Movie Review: “Don’t Breathe” is a pulse-pounding home invasion thriller with a twist

Movie Review: “Don’t Breathe” (R)

Fede Alvarez doesn’t mess around! With only his second feature, this terrific filmmaker is proving himself to be quite the genre storyteller. This time, Alvarez trades in the gleeful, in-your-face gore of his “Evil Dead” re-imagining for the kind of tension-building that would make the likes of Alfred Hitchcock proud. The pulse-pounding “Don’t Breathe” is a nifty home invasion thriller with a twist, and for everything it does right, one of the most exciting things about it is the way it ushers in what is sure to be a Stephen Lang renaissance. More on that in a moment.

In “Don’t Breathe,” a Detroit-based trio of semi-pro thieves hope to pull in their biggest score. After burglarizing a home that belongs to a wealthy blind man, these very unlucky individuals quickly realize it’s never wise to judge a book by its cover, especially when that book is built like Stephen Lang! Quickly, the tables are turned as Lang’s skilled blind man traps this threesome in his labyrinthian home and attempts to retrieve what’s rightfully his. There’s more to it, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to spoil all the fun here.

“Don’t Breathe” is lean and mean. At a taut 88 minutes, it reminds us why movies of this nature shouldn’t be longer, because they often outstay their welcome. Not “Don’t Breathe.” Far from it. The majority of this film takes place in a confined setting, but what a glorious setting it is. In fact, the house in this picture isn’t just a location. It’s a straight-up co-star, and Alvarez shoots the shit out of it!

Clearly, a great deal of this film’s overall effectiveness rests in the capable hands of Alvarez, but a great deal of it also falls upon the cast — namely, a more-than-game Stephen Lang. Listen, it’s not like Lang ever went away. He’s been pretty damn good in a handful of films in the past decade. “Avatar,” “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” “Public Enemies,” etc. This is to say nothing of the onslaught of outstanding supporting work he did in the ’80s (see “Last Exit to Brooklyn,” “Manhunter,” “Project X,” and “The Hard Way,” just to name a precious few).

Having said all of that, though, I suspect Lang is going to be fielding a lot of offers for meatier, more substantial roles after audiences get a look at him in “Don’t Breathe.” Yes, he’s creepy and intense, but he’s also compelling, charismatic, and surprisingly complex in equal measure. His body language is on point to be sure, and the soft but wholly intimidating you-don’t-want-to-f***-with-me tone that comes across in his voice is enough to send a chill down your spine. Yes, between “Don’t Breathe,” the upcoming documentary “Beyond Glory,” and a couple of “Avatar” sequels in the pipeline (I’m still not sure how he’s factoring into those), let us all prepare for a for a much welcome Stephen Lang renaissance.

As commanding as Lang is here, co-star Jane Levy holds her own. Alvaraez put this terrific actress through the ringer in “The Evil Dead,” and he does it again here, maybe even more so. As tough as Levy’s character Rocky is in “Don’t Breathe,” there’s a reason for her hardened exterior, and it’s because of this reason that she’ll do just about anything to survive.

Rounding out the burglar trio are level-headed Alex (played by Dylan Minnette) and loose cannon Money (played by Daniel Zovatto). Both actors are solid, but make no mistake … this is the Lang/Levy show!

There were a few moments when I questioned why the blind man’s sense of hearing wasn’t a little more keen, but that was hardly enough to take me out of the overall experience. And don’t let the somewhat generic title fool you: “Don’t Breathe” is a hell of a wild ride. It’s sick and twisted to be sure, but it’s also a ton of crowd-pleasing fun, offering up a couple of classic shocker moments that I won’t soon forget. In fact, let me just end on this note: After experiencing the horror/home-invasion gem that is “Don’t Breathe,” you’re not likely to ever look at a turkey baster in quite the same way again. If that’s not an endorsement, then I don’t know what is.

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