'Don't Breathe': One of the year's best horror pics

Uruguayan writer-director Fede Alvarez was snatched up by Hollywood on the strength of a freakishly original 2009 short he posted online.

The investment paid off handsomely with his 2013 feature debut, Evil Dead, a gorgeously handcrafted $17 million remake of Sam Raimi's 1981 classic. It was loved by Raimi purists and made nearly $98 million worldwide.

Alvarez proves his bona fides as an original filmmaker with the home-invasion thriller Don't Breathe, one of the most suspenseful, terrifying, and devilishly original horror pics in recent memory.

A claustrophobic, remorselessly twisted, twisty, and nasty shocker set in Detroit, it stars Evil Dead alumna Jane Levy, along with Dylan Minnette (Goosebumps) and Daniel Zovatto (It Follows), as a trio of young burglars who get their comeuppance - and then some - when they break into the house of a violent psychopath.

Veteran actor Stephen Lang (Salem, Avatar, Gettysburg) is simply sensational as the homeowner, an aging Gulf War vet whose harmless demeanor hides a fierce, brutal nature. A paranoiac who lost his sight during the war, he's the sort of man who doesn't think twice about blithely unloading a semiautomatic pistol into a room at the faintest sign of a threat.

That threat comes one night when our young miscreants - kids playing at being sophisticated thieves - break in while he's asleep.

The threesome are also a love triangle. Money (Zovatto) is big, dumb, and mean. His girlfriend, Rocky (Levy), is a dreamer who fantasizes about running away with her little sister from their abusive mom and her neo-Nazi beau. Alex (Minnette) is the nice kid. Hopelessly in love with Rocky, he'd follow her off a cliff.

Alvarez has a knack for using meager resources to his advantage. He sets virtually the entire film in the vet's house, making ingenious use of every floor, every room, every ventilation duct to transform an ordinary house into a terrifying, vertiginous labyrinth.

There are touches here that recall the wizardry of the Coen Brothers' low-budget breakout feature Blood Simple and the first film in James Wan's Saw franchise.

But Don't Breathe mostly reminds you of a traditional fairy tale. Lang is shot almost always from a low angle, making him look like an ogre. He delivers a remarkably physical performance as he grunts and swats, punches and wails, huffs and kicks at the three kids who have invaded his castle.

He has every right to be frantic: In a mind-blowing plot twist, we'll eventually learn why.

Alvarez keeps us on our toes with dizzying reversals of fortune. It's impossible to guess who'll survive the battle between the intruders and the ogre.

Don't Breathe doesn't rewrite the rules of horror filmmaking, but it does breathe new life into the genre.

tirdad@phillynews.com

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Don't Breathe

Three stars out of four.

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