Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette and Dylan Zovatto
Runtime: 88 minute
The latest creation from Fede Alvarez and Sam Raimi is Don’t Breathe, a film capable of holding an entire theatre frozen in silence for fear of alerting the onscreen antagonist, The Blind Man. Its premise is a simple one: three burglars look to make a big score which will allow them to get out of the game forever, the one complication being the occupant of the house they are robbing is a blind army veteran.
Raimi and Alvarez return after their success with The Evil Dead with Jane Levy once again in the lead role as heroine Rocky, whose motivation for the heist is escaping her lowlife mother. Dylan Minnette stars as Alex, delivering a strong performance in scenes of terror but also in quieter dialogue-driven scenes. Daniel Zovatto rounds out the group of burglars as Money, Rocky’s boyfriend, and de facto leader of the group.
The greatest revelation in Don’t Breathe is the performance of Stephen Lang, barely recognisable from his most widely known role as the primary antagonist in Avatar. As The Blind Man, Lang combines a startling physicality with a convincing portrayal of a man who has lost everything and been tipped over the edge by it: The Blind Man is no super-powered comic book character, but instead a well-adapted and well-trained military man whose skills have been honed over time, which makes him all the more terrifying.
Don’t Breathe does not simply rely on the performances of its actors. Visually, the film ties together a wide variety of interesting shots not often seen in this era of horror films. Likewise Alvarez’s intelligent subversion of viewers’ expectations of horror tropes, much in the same way as James Wan, means that close-up shots always threaten the jump-scare we are conditioned to expect, but rarely deliver.
The greatest strength of Don’t Breathe is its use of mounting dread rather than sudden frights, the crutch of many modern horror flicks. The Blind Man is not only scary when he suddenly appears on screen, but also causes trepidation when off-screen because of the aura of intimidation and total power created around his character.
Praise must also be given to the film’s soundtrack: not only does it inspire dread but the soundscape as a whole makes use of silence and small sounds to mount tension for the audience in ways barely reliant on the visual.
Don’t Breathe is one of the strongest horror films of the past few years, blending together excellently a cast of relative unknowns, a simple script with minimal dialogue, and a terrifying villain, all topped off by a truly off-putting twist just when most horror films would end.
In a nutshell – By no means an over-the-top gore fest, Don’t Breathe is a film for those who genuinely wish to be terrified.
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