thedude00 Reviews

Don't Breathe (2016)

Unstoppable tension

[7/10 · 31 March 2016]

After Evil Dead's well-made remake, a lot of us felt that Fede Alvarez was a director to watch. With Don't Breathe, he definitely became a director I'm very excited to see future projects from.

I admire his knack to generate tension. After the film kicks off, there is really no stopping. It became almost unbearable at the end, nearly reaching the point of overkill. When you have a thriller filled with so much tension throughout its running time, there's only so much you can do before you start yelling "you gotta be kidding me" at the screen.

The cinematography was beautiful and moody and the performances were fine, except maybe Jane Levy, who I felt was too wooden, making her character a little bit unlikable.

Don't Breathe was a solid effort and a great addition to the home invasion genre with a little twist.

Disturbia (2007)

Disturb in Suburbia

[9/10 · 7 August 2008]

"Disturbia", or should I say "Disturb in Suburbia", directed by D.J. Caruso and influenced by Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window", is a very tense thriller, that despite the fact it doesn't bring anything new to the genre, thanks to its mysterious atmosphere and genuine comedy, it succeeds in every aspect.

Under the tag-line "Every killer lives next door to someone", we go to the movies on a Friday night, we pick a seat, start eating our popcorn and prepare ourselves to enjoy a horror/suspense movie. It's been 30 minutes since it started and we don't see the 'horror' part coming. We feel like if we're watching a remake of "The Girl Next Door", which is acceptable for the 'average audience' but suspense fans start to wonder "Will the scares ever start?". After a romantic comedy set-up, D.J. Caruso brings us some of the bad color when we see some blood stains on a window, with some screaming of a woman in the background. Is in that moment when we get that breaking point we've all been waiting for.

With some effective jump-out-of-your-seat scares, a typical cat and mouse game between protagonist-antagonist and a soundtrack that give you chills, in the hand of Geoff Zanelli, lead 'Disturbia' to an excellent climax that is followed by a predictable ending, appreciating the fact that it's not ruined by a 'surprise twist' we've seen lately in psychological thrillers that most of the time are not well-executed. This makes 'Disturbia' a film that appeals to all audiences, no matter how old you are.

Taking away the fact that we feel like we're watching a chick flick in the first act, its third one compensates everything else, leaving everyone satisfied, from horror-suspense fans to those who don't need to watch liters of blood on a screen to feel fear. With an excellent performance from Shia LaBeouf as the typical suburban teen and a nice mixture of genres hard to put together, turn 'Disturbia' in 105 minutes of suspense, drama, comedy and mystery that everyone will enjoy, mostly if it is accompanied by a tower of Twinkies...