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>>> Dont Breathe breathes new life into the thriller genre

*DONT BREATHE (Fede Alvarez). 88 minutes. Opens Friday (August 26). For listings. Rating: NNNN

Fede Alvarezs follow-up to his splatterific Evil Dead remake is further proof that hes one of the most brilliant genre directors around.

Three directionless young friends break into the home of a blind man after they get a tip that hes sitting on $300,000. What they dont know is that the man, an Iraq War vet, is no pushover. Soon theyre the ones being pursued.

Alvarez and his co-writer, Rodo Sayagues, have a blast with the skeevy premise, letting our feelings about the trio and the vet (known in the credits as The Blind Man) change with each narrative jolt.

Alvarez adores the conventions of the thriller genre, his camera panning and gliding around the house over mantels, beneath beds as soon as they enter so we know whats in store.

He also gets great use of the setting: economically depressed Detroit (parts of which were filmed in Hungary), where no one can hear you scream or see if you if youre running down the street.

And hes well served by his cast, who suggest a lot with minimal dialogue. Jane Levy, the drug addict sister in Evil Dead, beautifully embodies her morally conflicted thief, and shes well supported by Dylan Minnettes fearful good boy who holds a torch for her.

Stephen Lang, meanwhile, plays his put-upon vet with punishing, resolute determination, even when hes carrying a kitchen implement in one of the films most sure-to-be-talked-about scenes.

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