Don't Breathe

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Fede Alvarez/Starring: Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, and Daniel Zovatto

Don't Breathe is a horror film that simplifies its method of storytelling without cheating the audience. In director Fede Alvarez's film, we find no computer-generated special effects or any visual effects at all save a sequence in a basement where an eerie glow serves as a chilling simulacrum of darkness. No cliche ghouls who darken walls and halls with their ectoplasmic presence are to be found in Alvarez's film. Here, we have three teenagers trapped in a house where a blind psychopath and his vicious dog mean to do the protagonists nasty harm. It's a chiller that works exceptionally well.

Simplified without being simplistic, Alvarez's film delivers what its intriguing trailer promises; heart-stopping thrills and creepy moments, with ample room for surprises along the way.

Set in present day Detroit, three young people; Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and their de facto leader; Money (Daniel Zovatto) commit home burglaries. Though they rob homeowners of valuables; their operating principle forbids them to steal money. It's impressive how Alvarez, who co-wrote the script, gives us so much background on the characters with a paucity of exposition. We learn quickly the three kids steal to finance a move to Los Angeles, which they see as an escape from the economic blight of their hometown. A brief scene at a trailer park gives us a good idea why Rocky would choose to commit burglary to finance her move. Her drunken, dissipated mother makes very un-motherly comments about where her daughter might be her earning money. Hoping to remove her sweet, younger sister Diddy (Emma Bercovici) from the noxious environment of home gives Rocky's robberies a strong, yet ironic sense of moral purpose.

What complicates the three young felon's thieving operations is Alex's love for Rocky, who is committed to the less savory Money. Rocky invites Alex to join she, Money and Diddy on their move to L.A., which he accepts after an initially rebuffing her offer.

Only days away from their move, the three decide to commit one last robbery. Money receives a job-lead from his fence, who tells him of a home occupied by a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, who allegedly keeps $300,000 in his home. We learn the money was a pay-off from a wealthy family, whose daughter was responsible for the death of the man's own daughter. Days before the robbery, Rocky, Money and Alex learn the veteran is blind and essentially a shut-in, as is revealed during their casing of his house. Though Alex is reluctant to proceed, citing their valuables-only rule, the trio forges ahead anyway.

The actual break-in is a fairly tense sequence, as Money first narcotizes the owner's vicious rottweiler before they gain entry by breaking a window. As Money and Rocky tip-toe about the house, Alex stands near the door, urging them to abandon their operation. A hair-raising moment when Money enters the blind-man's upstairs bedroom is particularly exciting. Money narrowly escapes detection as the blind man (a very frightening Stephen Lang) wakes, only to return to sleep. Money then deploys a soporific mist to ensure the man remains deep in slumber. Downstairs, Alex stands near the exit, nervously while Rocky walks about the place, searching for the alleged cache of cash. The movie kicks into high gear after Money foolishly tries to shoot the lock off the basement door with a 9mm. The shock of suddenly seeing the blind man standing at the entrance of the room makes for a nice scare. Rather than using the gun to initiate an escape, Money boldly points the gun at the man, demanding the money while Rocky and Alex watch in muted horror. Moving toward Money, the man is able to disarm him then shove the gun in his face while grasping his throat. Begging for his life, Money asks to be let go. The man asks about others in the house and when Money fails to reveal his friends' presence, the blind man shoots him in the head. Rocky and Alex stare in shock as the man points the gun in their direction.

Shortly after, the man walks purposefully around his house, locking doors with keys and nailing planks to prevent entry and escape. It is particularly nail-biting to watch the man narrowly miss Alex as he quickly walks through the hallway with Money's gun in hand. As Alex and Rocky scramble for hiding places, she chooses a closet, which happens to contain a safe the man opens with a combination she sees on digital pad. Once he leaves, she opens the safe then removes the stacks of money therein.

Before long, the man learns of Alex and Rocky's presence, in spite of their best efforts to conceal themselves. The movie then becomes a thrilling cat and mouse chase as Alex and Rocky desperately search for an exit. The story takes an intriguing turn when Alex and Rocky make a shocking discovery in the basement while searching for an escape. What they learn makes the man less a sympathetic victim of a break-in and more the perpetrator of a heinous crime. The motivation behind said secret seems a bit preposterous but it works nevertheless.

The plot tightens further when the man's rottweiler wakes from his slumber to join his master's hunt. The house becomes a hermetically-sealed nightmare as the struggle to free themselves becomes a series of ordeals.

A horror film is only as effective as its antagonist and in this case, the villain was well-conceived and well-cast. Stephen Lang; all muscly menace, is a terrifying villain. He has very little dialogue in the film, which make his motivations mysterious and unsettling. Part of his character's malign power resides in his eyes, which bear conspicuous war wounds.

I really like that the felons--the real antagonists--become sympathetic prey while the supposed victim; a blind war veteran, becomes the bad guy. Alvarez fogs the film's morality; making the distinction between good and evil difficult to define. One can't forget Rocky's motivations to rob, which are tied to her compassionate feelings for her young sister. But the fact remains: she steals a blind veteran's money; which is his feeble compensation for a great wrong dealt to he and his daughter. The ironies and contradictions are endlessly fascinatingly.

I thought the story would end definitively, but I was surprised to find the door was left widely ajar for a sequel. I shouldn't be surprised; even the least successful horror films come in twos or threes or...you get the picture. Though I find most horror movie sequels to be unnecessary, a continuation to this story could be interesting.

Don't Breathe takes an old fashioned approach to telling its story: simple setting, simple story, terrific characters but uses what seem like limitations to its advantage. No CGI intrusions here, no elaborate sets; just imaginative filmmaking. Seems simple and easy, right? If only the summer blockbusters were as inspired.