Fede Alvarez directs Jane Levy, Stephen Lang and Dylan Minnette in this tale of kids who burgle a very dangerous blind man’s house.

Proof that genre beats spectacle – two of 2016’s best movies are out on the same weekend. Both put together talented people in front and behind the camera, a pure but efficiently realised concept, and on a budget that wouldn’t pay for Robert Downey Jnr’s Iron Arm and Iron Leg, let alone a whole Marvel Civil Playground Scrap. We have a great modern horror here. Sure, the characters are to the letter unlikeable but you’ll get so caught up in the perfectly oiled and paced spook house ride, once it is set in motion, to care about the ethics of rooting for their survival. Lang (plus a committed pooch) is a formidable, unrelenting force to be reckoned with – his jerky movement and shell shocked face will creep out even the most hardened horror hound as he lunges and passes and lurks at the viewer. It has twists and turns but if you are a fan of the devastating final set piece in The Silence of the Lambs then you’ll be at least girded mentally for a satisfying hour long extension of exactly that. Don’t Breathe is proudly from The Evil Dead remake team and, just as that blast was a pleasantly nasty surprise, this is ever so well crafted that you have to relish the infinitely exciting possibilities of whatever they conjure up next.

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