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[Spoilers] I don't understand the hype around this film

posted 8 years ago by Voorhees (12)
3 replies | jump to latest

I had high hopes for it going in considering that it was produced by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert (I also enjoyed the Evil Dead remake that Alvarez directed) but came out feel disappointed. Not a single character felt likeable. I couldn't help but think that these people deserved what was happening to them. Without being able to sympathise with the characters I found it difficult to emphasise with what they were going through, I was basically just watching a bunch of assholes wail on each other for an hour and a half.

They didn't spend enough time trying to convince us why we should care about these characters. I understand that the girl was trying to escape from her shitty family life but they didn't show enough of it to show why it was shit enough to warrant robbing houses, especially the house of some blind war veteran.

As for the main guy, he just felt like a rich boy who used his the key's from his dad's security business for fun. There didn't seem to be any other reason. I mean if he dad worked in security then he couldn't of been that bad off, could he?

The third guy, the one who gets killed first, was just a straight up ass hole who deserved everything that was coming to him. I was glad when he died.

I didn't like the extreme lengths they went to try and make The Blind Man out to be the bad guy. What he did was so comically evil that it didn't really register. I was still pissed off at these kids for robbing some blind war veteran for seemingly no reason other than some sick thrills. I felt like the film would of improved greatly had they removed that aspect altogether.

I don't know, maybe I've been spoiled by Green Room (and too a lesser extent 10 Cloverfield Lane), but not many "locked in a room" movies feel very tense any more. Green Room made you care about the characters, it also made you feel like anything could happen to any of them at any moment, whereas Don't Breathe felt like another horror film repeating the same old horror movie beats.

I enjoyed the inversion of the typical home invasion film. The film was shot well enough and the colours were gorgeous but it just felt severely lacking. I find it strange that people consider this one of the best films of the year, in the same year that The Witch and Green Room came out.

What do other people think? Am I alone in thinking that this film isn't as great as it was cracked up to be?

[–] Cornelia123 (784) 8 years ago

I agree with you. It's just an average film, the type of film you can watch on the tv if there's nothing else on. Sure it's entertaining, but a great horror film? Nope.

[–] silexit (10) 6 years ago

I agree completely. This was such a poor movie. Poorly executed in every single aspect.

[–] snepts (11123) 6 years ago

I don't seek out these types of films, so if it's all been done before and better, I'll accept that.
But I found it tight and exciting, almost like all the events could have really happened.
Some of the stuff involving the dog was obviously manipulative, that mutt should have either got the girl or she should have figured out a way to clobber it. I guess she did at some point, but it sure looked like that thing was going to maul her but she pulled some magic tricks to keep out of reach. Still kind of exciting, that's the point of shooting it like that.

So I liked the movie. No good guys, just a taut little thriller, to me, well-made.