Waiting to exhale

Jane Levy crawls her way through a hole in a scene from Don't Breathe. Image courtesy Sony Pictures.

One of the beauties of the horror/thriller genre is the evaluative flexibility it offers when a film doesn't fulfill its designed premise. Simply put, movies in that genre can remain entertainment despite, or perhaps because, they are the exact opposite of what their genre intended. Take, for example, Don't Breathe, which is spectacularly ridiculous yet thoroughly entertaining because of it.

There is an interesting idea driving Don't Breathe that would work effectively as a nice genre piece. It's a simple premise involving a trio of young burglars (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette and Daniel Zovatto) breaking into the house of a blind veteran (character actor Stephen Lang) and his guard dog to steal a few hundred thousand dollars hidden somewhere in his home. That the burglars find themselves out of their element – the film outlines the group's inexperience heading into the heist – and go from being the perpetrators to the victims in short order is a pretty nifty bit of reversal. The basic elements of a lean, cruel, nasty little picture are right there, and the filmmakers (director Fede Alvarez and his co-writer, Rodo Sayagues) play up the grittiness of the abandoned Detroit locale to solid effect.

But the overall effect more often than not is one of pure silliness, with scheduled scares turning into moments of laughter instead, and the film is loaded with inanities. There's no logical reason why they should expect Lang's unnamed soldier to keep such a large quantity of money at his house that resides in the middle of a dilapidated neighborhood. Reasons why the soldier shifts from borderline helpless old man to something akin to a blind superhero and back and forth throughout the rest of the film remain a mystery as well, and the ending has little to no reason for its craziness. Taking a step back from this film reveals how little logic exists between the lines.

Even with its failings as a horror (or as a thriller), there's still enjoyment to be had from Don't Breathe. The film is a perfect example of cinema as a shared experience, one in which the right audience can get behind the action and play along with the characters through their travails. And there is some indication Alvarez and Sayagues aren't necessarily taking things too seriously either. It feels as if they hedged their bets a little while writing Don't Breathe to incorporate the scary bits while keeping the tone at least slightly campy (sometimes flat out campy whenever Lang has more than three lines of dialog). The premise is too much to work completely as they might have intended, yet there is a decent amount of Scooby-Doo style shenanigans going on along with one rather Velma-esque moment in a pitch-dark basement. That their previous effort was the bloody, ghoulish and mostly extravagant Evil Dead reboot lends some credence to this theory.

Alvarez does pass himself off as a capable director with a strong eye for a tracking shot and willingness to experiment a little with some sequences to keep the audience somewhat off balance. He really has a fair amount of fun with the house itself, turning the abode into a character unto itself, an entity not to be trusted for those trying to escape its confines. There's nothing particularly scary about the soldier's home, yet it does serve as a terrific little place for some bloodletting and revenge from the two sides involved in this burglary gone very wrong. It also helps the film is tight enough to come and go without overstaying its welcome completely, aside from a skosh of dragging in the third act.

It would be nice if Don't Breathe had anything more to say about the circumstances its characters find themselves in. There's an inkling of a point about the poor being trapped by their lot in life, only for Alvarez and Sayagues to undercut it with a sizable plot twist. It might have been a little more interesting too if the motivations of the burglars remained less than pure, to perhaps have the one invaded be as pure as the characters initially believe he is. Still, there's enough to be had from this film to make it worth a look with the right group of people. Don't Breathe never made me shiver or tense up in my seat like it probably intended, but it never bored either. And if you're not going to be good, you might as well be interesting.

Review: Three out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: R

Run time: 88 minutes

Genre: Thriller

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Target audience: Late teens to early 20s viewers searching for something a little different than the rest of the summer fare.

Take the whole family?: The R rating is a little harsh, but it is best to keep anyone much younger than 13 at home.

Theater or Netflix?: Netflix it with friends or go to a midnight screening.

Does the film understand rape?: There is one notably discomfiting moment in this concerning one character's view on rape that does question whether the film has a full understanding of the implications. The intent is clearly rape despite the character's assertion otherwise, and I'm willing to give the film the benefit of the doubt to say it reflects the character's twisted view. It is a little closer than it should be though.

Watch this as well?: Fellow 2016 release Green Room is a more effective and contemplative version of Don't Breathe. Also flag down Panic Room for a fun little house invasion thriller, along with this film's clear forefather, Wait Until Dark.