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Don't Breathe

5/10

Stars: Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Stephen Lang, Daniel Zovatto

Director: Fede Alvarez

Three young burglars, inevitably including a girl (Levy), have been successfully pilfering houses in their well-to-do neighbourhood. Learning that a blind recluse (bad ol' Lang) probably has thousands stashed away in his rambling old house, the trio imagines that they've hit the jackpot.

But they reckon without the resourcefulness and aggression of their 'victim', an Iraq war veteran who, still grieving over the death of his daughter in a hit-and-run accident, has an armoury of guns in the house and a nasty secret in the cellar.

One of the intruders is soon dispatched and the rest of the film is sometimes tense cat-and-mouse stuff between the blind man and the other two.

Genre fans will doubtless queue for this, but it's standard horror fare, neither good nor bad and predictably concentrating on the fate of the girl. Nicely shot, though, with appropriate portraits of desperation from the cast and a killer dog - three different canines are credited - thrown in for good measure.

The ending paves the way for a possible sequel, but, however efficiently made, I think one of these is enough.

David Quinlan

USA 2015. UK Distributor: Sony (Screen Gems). Colour by Color Front.
88 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 1, Swearing 2.

Review date: 06 Sep 2016