Horror movies are like coffee; more often than not its really bad, layered with artificial substance to slightly alter a universal algorithm, and keeps you awake at night. As a connoisseur of all things spooky, Sam Raimi always piques my curiosity; while I can't say I enjoy all of his work, "Evil Dead"'s place in the scary movie canon is well deserved. Still, a healthy sense of skepticism is all but required when dealing with films that prey upon the terrors of the mind; its very easy to bore an audience with unoriginal concepts, or ruin a good idea with poor, repetitious tropes. "Don't Breathe" is that refreshing breath of air that separates itself from the sea of possessed demon girls and ouija boards.

Maybe I had a bad taste in my mouth after first seeing the trailer before "Sausage Party", or perhaps I spent too much time picking it apart looking for flaws to justify on principal skepticism. Either way, with a build up as long as my own intro and uninteresting Generic White Protagonists, I spent the beginning of the film smug in my own preconceptions. I have not been so wrong.

Of course, thats not to say "Don't Breathe" was not without its faults. There were multiple incidents in which I was taken out of the plot to object to complete abandonment of logic. Typical mistakes. Prolonged staring at the antagonist instead of actively attempting to run away. A reverse Scooby Doo Rottweiler meddling with the protagonists' ability to survive, to the extent of navigating air vents and breaking into a car. The leading male protagonist, Alex, getting thrown from the only window that was not barred, conveniently the only window they had not checked while looking for an escape.

Then there's the old man. Blind army veteran, the sole occupant of an otherwise abandoned neighborhood and sitting on upwards of six figures, compensating the death of his daughter in a fatal collision. His other special skills include appearing frequently whenever conflict would be the highest, defying gun logic for the sake of the plot, shaking off sleeping gas, and busting out of steel traps. If Wolverine traded his claws and healing ability for blindness, he would perfectly fit the mold for the creepy old man living presumably alone in Detroit.

All of that aside, "Don't Breathe" was nonetheless successful in ways I couldn't even predict. From a cinematic perspective, transition scenes in slow motion were positively gorgeous, and its use of foreshadowing was well done and clever for later moments. While "Don't Breathe" gets its scares in a psychological thriller sense (a far cry from the Evil Dead franchise Raimi's reputation grew from), the film plays upon real fears instead of ghosts. The suspense is well played, intended to keep the viewer constantly vigilant. Moreover, the jump scares are not legitimate scares, but well intentioned moments by the antagonist that almost contrast against the chaotic situation they all find themselves to be.

There are moments, which I will not completely ruin, where your heart all but stops out of insinuation for the future outcome. I was physically uncomfortable at the mention of it, but the follow up scene was nothing short of satisfying.

So, while I wouldn't hold my breath for a new film that blows preconceptions of horror out of the water and does it well, "Don't Breathe" takes a coveted perspective of horror that a lot of teams try to do unsuccessfully. A memorable experience if nothing else.