DON'T BREATHE

Horror movie season is upon us. This is a time of year where I like to spend late August through the month of October and cozy up to some scary movies. I try to watch new ones every year, but mostly watch my favorites of the genre. And last night I welcomed a new classic. Fede Alvarez's new film DON'T BREATHE!

It's been awhile since I saw a horror movie at the theater, the best way to watch a scary movie. And last night was amazing. DON'T BREATHE had a good trailer and has been getting some positive buzz so the theater was packed. Before the movie started there was a video of the director thanking everyone for coming out to the movies. He also said that horror films are best seen in a dark auditorium full of strangers. I couldn't agree more!

Three robbers target a house in a run down part of Detroit, believing the owner has a large sum of money inside. The best part about it is that the guy is blind. But once inside, they discover the home owner has dark secrets and is pretty resourceful.

Like the trailer show, this movie is intense! We're shown fairly early in the movie the layout of the Blind Man's house. It's some very arty camera movement but the director isn't just showing off. These scenes are important for later. And it makes us comfortable alongside the robbers.

Things go bad fast for our main characters once it's revealed that the Blind Man is a bad ass. You quickly feel sorry for both the home owner and criminals. I rooted for them just to find a way out of the house as fast as possible and never return. But sooner than you think the film takes a turn, a very dark turn.

Again like in the trailers we see the home invaders trying to escape from the basement in pitch black darkness. This was a great juxtaposition from earlier and to the films overall narrative.

I can't tell you how the movie ends but during the finale DON'T BREATHE had women cheering and men grossed out. Speaking of the audience? The audience reactions were fantastic! And they were mostly for amazing reveals in the film. The dumb jump scares were minimal but when they did happen the scare was earned.

I highly recommend DON'T BREATHE. We're at the end of summer and what a film to kick off a good solid two months of horror movie watching. Too bad we've probably seen the best horror film of the year already. In October we get RINGS and OUIJA: ORIGINS OF EVIL. Both films look pointless and terrible! But hey, the new BLAIR WITCH film looks promising!

Good bye Summer, hello Halloween!