Surprise Hit of 2016!

Rating: 9/10 (20 September 2016)

Don't Breathe
Minor/Vague Spoilers
Last year it was The Gift, this year it's Don't Breathe. A Film that has come, seemingly, out of nowhere in the thriller/horror category and to me at least completely taken by surprise by how excellently both were done.
The director, Fede Alvarez, is very impressive with some of the shot compositions that he comes up with. While I wasn't a fan of his Evil Dead remake a few years ago he returns with a big hit. When the movie turned and Stephen Lang's character switches from innocent looking blind man to bad ass blind man the tone was set for the rest of the run time. 90% of this movie takes place in his house and you feel everything from isolation to fear to sometimes even catching yourself holding your breath as the kids do while Stephen Lang walks around the house hunting them down. When the kids first enter the house there is a great tracking shot that lasts quite a few minutes and never seems to cut away and it was very effective in showing the layout of the house as the kids walked inside it.
The film has mostly an unknown cast barring Stephen Lang who plays a blind man who owns the house that the three kids are trying to rob. He is very intimidating and because of his little dialogue it is all about his physical performance and he brings that in spades. Seeing him charge around the house as he goes after the kids with a weapon. There are some other subtle moments where you see him feeling his way around his house and tapping the ceiling, or swinging a small fan to get his bearings on his house and instantly know where he is.
I felt that most, if not all, of the characters choices made were realistic. As they made their decisions I would quickly think to myself if that would be the right choice and this made the film be more believable even in this odd situation. Adding to this is also the lack of false jump scares where the direction of the camera or the music is leading up to a scare and then a cat jumps out of nowhere or a hand on a shoulder. They were all real scares and this is a huge plus for me as false jump scares always frustrate me and just come off as a cheap and unnecessary. Thankfully, this film takes the opposite approach and there are, obviously, a lot of silence which creates tension and adds to the tone that I was talking about before.
The way the first twist was delivered felt very convenient in the way it was delivered to the audience but I don't know how else they could've done it. The big twist felt very "icky" and really grossed me out but that doesn't mean it was a bad thing, actually, I think it succeeded in what Alvarez was trying to do. Even if it took away from the simple premise of the movie I still think it added to Lang's character as you find out his motivations for some of the things he does.
The movie keeps on going as well and builds upon the previous scene. Just when you thought the movie was coming to its end another moment happens and that happens a few times. Thankfully, it doesn't feel dragged out but instead just made it more suspenseful.
In the end, Don't Breathe was a refreshing take on the horror film genre which wouldn't surprise me if it was in my top 10 of the year, as was The Gift. It flipped the home invasion trope on its head and the tension is always turned up to a ten. As a huge horror fan I really hope this film is successful so it can lead the horror genre outside of the conventional box it is in now.