Don't Turn a Blind Eye to This UnScary Thriller

Rating: 8/10 (26 August 2016)

The end of August is usually full of blunt films that are meant to fill spaces, but sometimes Hollywood knows how to close out the summer in style. The promise of this weekend is the latest horror film called Don't Breathe. Robbie K here, and I'm back to share my opinions and advice on the latest movies. Do we have a champion horror movie? Or are we fooled once again. As alwaysread on to find out.
LIKES:  Suspense  Plot twists  Good pace
When a trailer promises suspense, my experience has been a few on the seat moments often deluded by cheesy plot lines and over exaggerated monsters. Fortunately, Don't Breathe decided to cast its die another way to deliver on what was promised. The movie is filled with suspense from the moment the "heroes" enter the house and begin their journey to rob a blind man. Using very simple, though well planned, tactics our main cast of three traverse the dark corridors in hopes of escaping with their lives. Many of the audience cringed with the creak of a rogue floor board, waiting for the military man to appear and hunt his prey. One doesn't realize how silent things are until that sudden sound effect pops out. Yes, the presentation certainly gives you the suspense you are craving, but that's not the only thing they did right.
In terms of plot, horror movies often have quality components, but as a whole are mundane, unoriginal, and formulaic. This movie is very similar to many films, but stands out for the plot twists thrown into the mix. You can get some of these twists from the trailers, however our screenplay writers dropped a few bombs into the mix that take the story down a new road. These surprises keep things fresh and add more urgency to the moment to further bring the thrills you sought with the trailer. And even better its presented at a quick pace that adds more energy to the scenes and a since of adventure that you often miss in horrors. It all feels like a visual version of the most dangerous game and doesn't dawdle to deliver the good stuff.
DISLIKES:  Overly drawn out at times  Not that scary  Uber cheesy
OkayI know that horror movies are always a stretch of the imagination and there are a lot of overly done moments. Don't Breathe, while more on the realistic side, certainly drops into many moments that sometimes feel like it won't end. While some of these moments are focused on narrow misses in the basement, or dodging shots from a gun with seemingly infinite ammunition. My main issue has to be with some of more violent moments, watching the buff military guy beat down the trespassers in vicious fury. Yeah, it delivers some swift justice, but hearing the sounds of squishing blood and grunts of pain gets stupid after a while. I can't say most of it was pointless, but our director may need to get checked out for how much he seemed to enjoy the violent moments. In fact, it seems that the violence was the focus that the scares were left out. Speaking of which.
The scare factor of this movie was not really there for me. Oh sure, a whacked out marine sergeant with a wicked temper and skills is a scary thing to witness due to the realism factor. However, it is not the thing to keep me up at night, minus one of the scenes near the middle of the film. The Blind Man is not the creepy, nightmare inducing monsters/demons/spirits that the genre is famous for. In fact, you kind of feel sorry for him at times which dilutes the scary/creepy factor for most of the film. And the movie fails to use the creepy edge and replaces it with those jump scare moments you can see coming from a mile away. Maybe if they had added a serial killer edge, or a creeped out mental patient moment it would have sweetened the pot.
Finally, the last dislike is the cheesy moments in the film. Before you rip me a new one and say this review is useless hear me out. Yes, horror movies are cheesy it's what allows for the monsters and situations to exist that fans want to dive into. Unfortunately for me that cheesiness took a turn down the wrong avenue for me. First of all, the whole situation wouldn't exist if the main characters weren't overzealous thieves trying to justify their action. The means for the movie made my eyes roll and I actually cheered against the kids in the beginning because of how much I disliked them. In addition, the convenient elements (e.g. guns with lots of shots, vents that are just the right size, and surprisingly resistant bodies) are just some of the other cheesy things they amplify in this movie. I'll give them props for resourcefulness though and managing to dilute the factors to fit into the suspense.
The Verdict:
When it comes to Don't Breathe, the word Thriller is the most appropriate way to describe this film. It provides the continuous suspense that your attention craves and throws enough surprises into the mix to make a decent tale. However, in terms of scary, I can't say it was the most system shocking of the mix. Still I have to recommend this one for the crowd who longs for a fast paced horror who like a bunch of close calls. Yet for the rest of the world, hold out for this one and catch it at Redbox in a few months.
My scores:
Horror/Thriller: 7.0 (Thriller alone a 7.5) Movie Overall: 6.5