‘Don’t Breathe’ ratchets up suspense without filler

The less you know about "Don't Breathe" before watching it, the better off you will be. On the contrary, the more you know about its director Fede Alvarez, the better you can appreciate just how accomplished the young director is at this early stage of his career.

In 2009, a 31-year-old Alvarez posted a short sci-fi film to YouTube, "Ataque de Panico!" ("Panic Attack"). The film, which features towering intergalactic robots leveling the streets of Alvarez's Uruguayan home, boasts special effects that seems pulled straight out of a big-budget blockbuster. Clocking in at just under four minutes, it's still better than anything seen in this summer's "Independence Day" sequel (and it's still up on YouTube in all its glory to see for yourself).

For Alvarez, the project cost $300.

This little video garnered much attention via social media and ended up on the Twitter feed of Kanye West and ultimately to the eyes of director Sam Raimi (The "Evil Dead" trilogy, "Spider Man"). Raimi plucked Alvarez to remake his original "Dead" film.

And Alvarez's bloody, brutal take on that film has led to Raimi handing over free rein for "Don't Breathe," his sophomore effort. In it, a trio of restless Detroit youths attempt to rob a blind man, but find much more than they bargained for on the inside.

Rocky (played by "Evil Dead's" lead Jane Levy), Money (played by Daniel Zovatto) and Alex (played by Dylan Minnette) gain access to an older man's house, thanks to Alex's pop's connections at a security company.

What follows is a restless, relentless series of claustrophobic confrontations, with the intruders winding through the darkened house with its resident, whose sight may be obscured, but whose other senses are heightened.

Co-written by Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues, the film discards dialogue for creatively crafted reaction shots from its leads, as they scuttle their way from one room to the next: closets, crawlspaces, basements, not to mention a Rottweiler that seems to have been crossbred with Terminator-like DNA.

Cinematographer Pedro Luque blankets the proceedings with a shadowy veil, which adds to the tension that peril awaits around each and every frame of the film.

Just when you feel as though you have things pegged and you have selected your allegiances to  characters, Alvarez makes things all the more murky, and dark enough to make even the most jaded horror fan squirm in his or her seat.

It's lean and it's mean, but "Don't Breathe" demonstrates a director with a distinct vision and talent who knows how to ratchet up suspense without stuffing a film with the typical genre filler.