Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead 2013 director) did a fantastic job co-writing and also directing this film. Released through Ghost House (Sam Raimi’s horror label) it once again proves that Fede is a really good horror director. Raimi was also a producer for this film. Going into this, we weren’t expecting “Don’t Breathe” to be horror. The concept and previews made it seem like a thriller being done by a horror studio. We were wrong. “Don’t Breathe” was a very atmospheric thrill ride, while still managing to bring a looming horror element to it.
The film takes place in Detroit, and starts off with three kids, presumably in their 20’s, breaking into a house and looting it. After a meager reward for their efforts, they soon learn about a house in the abandoned section of Detroit where an old man lives and is sitting on what they think is $300,000. They want to get out of Detroit, so they decide that they want to pull off this robbery.
After doing some recon, they determine that the street is barren almost always in the neighborhood this man lives in, so there isn’t much risk of anyone seeing them. One of the robber kids is the son of a guy who works for a home security company and usually has a key to most places that use this security company. This was one of them. This old house had been modified by the resident to have four locks on the door, so they had to find another way in. They wait for the dark to make their move. After figuring out a way in, they realize that the blind man that lives there is not just a feeble old man. He’s a much more dangerous person.
This film was just really good overall. At first, you don’t think there is much horror to it, but there is a really ugly dark side to this blind man who lives in the house they are robbing. The atmosphere of this film is consistently tense and has you holding your own breath every time the blind guy is on the screen. This film does a great job of building the tension in such a way that you really can’t help but try to instinctively remain as quiet as possible while watching. There are a couple of jump scares, but not many at all, and the ones that are there are not ones that are unwarranted. After they get into the house it doesn’t take long for the owner to find them. When he does, the film kicks into high gear. He realizes that someone is in there with him, and locks his house down from the inside to prevent them from escaping.
It’s honestly hard to say much about this film without giving too much away, as it mostly takes place in one house. We will say that it is definitely worth a watch, and easily one of the top 5 horror films released in 2016.
