scream Queen – the poor thing has gone through a lot in both Alvarez’s films :D... The camera, the sound, the dirty atmosphere. GREAT! Thanks to its sober run, the film is the antithesis of boredom and it’s also impossible to take the opposite critical position, that it’s too harsh and nasty. It is what horror should be. Certainly one of the highlights of the year. (2016-09-02)

A great genre exercise that excels at exactly what the given jewelry box needs, namely that for all the little ideas, suspenseful scenes, unexpected reversals, and overall intensity, you completely fail to perceive more than one logical barrier. Detroit is also starting to become my favorite horror destination after It Follows or Only Lovers Left Alive. Empty houses, empty streets, empty people, and the feeling that if you get lost you'll never be found again, all set against the backdrop of the hardscrabble fresh socio-economic history of the whole place. Suck it Blumhouse, this is how it's supposed to be. (2016-12-26)

I'm a little perplexed by Fede Alvarez's praised new release this year. Don't Breathe won both me and most fans over with its stylish trailer, but the film, although good, failed to captivate me much. I took the top-notch visuals and brisk pace for granted here, so I don't take these as plus points, translating more into minor downsides that distracted me while watching. Stephen Lang looks tough and commands respect, but he hardly speaks for the whole film, which bothered me, they could have given teasing dialogues threatening the thieves. Also, the guy who handled the sound would have deserved a slap, which at least for me took away the jump scares (for example, the scene with the dog, we see it three seconds before it barks, which lost the effect in me). The film is hardly brutal at all, compared to Evil Dead it keeps very low key, which also irritated me. None of the deaths are effective or interesting, and in fact there was a memorable scene missing that made me want to watch it again. The one twist that flickers throughout also doesn't hold much interest. All in all, an entertaining and at times suspenseful home invasion flick that masks its ordinariness with an original villain, but Evil Dead was a tribute much closer to my heart. Story 6/10, Atmosphere 8/10, Gore 2/10, Visuals 8/10, Action 6/10, Suspense 7/10, Humor 0/10. Entertainment 8/10, Scares 1/10. 70%. (2016-10-19)

This is an intense rush that has such strong tension that I would have guessed that the film was from the old continent. However, Sam Raimi has sniffed out a distinctive talent on the other side of the ocean who wields a clear vision and rarely agrees to compromise, perhaps by trimming believability in favor of plot development. Yet Lang's tragic protagonist and the atmosphere that cuts under your skin reign supreme, not to mention the few minutes in "absolute darkness." 4 ½. (2016-10-17)