Don't Breathe Movie Review

Don't Breathe (2016)

Don't Breathe - The most dark and twisted version of Scooby Doo you could imagine.

Buy Don't Breathe
Written by: Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto
Rated: R

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
Three thieves break into a blind man's house, hoping to steal his rumored fortune. It doesn't work out as anticipated.

Verdict
This is a home invasion movie with a few twists. It plays a game of who's the most sympathetic character, with the answer being no one by the end.
This creates a great mood and remains intense. It's thoroughly entertaining, which is also part of the problem. It sacrifices logic to keep the plot running, even when it isn't necessary.. In the moment you won't have many complaints, but once you think about this movie there are more than a few contrivances.
Watch it.

Review

Writer/director Fede Alvarez stated that this movie was in a part a reaction to his debut film Evil Dead (2013), criticized for being an over the top remake. Apparently a sequel is in the works. I'd be willing to bet it won't be as good as the original.

This has a great introduction with Stephen Lang's character dragging a girls body down the street. It's a scene pulled from the end of the movie to heighten the introduction, but also spoils the feelings of sympathy we should have for that character. From the first scene we know he isn't fully good.

Three teens, Alex (Dylan Minnette), Money (Daniel Zovatto), and Rocky (Jane Levy) have a burgeoning home invasion venture. Alex's dad works for a home security company and keeps house keys in his home. Alex uses these keys and his knowledge of security systems to knock over houses.

A minor complaint, but I doubt any security company would allow this. They keys are kept in the dad's desk. It's not even a safe. Also, what kind of security guy works out of his house? Or keeps the key to the desk just a foot away?

Rocky wants to leave town because her mom is a stereotypical bad parent. Rocky needs a lot of money and the break ins aren't generating enough cash. Alex is a lawyer in training and restricts them to stealing less than ten-thousand each time to avoid grand larceny charges, but when a big score of hundreds of thousands comes up he agrees because Rocky asks him to do it and he has a crush on her.

I wondered if this was going to be a morality tale about robbing blind people, or if it would at least explain why the old guy was dragging a girl down the street by her hair. The movie does check one of those boxes. I really expected a jump scare when Rocky was creeping into the house, but it doesn't come.

I don't know how they expected to find the money. They decide to rob the house in the middle of the night with the guy in the house, setting off a smoke bomb that should render him unconscious. When they see a padlocked basement door they assume there the treasure lies. Money tries to pry the lock with a crowbar, but does an insufficient job apparently so he can show off his piece, a nine millimeter. He tries to pry the door and not the lock. Come on! He shoots above the lock through an empty bottle that magically muffles the sounds to such a degree that is instantly recognizable as impossible. He also shoots the door above the lock which somehow disables the clasp.

I get what this movie is trying to do, but it sacrifices a lot of logic to be entertaining.
The sound design really heightens everything, forcing you to rely on sound more than a typical movie. When the characters are in close proximity of the old guy, you're waiting for him to notice them, and for things to jump off.
Rocky conveniently sees where the money is stashed, but now they're trapped in the house with an old guy that isn't as frail as they thought. This turns into a game of "escape the murder house."

While they want to alert 911 via the security system, they don't want to get caught for stealing.
This twists even more when they discover a girl chained to the wall in the guy's basement.
She conveniently has a newspaper article that explains her entire situation. That seemed a bit odd.
We know why there is a a girl in the basement, but why the old man was keeping her is disturbing. It's not the worst thing you can imagine, but probably creepier than you imagined. Scroll below the spoilers to find out more.

In a trope that I feel obligated to point out in every movie I see, Rocky is crawling, not through a duct, but in the space between the second floor and first floor ceiling. In reality there isn't that much space. There might be a maximum of twelve inches in rare cases. Even if Rocky could get in that space, joists run in one direction, so she wouldn't be able to make ninety degree turns.

Old guy is a terminator and completely ruthless. He goes beyond protection and is certainly twisted. There will be a section where you'll want him to say, "And it would have worked if it wasn't for you dang kids."

Like Scooby-Doo, you've got a group of curious kids, a dog, and a disappointed villain that has a knock for popping up at inopportune times. Obviously this is a bizarre murder filled version of Scooby-Doo.

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It should be no surprise people die. Though the movie pulls a fast one, making us think Alex is dead when he isn't.
The girl in the basement was a trip. She accidentally killed old guy's daughter so he went vigilante justice. He abducted her somehow, despite being blind, and was planning to let her go after she gave him a baby to replace his daughter. The man is clear that he's no rapist. He used a turkey baster to impregnate..
What was his plan when he let her go? Was he planning on reading a braille medical journal so he could deliver a baby? Kidnapping is a crime. How did he even kidnap her in the first place? The logic fails, but it's entertaining for the sake of the plot which is the only reason it exists.
Rocky finally escapes with the money. Old man didn't report anything stolen because as the movie told us, an investigation would be more devastating to him than the would be thieves.