‘Don’t Breathe’ Review: Home-Invasion Thriller Outstays Its Welcome
The film pits three out-of-their-depth robbers against a blind veteran with money (and skeletons) in his closet; this being a horror movie, suffice to say that the would-be thieves somehow get more than they bargained for — just not in the form of cash.
The money and skeletons are linked, of course, as the unnamed Iraq War survivor (Stephen Lang) received a large settlement after his teenage daughter was killed in a car accident some years earlier.
Cinematographer Pedro Luque’s camera glides through the two-story residence like an all-seeing eye, offering alluring views of what awaits our not-quite-heroes: a locked-off basement, pitch-black hallways, and, of course, the sleeping giant upstairs.
“There’s no surf in Michigan,” says Rocky to her younger sister, with whom she hopes to abscond to California after this One Last Heist; like “House of the Devil” and any number of other horror movies, the questionable decisions made by “Don’t Breathe”‘s misguided characters are born of financial anxiety.
The more timid Alex insists that he and his cohorts keep their plunder under $10,000 lest they incur grand larceny charges, while Money lives up to his moniker with a tattoo of a dollar sign on his neck.
Watching this man lurch through his domain, propelled by muscle memory and justified paranoia, is a source of continual thrills — the blind man isn’t truly the villain here, at least not at first, even if we’re as afraid of him as the twentysomethings looking for an easy score.
Luque does such a thorough job of laying out the house in all its creaky floorboards and locked doors that we develop a keen sense of which sounds travel in which directions — anyone inclined to shout directions at the screen will actually know exactly which way the characters should run and which rooms to avoid.
Every time we think one of the low-level thieves is about to escape to freedom, yet another obstacle appears out of the dark to add another 15 minutes of screen time to their trial by fire.