Great direction, brilliant storytelling, and edge-of-the-seat sequences

Rating: 9/10 (9 September 2016)

I am not entirely sure if this could count in as a horror movie. It seemed more of a thriller to me. What I loved in the movie was the thrill sequences, the director's style of story telling and logically explaining a seemingly impossible plot.
Story (9/10): One blind man making a nightmare out of three burglars seemingly "piece-of-cake" burglary - can it get any better? The story was brilliant and provided a perfect ingredient for a high-intensity thriller. While the movie was sparse on the dialogs, which essentially increased the burden on the acting department, the conceptualization of sequences was absolutely brilliant - to the extent that you feel the frustration of being trapped in a house and each door for getting out getting closed (literally as well as metaphorically) one after the other. Although there were one or two technical mistakes in the plot, but overall it's a great job done by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues.
Acting (8/10): Jane Levy and Dylan Minnette was great to watch with impeccable expressions. If at all this movie gets categorized into horror, it would be because of Jane and Dylan who projected the frustration, anger, fear and desperation amazingly well. Stephen Lang had a challenging role, playing a blind man but an army veteran, which went well with his muscular body and heavy voice. However, he plays a surprisingly brutal character. These three had a very large part of the movie. Rest of the supporting cast had very little screen time to show any acting prowess.
Direction (9/10): I loved the direction of Fede Alvarez. His way of storytelling is amazing. The idea of showing certain things (kind of dropping hints) which you feel would play a key role later in the movie as the burglars enter the house was great. The movie isn't long at all (just 1.5 hours) but still it goes for a little overkill towards the end with a dragged climax when you feel that this should be the end but the director says - "Wait wait..... there's more!!". Pretty good camera work during one of the sequences in complete darkness. He spent a little time in explaining the entire background of the burglary - which was great. I feel his way of explaining everything in a very logical manner provided a much realistic projection of seemingly impossible story - so, no loose ends anywhere. Great job there.
Overall (9/10): It's a great watch - definitely if you love thrillers or horrors. Great direction, brilliant storytelling, and edge-of-the-seat sequences.