Don't Breathe (2016)

Your heroes are three thieves robbing a blind veteran, and Don’t Breathe spends its first stretch hoping you won’t think too hard about that. You will. Money, the loudest one, is so obnoxious you’ll be on the homeowner’s side within minutes. Then the doors lock and the movie flips. Stephen Lang plays the Blind Man like a closed fist, barely talking, moving through the dark with total confidence while the intruders hold their breath. One stretch with the lights out, shot in a grayed-out night vision look, is the scariest part of the film. Jane Levy carries the rest, scrappy and believable. The Blind Man is hiding something terrible, and once that comes out, the movie gets nastier than it needed to. The last act also keeps finding one more ending. It made $157.8 million worldwide on a reported $9.9M. A 7.2 because it’s a tight, mean little thriller that runs just 88 minutes and wastes almost none of them. $122 says you tiptoe to the kitchen for a midnight snack tonight and stop dead when the fridge hums.

What works: Stephen Lang is terrifying with almost no dialogue, and the blackout sequence turns a small house into a maze you can feel.

What doesn’t: The burglars are hard to root for, especially Money, and the last act keeps adding false endings until the tension wears thin.

Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a lean, single-location thriller and prefers creaky floors to ghosts or jump scares.