Turning Blue

Rating: 8/10 (9 September 2016)

This is my review of Don't Breathe (spoiler free)
**** (4/5)
Lately, there has been a cycle of home invasion movies having a vulnerable protagonist – for example the deaf heroine in Hush, the agoraphobic of Shut In (a.k.a Intruders) – turning the table on murderous, larcenous thugs. Don't Breathe takes a slightly different tack on this premise, focusing on three varied crooks – an unstable bad boy who provides all the jobs, Money (Daniel Zovatto) a girl who need money to escape her not-so-happy home life, Rocky (Jane Levy) and a basically decent guy with a crush (Dylan Minnette) – they all make the mistake of targeting a grizzly tough ex-combat soldier (Stephen Lang) as their last target. Although influenced by many home invasion movies clashing regular criminals trying to make an extra bit of money with a contemporary maniac (No One Live, The Neighbour, The Collector). Although having dashed off the competent, not-so-memorable Evil Dead remake, Uruguayan writer/director Fede Alvarez doesn't exactly go all-out to break new ground with this 'original' – but he demonstrate the understanding of how this sort of suspense picture works. Making revelations every ten minutes, but as the more perilous and extreme moments come in there is a genuine element of terror and a thrill that will be memorable for any audience. Through the 88 minutes it adds terror, thrills, suspense and a memorable antagonist who is a lot more proficient, and less vulnerable than the young crooks last thought.
The scarce use of dialogue isn't exactly worth while as there isn't much to go on when it comes to character development (spoken term) but as the story goes on turns out we don't need it as the slow and creepy editing style adds to the dark feel of the film, as we are constantly on edge as the element of threat gets stronger. One of the editing styles adds a night vision shot at one point and zooms it in really close to one of the invaders, so as you see their scared face it will increase the tension that this story was already full of. So in terms of story its limited but certainly makes up for it, not really classed as a go-for-broke horror as there are a few jump scares not really taking over the sheer threat of having a blind combat proficient man chase after you. Although this could be shown as a message for home invaders. The story is filled with constant suspense as the three thieves try to escape the blind man's home, although what they don't expect is that the Blind Man already has a plan for the thieves. That gives the thieves an idea, but as the story goes on in the main set-up inside the house he's not as paranoid as they thought, in fact, far from it. As stated above the jump scares are limited kind of strong however the feeling of suspense adds to the scares. Filmed practically it shows there is no need for special effects pizazz as some horrors try adding to make the story scarier, however it really wasn't needed in this as this antagonist and the dark atmosphere add enough horror.
Also the feeling of claustrophobia is shown as one of the characters is in a tight confined space in a moment which will have you constantly on edge just many other characters in movies that have to deal with tight spaces, this is more towards the terrifying denouement which we'll get to later. There is a sense of shock in one of the scenes as the thieves discover which they did not expect and it adds a sense of imprisonment which is the whole theme of the film, but when it gets to this bit it is a very memorable moment which the audience will remember until well after the credits roll. It shows prolonging sense of agony. All this including the thrill are all made the bit creepier with Roque Banos' foreboding score which will send a shiver right down your spine. Each time this adds the feeling of every time one or the other robbers has a chance to get away clean, something pulls them back whether they creak a floorboard or even break some glass the antagonist gets ever closer to catching you.
Finally as we all know at the end of a horror film in this case home invasion film the terror gets more fast paced, but in this not only is the terror nearly taking over the entire film there are also some feel good bits. But also as we get closer to the end the last act subjects the girl to a ferocious, slobbering guard dog, a padded basement dungeon (with a suspension harness) and a shocking home medical procedure. Although Lang, is an underrated character best known for his good-guy-cum-villain-cum-hard-to-kill-guy in Avatar, he is a powerful, menacing presence that also manages a little bit of pathos as we start to feel sorry for him as he is the real victim because we learn that he has lost everything he knows/loves and he preaches that there is no God because he took away the things he knew, so essentially he has nobody and he just wants to be left alone that is the message that this sends.
VERDICT: Alvarez gives full blown suspense, terror and darkness in an original escapee horror that will make you struggle for every last breath.
8/10 terrifying.