A roller-coaster of suspense

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2016)

Directed by Fede Álvarez (the same guy who gave us the Evil Dead remake), this film tells the story about a group of three young burglars who make a living out selling the items they stole. It is right up until they come across a house that is owned by an old blind man, giving one of them second thoughts. The decision is made, however, as all three of them go for it. Assuming that he is asleep, they snoop around looking for the safe. But all hell breaks loose, as the blind man finally wakes up and shoots the group-leader dead. This leaves the two remaining burglars to survive and look for one or more ways to escape.
I'll start, of course, with the cast and characters: Jane Levy (also starring in the Evil Dead remake) plays Rocky, a young-adult woman living with her little sister and her drug-addicted mother; her goal in life is to move to California with her sister. Next, we have Dylan Minnette as Alex, who seems as the most intelligent in the group. Up next, we have the mastermind, I kid you not, Money, played by Daniel Zovatto (whom I didn't even recognize until reading his bio on Wikipedia; he played one of the boyfriends in It Follows). And last, but certainly not least, we have Stephen Lang as the Blind Man, a veteran who apparently lost his sight in the Vietnam War.
The acting is top notch, especially by Jane Levy, as well as Dylan Minnette. But most importunately, Lang is the one who steals the show. He gives the best performance that I have ever seen from him. At first, he seems like a regular old blind guy; but as it turns out, he is a raging psychopath.
Each and every scene in this film keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for something to happen at the word go, because it sure had me at the edge of my bed. With all of that said, this has been one of my most anticipated films of the year. And after finally viewing it, I will say that it has exceeded my expectations.