Shut In

Rating: Null/10 (16 January 2017)

Unemployed and unable to find legitimate work, three young adults take to thievery as a last resort, however, breaking in a blind Vietnam War veteran's house leads to some horrific twists in this home invasion thriller produced by Sam Raimi. From the premise alone, the film sounds a lot like the earlier Adam Schindler movie 'Intruders' (aka 'Shut In') with the notion of the person whose home is being invaded being less helpless than first appears. Along these lines, 'Don't Breathe' seems to up the ante by making the thieves sympathetic; Jane Levy's character in particular has extensive early scenes in which we come to understand how much she and her younger sister not only want but need to move away from home. This dynamic renders the first half of 'Don't Breathe' quite interesting as we are pulled between feeling sorry for the blind war veteran and for the thieves with various incidents causing our sympathies to swing back and forth. The film disappointingly chooses a side around halfway in though as it is revealed that the veteran has a shocking secret in his basement. Not only is the secret implausible, it places us in an awkward position where ethically we have to root for the thieves instead, which just does not sit right. The film certainly has enough in the thrills and chills department that it is entertaining until the end and the pacing is never off. There is also a lot to like in the idea of the war veteran being better equipped than the thieves even without his sight, even if this idea could have perhaps been put to better use.