I remember seeing a trailer for this earlier this year, and thinking it looked pretty good...but pretty cliche, as well.

Turns out, it's better than just "pretty good" and not at all cliche.

Lots of twists and turns here that you won't see coming (of course, that assumes you don't read spoiler releasing reviews and comments).  I am not going to say much, so as not to reveal anything.

Very simple on the outside, but alot going on deep down, which  makes this a welcome surprise.

Solid performances by all, and a shout out to Stephen Lang, who nails The Blind Man role.  Also a shout out to Fede Alvarez for solid writing and directing and a real  eye for details,

This is brutal and takes no prisoners, while playing for keeps.  Scary and intense, and one that should be seen on the big screen.

Grade - A

Rams did a version of this yesty against the Niner D -'COULDN'T BREATHE'.

Quoted from stevie Rams did a version of this yesty against the Niner D -'COULDN'T BREATHE'.

ARSEHOLE!!!  

I'm glad it's making so much money. I think I appreciated this more than I normally would've after wading through a year of mostly PG-13 supernatural shit. Alvarez definitely understands what audiences want in a horror film and that was refreshing. He's showing a lot of promise as a horror director and I hope he can keep it up.

Easily the best hook I've seen in a movie in recent memory. It's rare that a trailer really grabs me, but it's such a fucking great premise. Definitely the most solid horror film to come out of Hollywood since...well...Fede Alvarez's Evil Dead.

I expected more. Didn't do much for me.

Quoted from stevie Rams did a version of this yesty against the Niner D -'COULDN'T BREATHE'.

Yeah - that was pathetic!

Quoted from Demento I expected more. Didn't do much for me.

You ever like anything, like ever?

Quoted from TonyDionisio You ever like anything, like ever?

LOL...exactly what I was going to post!

This dude just hates literally everything except his own hand.  

Quoted from TonyDionisio You ever like anything, like ever?

I love a ton of movies.

I've just seen so many similar movies to this one, I didn't find it practically interesting.

I watched Intruders last year which had a similar concept. The Collector is a more interesting take on the same thing. Plus there have been movies like P2, Vacancy, heck even the Green Room this year.

Quoted from Demento I love a ton of movies. I've just seen so many similar movies to this one, I didn't find it practically interesting. I watched Intruders last year which had a similar concept. The Collector is a more interesting take on the same thing. Plus there have been movies like P2, Vacancy, heck even the Green Room this year.

P2?  Really?  Terrible!

The Collector?  Garbage

Vacancy?  Great flick, great cast, rather unique plot.

Quoted from Demento I watched Intruders last year which had a similar concept. The Collector is a more interesting take on the same thing. Plus there have been movies like P2, Vacancy, heck even the Green Room this year.

How are any of those similar to Don't Breathe? All they share is the home invasion thing.

Quoted from crookedowl How are any of those similar to Don't Breathe? All they share is the home invasion thing.

You're trapped in a space, someone wants to kill you, you're trying to get out, it isn't working too well for you, obstacle 1,2,3, in the end you manage to escape, bad guy gets it.

Same shit. There have been a lot of these movies done. I have nothing against them, I'm just saying FOR ME, after seeing a ton of movies with the same idea, if you don't do something original I'm bored as I've seen all the elements before in different movies. I don't find it interesting. Feels pedestrian to me.

If you like it, cool. I'm not judging you.

"Don't Breathe" was my favorite horror film of the year (so far).

Home invasion is a sub-genre of horror, and that's what "Don't Breathe" was. It wasn't quite as creepy as "The Strangers", but it was a better film overall and a hell of a lot more exciting. The film just never let up. Just when you thought the climax had already happened, it just keeps fucking with you -- (SPOILERS) -- after she escapes the house, you think it's done. Then you have the fucking dog! And that scene in the car (echoing Cujo) with the dog was AWESOME! And then the scene with the semen, which was cringe-worthy, but in a way that made you laugh. And not in a way that mocked the film. It was a release after all the tension.

Demento, all those movies you listed were garbage with the exception of The Collector (which I kinda liked). You also have movies like "You're Next", "Last House on the Left", "Straw Dogs", "When a Stranger Calls", etc. Even the good home invasion films, they seem to lack one thing... a memorable baddie. And "Don't Breathe" definitely has that.

Just because home invasion has been done before doesn't make it "the same old shit". This was a pretty unique take on the home invasion sub-genre IMO.

Quoted from spesh2k Demento, all those movies you listed were garbage with the exception of The Collector (which I kinda liked). You also have movies like "You're Next", "Last House on the Left", "Straw Dogs", "When a Stranger Calls", etc. Even the good home invasion films, they seem to lack one thing... a memorable baddie. And "Don't Breathe" definitely has that. Just because home invasion has been done before doesn't make it "the same old shit". This was a pretty unique take on the home invasion sub-genre IMO.

I don't think you guys got my previous post. I threw out movies off the top of my head that are similar in concept to this one. I didn't say those were good movies in my opinion. Except for The Collector, which like spesh2k I also kinda liked.

I guess you could count Funny Games as a home-invasion movie that I found somewhat interesting. Although not a big fan of that one either. Come to think of it Angst is a good movie like this.

There have been a lot of these movies. Besides those spesh2k mentioned, No Good Deed, Inside, Ills, The Purge, Static, Hush, Mother's Day etc.

To each is own. From me, I've seen all these elements in other movies and I found this one (Don't Breathe) formulaic and boring. It wasn't anything new or memorable. The basic structure here is pretty "been there done that" for me. Like I said, if you liked it, I'm happy for you, glad you got your money's worth. Stephen Lang is a good choice for the role, though. He's got presence. However this movie did nothing for me.

It had hype, I went into it wanting to like it, came out disappointed. To me this was the same old shit. If it wasn't to you, cool. Glad you enjoyed it.

I think I was just confused by your first post that seemed to ignore that this "type of movie" is really a subgenre. Whether you think it actually worked within the genre's parameters or not is up to you, though.

Also, Angst is a great film and doesn't get nearly the amount of love it deserves from horror fans and general moviegoers alike.

Quoted from crookedowl I think I was just confused by your first post that seemed to ignore that this "type of movie" is really a subgenre. Whether you think it actually worked within the genre's parameters or not is up to you, though. Also, Angst is a great film and doesn't get nearly the amount of love it deserves from horror fans and general moviegoers alike.

I really don't look at movies like that. Genres, sub-genres, parameters of subgenres etc.

I just want to see something new and something that I'll find interesting. If it's something that I've already seen before, set-ups that are familiar, tropes etc, I get bored and somewhat irritated by the movie that it's going down a path that has been done before, I feel like I'm wasting my time and money.

I agree about Angst, I remember seeing it on TV as kid. It was an engrossing movie to watch at 13-14, because the whole movie is done with a V.O and through the mind of the killer. I might have a different take on it now, but I still remember the camera work, most of the scenes, so it stayed with me after years.

Quoted from Demento I agree about Angst, I remember seeing it on TV as kid. It was an engrossing movie to watch at 13-14, because the whole movie is done with a V.O and through the mind of the killer. I might have a different take on it now, but I still remember the camera work, most of the scenes, so it stayed with me after years.

WTF? i thought this was my idea. I was going to write a psycho thriller entirely in VO. I've never seen nor heard of Angst before. What a bitch. Oh well, at least I didn't write it. I'll try and think of an original approach.

Quoted from Demento I just want to see something new and something that I'll find interesting. If it's something that I've already seen before, set-ups that are familiar, tropes etc, I get bored and somewhat irritated by the movie that it's going down a path that has been done before, I feel like I'm wasting my time and money.

Good luck with that, bro.  Of all the conversations and back and forths on SS, one thing is very clear - there's almost nothing that is going to be new, in terms of concept/plot/story, etc.  They've all been done...over and over again.  And, there's nothing wrong with that, really.  As long as the "new" movie brings something to the table, that's a good...and worthwhile.

Quoted from Dreamscale Good luck with that, bro.  Of all the conversations and back and forths on SS, one thing is very clear - there's almost nothing that is going to be new, in terms of concept/plot/story, etc.  They've all been done...over and over again.  And, there's nothing wrong with that, really.  As long as the "new" movie brings something to the table, that's a good...and worthwhile.

I'm saying what appeals to me. I'm not saying what's right or wrong.

While I agree that there are rarely original ideas, because so much has already been done, there are interesting takes that are somewhat original, or just... original ideas in the very rarest of cases.

When I watch something like let's say Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Birdman, or that movie Enemy with Jake Gyllenhaal, I don't immediately think to 5-6 similar movies.

Even It Follows which came out 2 years ago. While I didn't like the movie I wanted to see it based off the trailer because the concept seemed fresh and like something interesting could be done with it, even though it kinda reminded me off Fallen with Denzel, which is a good movie, IMO.

If I watch a movie like Don't Breathe and two dozen similar movies pop into my head, especially movies that have come out recently and the movie follows familiar patterns I lose all my enthusiasm, because I feel like I'm watching something that I've already seen. Soon as I saw the trailer for this movie, the plot for People Under The Stairs came to me. Burglars break into a house, become trapped and hunted. Then I see elements I've seen in another movie, then in another and so on. And the movie loses all its flavor and I feel like I'm watching someone copy and pasting things.

I can't appreciate the storytelling. But, that's just me.

We mentioned Angst in this thread. Instance, that movie follows a killer being released from an insane asylum for a period of 24 hours. It's all done with V.O and the killer is in every shot. We  hear everything that goes on inside his mind as the day goes by. Just of the top of my head, I can think of I Stand Alone, which is a movie similar to that one, with the V.O, but it came out 15-16 years later. So, watching Angst at the time, it felt interesting. It didn't feel like I was watching some average slasher movie which follows the same pattern 90% of them do (not talking about Don't Breathe). Watching Angst felt like you're really watching events unravel through out the day.

This was okay. Not bad, not very good. Just okay.

I thought this one was great. Very cool to see a horror film with a coherent Christian message that managed to tackle loss of faith, unjust death, and the perversion of God's order while leading to a thematically satisfying gross-out moment that was also a huge crowd-pleaser. A rare treat and, superficially, a great, brutal little thriller.

Quoted from Heretic I thought this one was great. Very cool to see a horror film with a coherent Christian message that managed to tackle loss of faith, unjust death, and the perversion of God's order while leading to a thematically satisfying gross-out moment that was also a huge crowd-pleaser. A rare treat and, superficially, a great, brutal little thriller.

I didn't see any of this "Christian message" and if the sperm-turkey basting late-movie scene was the gross-out moment, then I thought... dumb scene.

"I ain't no rapist," just a kidnapping, murdering ordinary kind of guy. Root for me, okay?

Ignoring the plot holes, like that rickety, wooden rotten cellar door actually being a barrier, and the chlorophyll cocktail that didn't actually work, total predictability at every turn, then the only scenes that did anything for me were the cat and mouse scenes and the Avatar guy overcoming his blindness. At least there I could appreciate something different out of yet another contained thriller featuring very smart, yet completely dumb young evil people who almost all get what they deserve.

Please don't make a part 2 to this.

Watched this while waiting for a baby last night.  

I thought this one was VERY good. Home invasion done in a new way. Same ole, same ole, but still new! It felt real. It was tense. An edge of your seat kind of film for sure.

I did have some issues with it though...

In the beginning, I wasn't particularly fond of our main characters. Small time burglars, that live   depressing lives. Okay, I can go along with that, but destruction and pissing on the floors in the houses they break into, made me have less sympathy for them. Especially Money (character).

We see Rocks' and her sister's lives and understand the need to get away from that home situation. But.... it still feels really wrong to steal from an old blind war vet who lives in an area of Detroit that is basically abandoned. Of course then we find out that the old vet isn't that innocent, but still. IMHO, it doesn't make our main characters' motives any more noble. They were out to take all his money. They didn't give a shit about a fellow human who's old and blind. The most likable and resonable of the characters IMO, was Alex, but he dies. Rocks is the one that survives and ends up with the money. I guess the idea that she and her little sister can start a new life should make us feel good. I just wished I had liked Rocks better. They should've made her the one that wasn't sure about going along on this trip.

There were parts of this film that felt exactly like other films. Especially Silence of the lambs, when Rocks is in the dark with the old man. Other parts were Cujo.

Then there's this nitpick. The old man cuts Rocks' pants open to inject her with his semen. Later when she battles "Cujo" in the car, the pants show no sign of that.

So, great movie with lots of suspense and tension and twists coming at you at rapid speed. I just wished I had felt better about Rocks being the winner, so to speak.

I thought it was good. Better than most horrors, but at the same time lacking.

The main problem I had is that I didn't care about any of the characters..with the exception of the blind man. Their motivations and actions made it impossible to care about them, so there was zero tension as I was really rooting for the bad guy.

It would have been a better film if it ended at the point she was imprisoned. Far more horrifying, and far more thematic.