DON'T BREATHE

Stephen Lang     Jane Levy     Dylan Minnette     Daniel Zovatto

          Chills and thrills a’plenty are in Don’t Breathe.  Three young pals, Rocky (Levy), Alex (Minnette), and Money (Zovalto)—pun intended, I suppose—are making their living by stealing from other people.  One has a connection to an alarm company, which allows them to disengage the alarms, enter homes and help themselves.  They have to hand over a high percentage of what they get to a “handler” who lets them know which houses to hit.  Then, as expected a really big job comes up, and at first Alex is reluctant because he knows the penalties if they’re caught, depending on the circumstances and whether or not they’re armed.  He has his limits as to how much risk he wants to take.

          Money, on the other hand, who seems to have no scruples about anything, is gung ho for the job, as is his girlfriend Rocky.  After Alex reads a news story about the blind man who lives in the house, he decides to join them after all.  The blind man (Lang) is ex-military and received a handsome settlement in a legal suit.  Since he lives in a modest house in a neighborhood in Detroit that is mostly abandoned, there is likely to be a stash of cash on hand.

         Off they go, and actually get into the house, but what awaits them there will be surprise after horrible surprise.  That could be one of the weaknesses of the plot—at least six times you think it’s going to end, but Director Fede Alvarez and his co-writer Rodo Sayagues, always have one more gasp up their sleeves.  The plot goes upstairs, downstairs, in the cellar, in the attic, and outdoors.  There are locks to break (and sometimes the intruders are locked inside), guns to fire, and a muscular ex-military fighter who doesn’t need his eyes to take someone down. 

          The plot is intelligent, mostly, with clever twists, such as the fact that in the beginning the viewer will have little sympathy for the thieves, especially Money, although Rocky is a single mother with a rough background who cares deeply for her daughter.  Then as the plot unfolds what Alex and Rocky have done fades in comparison to what they encounter.  Which is a true horror story.

       As with almost all the horror movies I’ve seen, though, I roll my eyes when the characters do stupid things and don’t take advantage of ways to escape, and that happens here.  Both Alex and Rocky could have gotten out of the situation a number of times.  Rocky is a bit more understandable in the sense that she stubbornly pursues her goals, and if there is any chance at all to get away with the loot, she will try.  The filmmakers have hooked Alex in by making him have the hots for Rocky, who is Money’s girlfriend, and clearly he feels protective of her and will not leave until he knows she is safe.

         Stephen Lang as the blind man convinces us of a layered personality with muscular arms that are as intimidating as his blank but intelligent eyes.  He has to use his other senses to detect who is around and where, which he does mostly with accuracy until he gets desperate and rattled, then he is a wild man.  But he pretty much gets our sustained attention over the long haul.  The twist in his story is the most chilling of all.  Minnette, Levy, and Zovatto carry off their roles with ease, and move the plot along over the tense terrain.

A good come-on for horror fans with its gripping plot twists.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

GOOSEBUMPS

Jack Black     Dylan Minnette     Odeya Rush     Ryan Lee     Amy Ryan     R. L. Stine (cameo)

            Goosebumps are guaranteed for Goosebumps audiences with its scary (and fantastically displayed) computer-animated live-action monsters, eerie music (Danny Elfman), and Jack Black as a short-tempered ogre.  Director Rob Letterman and the writers (Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, Darren Lemke) have cleverly brought into the movie version as many of the numerous monsters created by R. L. Stine as they reasonably could, and it is thrilling and ominous to see so many of them on the attack (e.g., Abominable Snowman, Slappy the Dummy, Giant Preying Mantis, Invisible Boy, Evil Swamp Werewolf, Zombies, Lawn Gnomes, Robots, Haunted Mask, and Bees, to name some).  This is a new story incorporating Stine’s characters, rather than being based on a particular book.  Stine said in an interview that it has always been important to him that his monsters be both scary and funny at the same time (http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/446963-interview-author-r-l-stine-talks-the-goosebumps-movie#/slide/1).

            The initial part of the story centers on high schooler Zach Cooper (Minnette) moving into Madison, Delaware, with his mother (Ryan), the new vice principal of Madison High.  He notices odd goings on next door, then is startled by Hannah (Rush) when he is at the trash bin.  She is the daughter of R. L. Stine, the famous writer of the Goosebumps series, who has already leaned out of his second-story window and threatened Zach to stay away from her.  But she is plucky and rebellious and takes Zach on a brilliant walk after dark.  He is smitten with her.

            Later, he hears Stine and Hannah arguing, and immediately worries about her safety.  He uses a ruse to get Mr. Stine out of the house, and recruits his nerdy new friend from high school, Champ (Lee), to break into Hannah’s house and rescue her.  This begins a series of frightening events that will take up the rest of the night when Champ, an avid reader of Stine’s books, and Zach manage to unleash monsters by opening a locked cabinet that contains all the books.

            Jack Black is at his best in realizing the Stine character, from intimidating and ogre-like, to distressed, to lonely and desperate, to outlandishly comedic.  He said he viewed the fictional Stine as “a respected writer with a dark side” and played him accordingly.  Minette as Zach is a good counterpart to Stine in being young but sensible and creative in coming up with plans.  Offering nervous hysteria and ultimately disastrous actions that invariably produce groans and chuckles, Lee’s Champ (dubbed “Chump”) gives us some comic relief from the tension. 

            The music by Danny Elfman and production design by Sean Haworth add dimension to the story by being alternately frightening and comedic, depending on what is going on in the script.  The colors add richness and depth, all of which adds up to a visually beautiful film.

A nifty PG-rated comedy/horror movie that should appeal to most ages, except perhaps for sensitive younger children. 

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

GOOSEBUMPS Press Conference Summary

          Even after answering questions from various groups for three hours before, the main cast members (Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, and Ryan Lee) of Goosebumps were fresh and lively for their press conference.  In a dramatic entrance, Dylan was singing as they filed in, and Jack announced that he had ordered Tex-Mex to eat for when they go on their way to the next junket point.  Of course, the cuisine had to be explained to someone like Odeya who is from Israel.

        A burning question for all eight critics/reporters present was about R. L. Stine, the author of the Goosebumps books (62 of them, no less!), and his take on the movie.  Jack said he met Stine before shooting the picture, and found that the author is nothing like the character Jack plays.  He called Stine “an amazing guy” and a brilliant writer—which Jack tried to keep in mind when he was playing him.  Jack said the character in the movie is a very dark figure, with sinister and antisocial qualities, which couldn’t be further from Stine himself (or the actor himself, I’ve observed). 

         Stine actually loves the film and had no objections to the portrayal of him.  He was more interested in seeing that the filmmakers were mindful of Stine’s audience and that it had equal parts of scariness and fun, which is how he wants his monsters to be seen by children. Stine’s positive opinion about the movie was “like gold” to Jack.

        Jack and the three younger actors had high praise for one another in their working relationships.  Odeya said that Jack puts everyone at ease because he’s so approachable.  Ryan said he grew up watching Jack’s movies, and recalled seeing him after a press junket for Super 8, when he never dreamed he would get to work with him in the future.  Jack complimented the three younger actors for their skill and “realness.”  He and Director Letterman felt lucky to get them because a) each was their first choice out of hundreds of auditions and b) they were so much in demand on other projects.

      There was an interesting question about working with the computer-generated monsters.  Jack explained that the director sets the scene for the actors with verbal descriptions and they act out their parts as if the fantasy character were there.  For instance, in the scene where Jack encounters The Blob, he is standing on a table and moving about as if he were in a bowl of Jello.  Computer-generated images are always added in at a later time.  In the Production Notes, Letterman says that whenever possible they created a material creature out of make-up and special effects.  Most of the monsters are material or a hybrid of material and CGI, and a few are purely CGI.

         Which of the monsters is the scariest to the actors?  It was generally agreed that Slappy is; he’s a little like Chucky of the Chucky horror movie series.  Jack pointed out that he has the power of teleportation, but is also like Hannibal Lector or Darth Vader because he’s the sinister mastermind.  He represents the darkest part of Stine’s psyche.  Although Avery Lee Jones was the puppeteer/ventriloquist on set, the voice was subsequently replaced with Jack’s. 

          Since Jack Black has two seven and nine year-old boys, I asked about whether they had read the Stine books, and he replied that they hadn’t, although they do like scary stuff and have an app on their iPad that shows creepy things.  When they were younger, he used to make up stories for them at bedtime, such as his own version of Lord of the Rings, with adventures involving Hobbits and dragons.  He always left them with a cliffhanger, e.g.,           “Tomorrow, you’ll find out what happened with the Dragon of Algernon!”

          He was certain when he read the script that his children would enjoy Goosebumps, so they received a special screening at their school in Los Angeles (not the School of Rock, as someone suggested).

         The last scene of Goosebumps leaves the impression of a sequel to come, which Jack said depended on how well this movie fares and how good the script for the next one might be.

         Everyone seemed to leave the conference on an upbeat note, inspired by the actors’ enthusiasm for the film and their fruitful collaboration.  I, for one, think it will be a hit as a Halloween movie this year.  Right now, I’m wanting to see it again!