Don't Breathe (2016)

Director: Fede Alvarez

Story: Rodo Sayagues, Fede Alvarez

Cast: Jane Levy, Dylan Minette, Daniel Zovatto, Stephen Lang

Music: Roque Baños

Time: 88 minutes

Bottom-line: Simple and effective... but nothing great

Horror movies without supernatural elements have always interested me and the positive word of mouth made me watch this horror drama Don’t Breathe. Taking place predominantly over one night, the film is the story of a botched robbery. The film isn’t scary, but sure is creepy, and of course, violent. The simplicity of the story makes it possible for a totally believable horror film, but takes care not to make it too clichéd.

Three robbers: Alex (Minette), Rocky (Levy) and Money (Zovatto) make money by breaking into houses. They sell their items but the buyer doesn’t give them a fair price; Rocky needs the money to take her child to California, away from her neglectful mother. Money receives a tip that there is an old war veteran in Detroit who has a six-figure settlement in his house. So they decide to break-in, and as they spy on him, they also find out that the old man is blind. So they plan the heist at two in the morning…but once they are inside the house, they realise that the old man is not so vulnerable. Soon the three of them are fearing for their own lives!

 

(From left) Zovatto as Money, Levy as Rocky
and Minette as Alex

The score is quite chilling and like in most horror movies, contributes to the scares. The acting isn’t that great… but Levy’s performance seems to be best of the four – look out for the scene where she is trapped by the Blind Man. Lang barely has 10 lines to speak but his character is created in such a way that his silence is what makes him creepy! When we see him walking towards the camera with a gun in hand, alert to even the slightest squeak or whisper, you as a viewer are even scared to breathe (and hence the name!).   

 

Lang as The Blind Man

The film delivers its short bursts of thrills mainly due to surprise elements. The camerawork is smartly done – with slow motion just when required – to create those sudden appearances, especially of the Blind Man, and to show just enough gore. The story is quite simple: it is just three people entering a house and getting caught inside, but surprisingly, every bit of shock is genuine. There are one or two scenes that will shake you but other than that there is a fair amount of blood to look out for. The plot twists are well-timed, and the ending may not tie everything up neatly but then again, that may have been the plan (sequel perhaps?).

The camerawork, score and the plot twists are effective, and the story is fairly simple and decent too. It is a watch-for-fun movie and I wouldn’t really recommend it for people looking for a proper horror flick; it is chilling, but not exactly "scary".

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 87%