A fun and nerve wrecking little horror classic

Rating: 9/10 (4 July 2017)

I don't really go to see the independent movies in theaters, but the cast and the premise for this movie was more than appealing to me. Stephen Lang I've known since Avatar, Jane Levy I've known since the Evil Dead remake, and I like Dylan Minnette who was previously in the Ghostbusters movie with Jack Black. To me this film had the same tone and appeal "It Follows" did, but whereas that film built up the tension, Don't Breathe felt like it had a pulse, every time you think it'll die down the tension and fear smacks you in the face, leaving no time to relax. The film centres around a group of three young home invaders who decide to target the home of an old blind war veteran, who they know has a large sum of money stored in his home, the last inhabited home in a rundown Detroit neighborhood. Little do they know, this blind old man is far from helpless, and a simple home invasion quickly becomes a nightmare.
That alone got me hooked. Finding out the director of Don't Breathe Fede Alvarez had also directed the Evil Dead remake, I knew I'd be in for a surprise, and I wasn't disappointed. There are so many ways the situation could have been avoided in a typical horror film like this, but Alvarez made make perfect care to quickly negate any of these options; the characters have to be fast on their feet and know how to handle the situation before Lang's character finds them. At no point was I rolling my eyes and finding ways the director could have made a scene better; everything fits into place. Now there probably was a few times the characters made stupid decisions, but considering it wasn't in their position, I forgave them being too panicked to think properly. I wish more of these independent movies would be produced to wash out all of the found footage tripe we get each year. I want horror films to respect the audience instead of treating us like we're stupid.
I give this movie a 9 out of 10