- Actors: Dylan Minnette, Jane Levy, Stephen Lang, Daniel Zovatto
- Director: Fede Alvarez
- Producers: Fede Alvarez, Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert
- Format: Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: Spanish, English
- Dubbed: Spanish
- Audio Description: English
- Region: All Regions
- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: R
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: November 29, 2016
- Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2019
- Run Time: 88 minutes
Studios may be
narrow-mindedly focusing on making films that create or extend franchises, from
prequels and sequels to remakes and spin-offs, but they really should pay more
attention to horror movies if profit is truly their largest concern. Don’t Breathe was made for a mere $10
million dollars (for perspective, the Independent Spirit Awards will allow
films to be categorized as an independent with a budget as high as $20 million)
but made $140 million at the box office. Horror movies are incredibly
lucrative, partially because they don’t require the budget of a Marvel or a
Star Wars film.
One of the
surprise successes of the summer, Don’t
Breathe returns to the home invasion sub-genre of horror that rose to
popularity alongside ‘torture porn,’ following the shift in the social and
political climate brought by 2001. The popcorn fare of postmodern horror that
had led the 1990s was dismissed for far more visceral and socially relevant
narratives. This style aligns quite well with director Fede Alvarez, whose last
film was a humorless remake of Sam Raimi’s classic, Evil Dead. This time Alvarez is given the freedom to create an
original narrative, however derivative the initial storyline may first appear.
A smaller horror movie from last year called Intruders even had the same twist, making villain out of victim and
victim out of thief, but it is Alvarez’s precise filmmaking and his ability to
fill each moment with undeniable suspense that makes a familiar premise feel
new.
The film begins with a trio of fairly
unsympathetic thieves that have come up with a system for robbing homes in the
nicer areas of Detroit.
Alex (Dylan Minnette) has access to security codes that are supposedly
protecting the homes, allowing his friends Money (Daniel Zovatto) and Rocky
(Jane Levy) to take what they want. When Money hears a rumor that a blind old
man (Stephen Lang) living in a rundown neighborhood has $30,000 hidden in his
home, the three friends conspire to make his house their last job before escaping
their bleak lives in Detroit.
The backstory given to Rocky
involving an abusive and neglectful home situation, as well as an innocent
younger sister in dire need of saving, makes it absolutely clear who the
audience is supposed to have the most sympathy for. This is also a clear hint that
Rocky is the most likely candidate for ‘final girl,’ which is certainly
enhanced by the fact that she is the only female lead. But predicting the
outcome does not take away from the thrills that Don’t Breathe has to offer.
Once Rocky and her two male friends
make their way into the crippled senior citizen’s home, they quickly discover
that he is not nearly as helpless as they had imagined. Shutting down the home
as if it were a trap (not unlike the plot of the slasher franchise which began
with The Collector in 2009), the old
man turns from victim to aggressor when he discovers the intruders. Forced to
hide within the nooks and crannies of the home, hoping not to be discovered by
the sightless yet vicious homeowner, Rocky and her friends are punished for
their crimes tenfold.
With the limited number of characters
in the narrative, the actual violence in the film is minimal, however graphic
individual moments may be. This is much more a film about the tension of the
situation, building to an unimaginable twist which is horrifying without the
need of graphic violence. The horror of Don’t
Breathe comes from suspense and the creativity of its terror, rather than
buckets of blood and gore.
The Blu-ray release comes with a
Digital HD copy of the film, along with plenty of extras on the disc. The
highlight of the special features is likely the commentary track, featuring
Alvarez, Lang, and co-writer Rodo Sayagues. There are also about 15-minutes
worth of deleted scenes, which also come with an optional commentary track with
Alvarez. The remaining extras are brief featurettes, none of which are over 5
minutes long. There are two about the house location and its set construction,
two about the cast and their characters, and one about the film’s
soundtrack.
Entertainment Value:
8.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8/10
Historical
Significance: 7/10
Special Features: 7/10
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