Don’t breathe
Or speak.
Don’t dare
To peek.
You thought
Him weak,
But he’s
A freak,
And you’re
Dead meat
If not
Discreet.
If you
Should meet
Upon
The street,
You’d think
Him meek,
A sad
Antique.
But now,
You sneak,
Try not
To shriek.
The floor
Could creak
Or your
Heartbeat
Could bring
Defeat
In dark-
Ness bleak.
You hide;
He’ll seek.
___________________

MPA rating: R (for language, brief violence, disturbing plot elements)

As horror movies go, I must admit that Don’t Breathe has some seriously false advertising; there was a surprising amount of breathing on display. But I won’t hold that against this Fede Álvarez nailbiter because it’s exactly the kind of horror movie I prefer, one built on tension rather than gore, as well as an unconventional villain.

Three Detroit burglars – Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette), and Money (Daniel Zovatto) – are eager for a big haul and, despite some second thoughts, decide to rob an old blind man named Norman (Stephen Lang), a veteran who supposedly has hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden in his home. Underestimating the homeowner, the trio are soon faced with a far more formidable threat than they would have expected, one with secrets and well accustomed to the dark.

Don’t Breathe starts by playing with your sympathies. Needing money to escape her abusive home life, Rocky at least has a good reason, but just the notion of stealing from a disabled veteran feels especially wrong. Yet the tables are quickly turned when Norman proves to be ruthless and depraved in his own way. From there, it’s a highly entertaining game of cat-and-mouse as the robbers seek to stay quiet enough to outwit the threat, his lack of sight proving to be a boon and a liability in various situations.

Levy and Minnette are great under stress here, while Lang makes for an iconic antagonist, quiet, pitiless, and more tenacious than you’d ever expect from a senior citizen. With its dark locked-down environment and tense chases, I can see why Álvarez was a good choice for Alien: Romulus. If he can make even an old man scary, he clearly knows what he’s doing in the horror genre.

Rank: List Runner-Up

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