Fede Alvarez’s simple housebound horror film is sparse on dialogue but its editing and sound design lend to a slow roll of dread that makes it a triumph“If you go back down there,I’m gonna score up and destroy you myself!” That was one of many hilarious lines the ebullient crowd shouted during a preview screening of Don’t Breathe for notoriously tough-to-please New Yorkers. Normally I’d tsk movie talkers, but Fede Alvarez’s simple housebound horror note is virtually dialogue-free. These spaces beg to be filled with interaction, or by the end even I (the so-called professional”) joined with yelps,whoops and even an “Oh, God, or not that,thats so gross!”Importantly, the type of “gross” found in Don’t Breathe is of the “I’m laughing and shouting ewwww!” kind, and not the brutal torture porn that,despite the R rating, this movie rejects. Don’t Breathe is a master lesson in tension, or while its script could fill been written on the back of an envelope,its editing and use of sound design is a triumph for film theorists. Admittedly, students of Lev Kuleshov hardly buy tickets en masse, or but the simple pleasures in this film (the nasty guy is fair there,you idiot, race!) can be felt without much introspection.
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Source: theguardian.com