Don't Breathe

Endlich ein sehr spannendes Spukhaus ohne Geister. Und mit einem Schlaganfall-Schreckmoment. Wie viele Zuschauer*innen merken, dass hier den Metzger die berühmte Hauptnegativgestalt aus Avatar - Aufbruch nach Pandora spielt? Die Jungs sind auch klasse, so wie die ganze Produktion. Sam Raimi ist eine Garantie dafür. In das creepy ghost-town in Detroit lockte sie offenbar die Delikatesse It Follows. Den Haupthelden werden ständig Knüppel zwischen die Beine geworfen. Davon schwitzt (und blutet) manch ein Genre-Klischee. Die Pointe ist nicht ganz durchdacht, aber das verzeiht man ihnen, nicht wahr? (05.10.2016)

Alvarez is a master. In Don’t Breathe he delivers a similarly intensive and energetic horror story as in his recent remake of Evil Dead, but with a more focused and, in many aspects, more surprising tale, based on a simple premise that is exploited to the maximum effect. In other words, satisfaction in every aspect. My only quibble is all those “endings”, where it seems that it’s “done”, but it turns out it isn’t due to bad decisions. Regarding the small time criminals from Detroit, nobody would expect them to behave rationally in a crisis situation, so OK. Don’t Breathe, however, stands out formally and with the performances. Stephen Lang as a blind war veteran is one of the best horror villains in recent years and Jane Levy is a candidate for the modern Scream Queen – the poor thing has gone through a lot in both Alvarez’s films :D... The camera, the sound, the dirty atmosphere. GREAT! Thanks to its sober run, the film is the antithesis of boredom and it’s also impossible to take the opposite critical position, that it’s too harsh and nasty. It is what horror should be. Certainly one of the highlights of the year. (02.09.2016)

This is an intense rush that has such strong tension that I would have guessed that the film was from the old continent. However, Sam Raimi has sniffed out a distinctive talent on the other side of the ocean who wields a clear vision and rarely agrees to compromise, perhaps by trimming believability in favor of plot development. Yet Lang's tragic protagonist and the atmosphere that cuts under your skin reign supreme, not to mention the few minutes in "absolute darkness." 4 ½. (17.10.2016)

Fede Alvarez really captured my attention since Panic Attack!. But at the time, I had no idea that his creative skills would take a turn towards Sam Raimi and Timur Rodrigez. I am not saying that it’s bad, I just think that he could do better. That is very visible in this movie. Even though it pretends to be a horror movie, I would describe it rather as a thriller with illogical situations similar to those in horror movies. In this case, though, I don’t really care because the movie is mostly about the idea and the atmosphere, so it is fine when the director helps himself out with some illogicality. For example, I have to say that two of the three thieves in this movie have nine lives like a cat, because what they survive would be impossible even for Chuck Norrisʼs third cousin. But well... yeah, at least there is something to watch. (31.12.2016)

Ein Vergnügen. Der amerikanische Traum ist somit tot und blind. Möchten Sie heute einen in der Tat relevanten Horrorfilm drehen? Fahren Sie nach Detroit, die Kulissen gibt´s hier kostenlos. Don't Breathe ist nicht so sehr raffiniert wie It Follows, doch das hiesige Spiel mit Genre-Eigenschaften ist unglaublich souverän. Brillante Arbeit mit Raum, sparsame und ambivalente Motivationen bei Charakteren, die famose Physiognomie von Stephen Lang, eine angenehm bassige Klangkomponente, solide Arbeit mit dem Motiv begrenzter Sinne (obwohl der Film von Zeit zu Zeit die Sensibilität des Blinden nach Bedarf tweakt) ... alles, was ich benötige, um 90 Minuten im Dunkeln intensiv zu Verbringen. Fede ist es nach dem hohlen Remake von Evil Dead gelungen, eine reinrassige sowie gesunde, selbstbewusste insemnierungsähnliche Aktion durchzuführen, welche das Genre wie ein armer Hund das Streicheln gebraucht hat. P.S. Don't Breathe ist eine interessante Antwort auf Gran Torino. (09.09.2016)

I used to believe in Fede Alvarez a lot, then after Evil Dead sent him packing – and now I am cautiously taking him back. Because in Don't Breathe there is none of the expected gore or cheapness, except for that specific basement episode, but in terms of genre, surprisingly ambitious composition lies in this eerie building. This game with audience expectations, where my relationship to the characters repeatedly and significantly changes, has no equal. Combined with the natural progression of scares and an unbearably intense scene in absolute darkness, I willingly overlook a few moments where a viewer with a taste for finding plotholes could show a bit of mercy. (08.07.2017)

Dass man blind ist, bedeutet noch lange nicht, dass man taub und dumm ist. Davon überzeugt euch dieser respektierte Veteran. Ohne Namen, ohne Familie, dafür aber mit einem verdammt grimmigen Hund und widerlicher Brutalität, die nicht nur ein paar schmutzige Tricks verbirgt, sondern auch keinen Ausweg bietet. All das werden drei junge Straftäter am eigenen Leib erfahren, die nach dem bekannten Horrorschema versuchen, einen Ausweg zu finden, ohne dabei ihr Leben zu verlieren. Dass es kein großer Spaß sein wird, zeigt bereits die erste Begegnung mit dem Blinden Mann. Dieser freut sich überraschenderweise überhaupt nicht über den unerwünschten Besuch und nimmt alles, was das Haus bietet, um die Eindringlinge zu bekämpfen: eine Pistole, Gartenscheren, Hammer... Nun, ich werde es verkürzen. Es ist gut, ziemlich hart, es hat ein wahnsinniges Tempo und lässt euch keine Luft zum Atmen. Außerdem sind die Rollen genau besetzt, man fiebert mit den Charakteren mit und fühlt an manchen Stellen mit ihnen. Und Lang? Wenn ich ihn nachts auf der Straße treffen würde, würde ich mich mit Asphalt bedecken. (80%) (14.09.2016)

For most of the time, it’s a not very believable average film with characters that behave stupidly, but I can't deny it some good ideas, one surprise and a great, but too short scene after the lights go out. Actually, I think the film was made because of it. (19.06.2022)

An imaginative combination of suspense aesthetics and cinematic action, a satisfyingly explosive and effective spectacle in a contained setting with minimal characters, devoid of genre predictability and pitting interesting anti-heroes against each other in an open-ended game of survival; all without plot digressions, superfluous dialogues and reprehensible clichés. An excellent and scary Stephen Lang, a likeable Jane Levy. The ending is a bit unnecessarily drawn out just to force all the hinted motives into the desired denouement, and there are some serious questions about the logic, but that doesn't change the fact that Alvarez succeeded and convinced me once again that horror filmmakers can still find fertile ground. (06.09.2016)

A great genre exercise that excels at exactly what the given jewelry box needs, namely that for all the little ideas, suspenseful scenes, unexpected reversals, and overall intensity, you completely fail to perceive more than one logical barrier. Detroit is also starting to become my favorite horror destination after It Follows or Only Lovers Left Alive. Empty houses, empty streets, empty people, and the feeling that if you get lost you'll never be found again, all set against the backdrop of the hardscrabble fresh socio-economic history of the whole place. Suck it Blumhouse, this is how it's supposed to be. (26.12.2016)

At last! A horror/thriller which doesn't send a bunch of students into the woods to die. It just sends three thieves to fight a blind war veteran. The film has a very decent plot, a great suspenseful atmosphere, and a fair amount of brutality and insemination. The only thing that didn't work for me was the attempt to convince me that if you steal to give your little sister a better life you are actually in the right. For me personally, the main good guy was the blind man who was just trying to defend his property from invasion by local raiders. I enjoyed the film from start to finish. (15.11.2016)

Don't Breathe does suffer from its simple plot, as towards the end it starts to unravel, and the constant stretching of when the story should actually end somewhat detracts from the overall impression. Simply put: As long as the action takes place in the house it's good, but once the characters get outside it gets a bit too clichéd and you're just waiting for the last scene to happen. (28.11.2016)

Yeah, the thief, he's got it hard. A genre tidbit that deconstructs the "home invasion thriller" to some extent and pits two antagonistic characters against each other in an interesting way. Minimalism goes hand in hand with suspense in this case (the scene where the two sides "level" their forces in total darkness is divine), and the running time is just long enough to keep you from catching your breath for a moment without missing out on anything substantial. This is one hell of a fresh and honest (with all the technical brilliance that would entail) genre film that I'll gladly repeat anytime. [85%] (22.10.2021)