A Tidy Little Thriller

Rating: 7/10 (27 August 2016)

I admired the pacing, the surprises and general flow of action, all tied up at the end with a pretty ribbon. But the movie somehow left me flat.
Thinking back to classics like Vertigo and North by Northwest, I realized that character does matter even in a Boo movie. At first I liked the idea that we jumped right into the action without a lot of buildup, but then the characters started to feel 2-D.
The girl Rocky wasn't convincing as an abused teen turned bad. She had Good Girl, not Bad Girl, makeup and hair. Alex was a Good Guy with no personality whatsoever. The blind guy was great, though.
The other problem was basic lack of plot. Yes, we don't get Wuthering Heights at a screamfest, but the repetition, albeit with twists, as one critic pointed out, was like a dance. Wham! Wham! Scuttle scuttle scuttle. Wham! Wham! Scuttle scuttle scuttle. It reminded me of a Punch and Judy show.
In spite of the adroit direction, there were odd lapses. SPOILER! In one scene the blind guy is standing over Alex with giant garden shears - then dives for his belly. In a scene not longer afterward, Alex hugs his belly briefly, then gets up and walks around as usual - no hole in gut.
Rocky falls on her head down a steep ventilation shaft but has no broken bones. Not even a concussion. These are hardy teens! Don't Breathe is worth the admission but not worth all the hype.