Sebastian Mann

Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez burst onto the horror scene in 2013 with a blood-soaked reimagining of Sam Raimi’s seminal 1981 classic, The Evil Dead.

It’s clear that Alvarez has now found his place as a horror filmmaker with a unique but inspired vision, almost inheriting the prominence of early Raimi himself – but there is certainly a long way to go.

Don’t Breathe is, first and foremost, one of the more unique twists on the horror genre of recent memory. It comes at a time when the face of horror is changing; independent films like It Follows (2014) have introduced a new breed of horror, and Alvarez’s latest looks to the future whilst respecting the traditions of old.

Picture: Sony Pictures Entertainment Ltd.

It tells the tale of three thieves who, desperate for the money to begin a new life, target the house of a blind war veteran, wherein lies a vast sum of cash.

The focus of the film is not on the protagonists, but on its already iconic antagonist. It presents a challenge to itself, and that is to create a horror film where the protagonists are, at a glance, at a far greater advantage than their adversary.

Of course, there is far more to it than meets the eye. The veteran is, in reality, still more than proficient in combat and as ruthless as horror villains come.

There are scenes of genuine, pulse-pounding tension, mixed with a gnawing, claustrophobic dread that leaves the audience breathless.

Where Don’t Breathe works best is its atmosphere. A cracking use of sound, or lack thereof, pushes the film from a simple home-invasion-gone-wrong thriller into something far more intense and cold-blooded.

It is almost tragic that as the film hurtles along, Alvarez seemingly sacrifices atmosphere in favour of the now boring and stale tradition of almost deafeningly loud jump-scares. A misstep that is more disappointing than anything else.

Alvarez’s attempts to elevate the film into something far more extreme are where it most notably begins to come apart at the seams.

The villainisation of the blind veteran, propelling him from a sympathetic, if not a little violent victim into something far more pernicious and nasty is revolting and gruesome, but in all the wrong ways. He is a man driven by an eye-rolling sense of nihilistic justice that is frustratingly out of place.

The film loses sight of itself. Its last-ditch effort to gross out the audience feels lazy and contrived, and it stings just that bit more when one remembers the strength of its premise going in.

But, with all this in mind, Don’t Breathe will most likely prove to be an enjoyable outing for many horror and non-horror fans alike.

As a director, Alvarez has shown a lot of promise. With Don’t Breathe, he has demonstrated a crucial understanding of the horror genre, even if his execution is not always sound. He has created a unique thriller that is more than just passable, even if it may leave something to be desired.

Don’t Breathe Rating: 6/10

The sea is not man’s element. Whilst Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra’s latest horror may effortlessly capture this, the result is very hit-and-miss.

The Shallows focuses solely on med student Nancy (Blake Lively). The story begins as she arrives at the same tropical beach in Mexico her pregnant mother had visited years before.

The concept of the beach resembling “paradise,” as friendly local Carlos (Óscar Jaenada) so claims, quickly vanishes as it becomes clear the waters aren’t as safe as they look. Nancy is left stranded on a rock with only an injured – but strangely likeable – seagull to keep her company. She is tormented by how close the shoreline is, and how unreachable sanctuary has become.

The film can be easily summarised as Blake Lively fighting a battle of the wits with a rather large shark, and the film is none the worse for it. Her forced, cliché-ridden backstory, however, is unsurprisingly dull and overbearing.

The Shallows’ greatest flaw is that it insists on being generic. There is a lot to like – the setting, concept and aesthetics are all there – but one can’t help but roll their eyes at Nancy’s soppiness and bumper-sticker mentality to “always keep fighting”. Nancy ‘catching waves’ in a fast-paced sequence set to equally fast-paced electronica feels as though it’s there out of necessity, and nothing more.

Photo: Columbia Pictures

For the most part, it is a slow-moving struggle for survival that is effective at creating tension – even if the scares are often predictable and feel a little cheap.

Blake Lively delivers an excellent performance. Nancy demonstrates unbreakable determination and is, at least, a passable heroine. There are some surprisingly intimate character moments, although they are few and far between.

Her characterisation ultimately detracts more than it adds. Desperate attempts to make Nancy seem like a real human being, such as awkward FaceTime conversations, are uninteresting and unneeded.

However, it would seem that any meaningful character depth has ultimately been swapped out in favour of a bikini; her medical skills offer little more than to ensure the credits don’t start rolling after fifteen minutes.

The film works best when it’s carried by its own simplicity. When the film finally embraces the idea of woman-versus-shark, it’s a glorious spectacle to behold. Armed with only a flare gun, Nancy decides to fight the shark head on, delivering golden one-liners. The sequence, complete with a climax that will rouse a few cheers, is ridiculous, B-movie goodness.

But unfortunately, for as many well-crafted scenes the film showcases, there are an equal amount that fall flat.

The cinematography and beautiful visuals may be a superb achievement, but the numerous aerial-view shots of the sea begin to gradually feel rather self-indulgent. Scenes of tension, as gripping as they may be, are mostly fleeting.

As it stands, The Shallows is a serviceable, Saturday-night-at-the-movies horror. It doesn’t push new boundaries and reach new heights, but it doesn’t act as if it set out to. It succeeds in introducing an exciting concept with a great setting, but its execution, for the most part, is just short of the mark.