The Best Original Movie Of The Year

Rating: 10/10 (22 September 2016)

The most difficult was not enter the movie theater, the most difficult is to get out alive from it. From the second one to eighty-eight minute: this is the amount of time you will be suffocated - literally, holding the breath - within the asphyxiate and perturbing home invasion of one of the greatest of modern horror, Fede Alvarez. He is proudly latino, Alvarez managed a swift leap to the prodigious Hollywood by means of a sci-fi short uploaded on Youtube in 2009 called "Panic Attack!", basic but supreme posed an invasion of robots in Montevideo, Uruguay. A few weeks later, Ghost House Pictures proposed him to direct the coveted remake of "Evil Dead", colossal work considered as the official feature film debut of the talented director within the American film. After the high expectations that he reaped after the almost perfect cinematic experience in 2013, the Uruguayan gets into the field of the thriller genre for obfuscate us with a suggestion as simple as complex, a cult film and a clear sign that the brilliant and original minds still exist.
From dark first shot in style of 'flashforward', with a slow descent in high-angle towards the focus of attention, "Don't Breathe" promises a well-measured ferocious adventure intelligent enough to delight both fans of the genre and adrenaline junkies with psychological and physical horror that will leave you submerged in a catatonic state approximately for the rest of your life. Without the need of an intricate dialogue and subplots which do not give novel anything to the story, the introduction of the main leads happens in the blink an eye, a couple of scenes that will have significant weight along the footage and we are already in, no exit. A young trio with different personal motivations perpetrate private properties of the wealthy during the summer months, despite these do not lead to much significance since they do so without committing a truly grave criminal-offense. With the condition that this will be their last burglary, because of the economic magnitudes that this entails, the burglars break into the desolate dwelling of a military veteran in Detroit - known only as the Blind Man -, a city that has been affected by social and economic turmoils, the perfect ghost town to run a robbery. After they are inside the house, a storm of unexpected events occur uncontrollably, proving that in the land of dark, the blind man is king.
With a script conceived by Fede Alvarez and his recurring collaborator Rodo Sayagues, the film deliberately slips away between personal boundaries of each character to gradually reveal who are the real preys. The narrative standards of this duo do not have moderation, nor imaginative standstills because they leverage each minor opportunity for disturb with professionalism and natural exertion. The curiosity by seeing the final result of a premise so simple and nothing muddled perverted my mind, and indeed, this is a genuine work of the suspense and horror. As a fan of the genre, it is a categorical conviction to see the unforeseen resurgence of original ideas to temporarily revitalize the harassed and wasted world of horror, though, there is no doubt that both the simplicity and efficacy of "Don't Breathe" will cynically be emulated in future films.
The continuous use of space is vital energy to join us with the setting of the story. Just as its argumentative aspect, the film insinuates us the idea of having a limited geography about the house, nonetheless, Alvarez and his team find ways to make the viewers aware of the claustrophobic impasses inside the abode. From the beginning, the camera movement makes specific focuses to key places or elements for the plot - as we will see later -, in order to situate ourselves in the sinister and colorless environment of the basement, lounge, closet or air ducts.
For the stifling and oppressive atmosphere were indispensable two fundaments with excellent finishes. Roque Baños is the Spanish author responsible for the tense soundtrack that accompanies the second primordial characteristic, photography. Pedro Luque - also Uruguayan - prettifies masterfully the spaces of the setting with components well measured such as lighting, brightness enhancement, suffocating camera angles and limited special effects. As you will surely remember, the chase scene in the pale dark, something in neo- noir style, without a doubt, one of the most awesome of the year since in the land of the dark, the blind man reigns and now each human being with its five senses will be more prone than the trained blind man.
"Don't Breathe" takes control of each visual and narrative help at its disposal, it does not worry about to please critical spectators because it unintentionally does. The best original film of the year runs an intriguing narrative, a great-looking survival structure, tremendous innovations for the horror genre that will keep you glued to the screen and the constant improvement of a new combination of film genres ("Green Room" & "10 Cloverfield Lane"). Relentless, unique, simple and concise, terrifying, impressive, allegorical, gloomy, intimidating, suffocating. Fede Alvarez owed us a perfect cinematic experience after "Evil Dead", "Don't Breathe" is it, pure film.