Don't Breathe : La Maison des ténèbres

Don't Breathe: That rare modern horror film that uses tension building and atmosphere. With an unsettiling preformance from Stephan Lang and a totaly original story while being full of hitchcocking suspence and twists to create real modern horror, Don't Breathe is that rare modern horor film that succeds Intellectually as well as viscerally. if you like horror it is a must watch!

After Evil Dead's well-made remake, a lot of us felt that Fede Alvarez was a director to watch. With Don't Breathe, he definitely became a director I'm very excited to see future projects from.

I admire his knack to generate tension. After the film kicks off, there is really no stopping. It became almost unbearable at the end, nearly reaching the point of overkill. When you have a thriller filled with so much tension throughout its running time, there's only so much you can do before you start yelling "you gotta be kidding me" at the screen.

The cinematography was beautiful and moody and the performances were fine, except maybe Jane Levy, who I felt was too wooden, making her character a little bit unlikable.

Don't Breathe was a solid effort and a great addition to the home invasion genre with a little twist.

Fede Alvarez just gave Green Room a run for its money with Don't Breathe, an incredibly intense film and glorious exercise in suspense. It's one of the best studio-produced thrillers I've seen in years. The premise is simple: A group of teens plans to break into a blind man's house to steal his money. Only thing, the old man is more adept than they realize. While the setup is a little too pedestrian, albeit economical, once the story gets rolling, the film doesn't let up, running at a lean 88 minutes. Other than that, Don't Breathe is best viewed going in knowing as little as possible.

This is Alvarez's first film in three years since his violent and solid remake of Evil Dead, and it is with this sophomoric debut that solidifies the genre filmmaker as someone with obvious talent. Inspirations are drawn from the best - Hitchcock, Fincher, and Wait Until Dark are a few - but Alvarez provides his own unique vision that truly makes the film his own. Like the masters before him, Don't Breathe is purely cinematic, relying less on dialogue and more on visual storytelling and sound to drive the film. The cinematography is amazing as well as the creative sound design, so much so they are characters within the film themselves.

The cast, while small, is great too, including Jane Levy, who can pretty much be titled this generation's scream queen after this and Evil Dead. Dylan Minnette is good in his role as well, providing enough sympathy for his character. Both young actors are put through hell, and their physical performances sell their tumultuous ordeal convincingly. However, it is Stephen Lang who is the film's shining beacon. As the antagonist, Lang is instantly memorable and frightening, an intimidating force that permeates throughout the film even in scenes without his presence.

If there's one gripe about the film, there's a plot twist that doesn't quite work, but that itself is a minor complaint compared to the many things the film gets right and does so well. I won't say more. Don't Breathe is a technical achievement, the rare studio film that actually pushes what film can do as a medium. However, like with Green Room, try not to get caught up in the hype, even with my glowing review. Set your expectations appropriately, and remember to avoid watching the trailer.

Not being a massive fan of horror films I'm quite selective in which ones I watch . The reviews for this were pretty good so I gave it a go and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It's the story of three friends who decide to rob the home of a blind war veteran but things go terribly wrong when they find out that there is more to this man than they first thought. What I like about this is that it doesn't have any supernatural aspect to the story so it feels more real than most horrors. There are some quite disturbing scenes so it's not for the faint hearted . One especially involving a turkey baster but you will have to see the film to find out what that's all about ! All in all it's well worth a watch but not with granny at Christmas.

Three crooks. The usual cliche driven plot. These are nice crooks. They have a golden heart, well two of them do.

How they don't get busted after the initial robbery is beyond me. No masks. Fingerprints and DNA everywhere.

Expositions like they're going out of fashion.

Next on the list, the blind man's house.

Why would someone who has received a big settlement keep the cash in his house? Why would anyone assume he's got cash in the house? Why do compensation payouts/settlements always get covered in the news for everyone to see. More exposition.

Moronic crooks get a face off with a blind veteran who's hearing is ridiculously poor. I mean there's windows smashing, people crouching next to him and all sorts of sounds that are being failed to be picked up.

It's a daft film. Watch the first 20 mins. Fast forward to the last 15 minutes. It's dumb.