The Horror/Thriller “Don’t Breathe” is a nail-biter that will attract many movie fans of either genre. The movie was produced by Ghost House Picture and Good Universe with Fede Alvarez as the director. Alvarez, who also directed the movie “Evil Dead” in 2013 is known to do well with horror and science fiction movies. For this movie he had a budget of $9.9 million US Dollars and still managed to bring in $65.3 million in ticket sales in the first ten days.
The film takes place in Detroit, Michigan. Rocky, Alex, and Money are three thieves that rob houses that are secured by Alex’s father’s security company. Rocky and Money, who are in a relationship, have the dream to escape from Detroit and start all over again. They use Alex’s access to the keys and the codes for the alarm systems to enter the houses and steal all things of value. However, the money that their buyer gives them for the stolen goods is not enough for Rocky’s dream to move to California with her little daughter, Diddy.
Money sees his big chance when he gets a tip of an old Army Veteran who just recently got three-hundred-thousand dollars from a settlement because the rich young woman, Cindy, killed his daughter in a car accident. The thieves expect the cash to be in the house and hope to finally hit the big jackpot. But not everything goes according to plan, and the thieves’ original goal of stealing the old man’s fortune turns to simple survival.
The pacing of the plot was well done by the director. The movie didn’t focus too much on unnecessary details, but gave a good amount of hints for the viewer to understand the story. It gives good insight on the desperation and the emotion of the thieves that want to start all over again.
The audience is able to feel sympathy towards one of the thieves, Rocky, who has a young daughter who she wants to offer a better life to. She wants to escape from her drug-addicted family that lives in a dirty trailer in the ghettos of Detroit by robbing the old man.
The tension of the plot leads up to the thieves entering the house. As soon as they enter the house, the focus of the movie turns completely around, and the audience feels the same fear as the thieves. There are a lot of well-done twists and turns that take place during the movie that might completely catch the viewer off guard.
The element of horror and suspense is also very well done. For example, at one moment while the thieves are exploring the house, the old man turns off all of the lights in his house, completely blinding the thieves and turning the chase into an even playing field. The old man also gets help from his dog, an aggressive Rottweiler, who helps to chase the thieves down. The motivations behind the old man also are suspenseful; at first, the viewer feels sorry for the old man and his loss, but as the movie progresses, another, darker side of him is revealed.
The sound effects in the movie sounded very authentic and gave the viewer an atmosphere of actually being there. The movie focuses on the audio, so there isn’t much music in the movie, but this is good because it lets the viewer focus on the sound effects. It gives the audience the feeling that they are the old man who only is able to hear noises to guide him through his house in his hunt of the thieves.
Overall, “Don’t Breathe” has a great story with many twists that really help the audience feel like they are a part of the movie. It’s hard to describe in words because the emotions and sound effects are what make the movie so great and worth watching. It must be seen to be experienced.
