Don't Breathe

I used to believe in Fede Alvarez a lot, then after Evil Dead sent him packing – and now I am cautiously taking him back. Because in Don't Breathe there is none of the expected gore or cheapness, except for that specific basement episode, but in terms of genre, surprisingly ambitious composition lies in this eerie building. This game with audience expectations, where my relationship to the characters repeatedly and significantly changes, has no equal. Combined with the natural progression of scares and an unbearably intense scene in absolute darkness, I willingly overlook a few moments where a viewer with a taste for finding plotholes could show a bit of mercy. (08/07/2017)

Finally, a properly suspense-filled haunted house without ghosts. And one jump-scare that will give you a heart attack. I wonder how many viewers will realize that the butcher is played by the famous villain from Avatar. The youngsters are also A-listers and the whole production is top rate. Sam Raimi is a guarantee of quality. They were probably attracted to the creepy sites of Detroit ghost-town by the recent delicious It Follows. The movie makes surviving difficult for the characters while making many a genre cliché sweat (and bleed). The point of the film is half-baked, but we can forgive that. (05/10/2016)

Don't Breathe does suffer from its simple plot, as towards the end it starts to unravel, and the constant stretching of when the story should actually end somewhat detracts from the overall impression. Simply put: As long as the action takes place in the house it's good, but once the characters get outside it gets a bit too clichéd and you're just waiting for the last scene to happen. (28/11/2016)

Fede Alvarez really captured my attention since Panic Attack!. But at the time, I had no idea that his creative skills would take a turn towards Sam Raimi and Timur Rodrigez. I am not saying that it’s bad, I just think that he could do better. That is very visible in this movie. Even though it pretends to be a horror movie, I would describe it rather as a thriller with illogical situations similar to those in horror movies. In this case, though, I don’t really care because the movie is mostly about the idea and the atmosphere, so it is fine when the director helps himself out with some illogicality. For example, I have to say that two of the three thieves in this movie have nine lives like a cat, because what they survive would be impossible even for Chuck Norrisʼs third cousin. But well... yeah, at least there is something to watch. (31/12/2016)

This is an intense rush that has such strong tension that I would have guessed that the film was from the old continent. However, Sam Raimi has sniffed out a distinctive talent on the other side of the ocean who wields a clear vision and rarely agrees to compromise, perhaps by trimming believability in favor of plot development. Yet Lang's tragic protagonist and the atmosphere that cuts under your skin reign supreme, not to mention the few minutes in "absolute darkness." 4 ½. (18/10/2016)