Movie Reviews

When three twentysomething thieves (Jane Levy, Daniel Zovatto and Dylan Minnette) break into the house of an aging war veteran (played with gusto by Stephan Lang), it seems like an easy score. After all, the guy is blind so what is he going to do? Blink at them? Turns out the guy, who is supposedly keeping 300 grand stashed in his place, is not nearly as harmless as they thought he would be. Getting into the house was the easy part, getting out turns out to be a wholly different affair.

Don’t Breathe is the latest movie by director Fede Alvarez, the man who blew new life into Evil Dead back in 2013, and it is as relentless as the bite of the Rottweiler that is also in the house. Alvarez takes plenty of time to get to know the thieves, but as soon as they have entered the premises, a tightly choreographed cat and mouse game ensues between the trio and the supposed victim.

Alvarez, clearly having a lot of fun with this one, lets the tension build up to the point that I almost broke the armrest of the chair when I saw this movie in the theatre. The twists and turns creep up on you from every dark corner and hidden space in the house and it all leads up to a disturbing, violent and incredibly gratifying finale. By far one of the best horror movies I have seen in quite some time.