Don't Breathe movie review

Here's what you need to know; Detroit burglars Rocky, Money and Alex have their sights on a job that could end their life of criminality, a reclusive blind man who is supposedly sitting on a few hundred thousand dollars. It doesn't take the crew long however to realise that they've messed with the wrong man, as their blind victim is a retired army veteran who's not too keen on having guests, and hidden within his house are secrets they could never have prepared for.
My brother told me this film was crap, usually that is reason enough for me to try it out, and this wasn't an exception. And so, with the lights off, and my handy Rogue One note book at the ready, I sat down and watched Don't Breathe, let's go.

Don't breathe has a perfect opening, with a silent slow zoom of someone walking down the street, and the slow ambience creeping in as more is slowly revealed, it also sets up a good amount of intrigue for the film, in a way I won't spoil, it's a simple, yet chilling intro that sets the scene brilliantly. As usual we are then introduced to the three not heroes of the film. Rocky is the main not hero, as her background and motivations are most extensively explored; coming from a shithole home in Detroit with an abusive mum and stepdad, and a desire to leave for a better life with her sister. This desire to save herself and her sister is what motivates her to take on this job, and it makes her the most understandable and likable character in the film. Alex is less developed, being a facilitator of their break-ins, and having a not so well hidden hard on for Rocky, while Money is just an arsehole, there's not really much to say about him, a gangsta, and not the most intelligent burglar, in fact he's a bit of a moron. The film takes a very simple approach to its characters as it does to its story, which, up until a point, is very straight forward; three criminals, one of which with well developed background and motivations, break into the blind man's house, hoping to get rich, and find themselves in a survival horror video game. Because that's the best way to describe the blind man, he's a video game monster; he doesn't talk much, and is constantly stalking the burglars through a dark, claustrophobic house, it's like watching someone playing a stealth horror game like Alien Isolation, with a monster relentless stalking the player, and the player hiding where ever they can and literally holding their breath to avoid alerting the monster. This is by far the film's greatest strength; the feeling of terror as the blind man wonders the halls, and the tension building and building as he comes so close to catching them. The vast majority of the film takes place inside the house, creating a feeling of isolation that adds to the tension even more, and the aesthetic of the house is very effective, old and dusty, with barred up windows and multiple locks on every door, making escape nearly impossible, and the house is shrouded in darkness for the majority of the film. The rare moments where they can breathe are short lived, giving little time to relax the tension, before the Resident Evil villain comes back and starts stalking them again, and the moments when he catches them are vicious and defeating, but still do little to relax the tension. The film also does a good job with its jump scares, which aren't very numerous, but are very well utilised when they are used, and are not accompanied by an obnoxious loud noise like typical shitty jump scares, designed purely to make you jump rather than to capitalise on the terror and actually scare you. One of my favourite moments in the film is a sequence in the basement where all the lights go out, and the image is almost totally black, with just enough light to kind of make out what's going on, usually this would be stupid, but here it's brilliantly creepy, as the blind man has the advantage of them also being blind, and they almost get themselves killed a couple of times. As a horror film, this is very enjoyable, but it does have flaws, the biggest of which being to do with its story. The blind man has secrets in his house, but I don't think he needed to, I don't think that big reveal that happens in this film was very necessary, and I don't think it adds to the film, in fact I think the film would have been better in the end if it just kept to the simple premise of three people trapped in a house with a horror game monster, the reveal is creepy for sure, and a bit fucked up, but the film didn't need it when it was already doing so well with so little. I also think it overstepped a bit with its ending; there is a point near the end that would be the perfect ending, but the film carries on for a bit, and like the twisted reveal, it wasn't really necessary, it's like the film wasn't content with its simplicity, and wanted to be bigger, when it was fine as it was.

Don't Breathe is a film I enjoyed. My biggest problem with it is it's need to be more complicated with its story, rather than keeping it simple and doing what it was already doing so well, which was be utterly white knuckle tense. And that is where the film excels, as a quiet, dark, lonely trial of fear and anxiety. With minimal gore, minimal jump scares, and a great attention to building tension, the film does a great job of getting under your skin, and imposing on you the same feeling of confinement and panic as the burglars. I had a pleasantly unpleasant time with this film, and I'd definitely recommend Don't Breathe.