SEND HELP - Tuesday 3rd February 2026.

I saw 'SEND HELP' at my local multiplex cinema this week, and this American survival horror film is Co-Produced and Directed by Sam Raimi whose previous feature film making credits take in the likes of 1981's 'Evil Dead', 'Evil Dead II' in 1987, 'Darkman' in 1990, 'Army of Darkness' in 1992, 'The Quick and the Dead' in 1995, 'A Simple Plan' in 1998, 'The Spider-Man' trilogy in 2002, 2004 and 2007, 'Drag Me to Hell' in 2009 and 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' in 2022. This film saw its Premiere screening in Los Angeles, California in mid-January and was released here in Australia and the US last week, having so far grossed US$33M from a production budget of US$40M and generating largely positive critical reviews.

Meek and mild mannered corporate financial strategist Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) looks forward to a long-deserved promotion to the position of Vice President promised by her former boss who has recently passed away, and who bestowed great value upon the work that Linda undertook for his company. His son Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien) is obliged to honour the promotion upon becoming CEO of his family's financial management company. Bradley has however, already given the promotion to Donovan Murphy (Xavier Samuel), his old college buddy who dresses like he's a Gordon Gekko wannabe! He intends to have Linda transferred to a dead-end position out of disgust for her boorish manner, lack of self-confidence, unattractive appearance, and the fact that she has an odour about her. 

When Linda protests against Bradley's decision, in order to appease her somewhat he asks her to accompany him, Donovan and two other executives on a business trip to Bangkok to finalise the company's impending merger. While flying through a storm over the ocean in the company's private jet, Donovan humiliates Linda by playing a self made audition tape she recorded for the popular reality TV game show'Survivor USA', showcasing her extensive practical survival skills. The plane suffers engine failure, begins to break up and lose altitude. A panicking Donovan, who in fear of getting sucked out of the plane through a gaping hole ripped out of the side of the aircraft, attempts to strangle Linda with her seat belt demanding she give him her seat. In the ensuing struggle, Linda reaches for a fork that has tumbled with a set of cutlery from the galley, and stabs him with it, causing him to recoil in pain, let go and in turn slide out of the plane, before impacting with the water, exploding and quickly sinking. Linda fumbles with her seatbelt as the plane sinks, but manages to free herself and swim to the surface. 

Linda comes round the next morning washed up on a remote island somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand. She finds Bradley with a badly injured leg, but no other survivors. Linda puts together a shelter and forages for food and water. Bradley remains unconscious for about a day and a half, and when he comes round he accepts her help, but reverts back to manager and employee mode by barking orders at her. Linda responds by abandoning him for two days where he is unable to move because of his injured leg, exposed to the hot sun, and has nothing to drink or eat. Just as he collapses from thirst, Linda returns and gives him water. Bradley remains defiant and eventually tries to build his own camp. When his efforts fail, Bradley swallows his pride and allows Linda to boss him around. Sometime later while she is out exploring and gathering food supplies, she observes a boat sailing nearby offshore, but avoids attracting attention of the occupants, wishing to remain on the island, saying to herself that she's not ready to leave yet.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Linda gradually becomes stronger, more attractive, and confident, while teaching Bradley some essential lessons on how to survive in the wild. One night while sharing homemade fruit wine, Linda confesses to Bradley that she was married for ten years to a man who abused her until she allowed him to drink heavily and drive, resulting in his death in a road traffic accident. Seemingly moved, Bradley offers to repay Linda by cooking dinner for her the next night. He spikes the food with poisonous berries and attempts to flee on a makeshift raft, leaving Linda to die on the beach. The raft is however, destroyed in the waves, and Bradley is sucked under the big swell. Linda, partially recovered due to Bradley's miscalculating the poison dose, is able to save him from drowning, but vomits profusely all over his face as she attempts to revive him.

Linda paralyses Bradley with Blue Ringed octopus venom and pretends to castrate him as punishment, saying that with her career effectively over, she has nothing to return home to. Bradley finally accepts that the power dynamic has shifted and relinquishes all hope of escape. While harvesting fruits, Linda is surprised by the arrival of Bradley's fiancee Zuri (Edyll Ismail), who has hired a boat to rescue them, and has spent weeks searching the islands for any signs of his life. Fearing her new life will be ruined, Linda lures Zuri onto a narrow ledge of rocky cliff and pushes her and the boat captain off to their deaths. Haunted by the murders, Linda feigns sickness and allows Bradley to go out to hunt alone, whereupon he finds Zuri's hand sticking out of the sand wearing her unmistakeable diamond engagement ring. 

Distraught, Bradley runs back full speed to confront Linda about his find. Linda admits to Zuri's murder. Bradley tries to kill her. A brutal hand-to-hand fight follows, with Linda suffering a partially gouged eye before stabbing Bradley in the side. He flees and comes across a luxurious beach house on the other side of the island. Easily gaining entry he finds the fridge fully stocked with champagne and water amongst other things. Linda follows and monitors Bradley's movements through the house on the CCTV security monitoring system. She admits to having known about the house, and says that it must be owned by some Wall Street billionaire. She emerges and aims a shotgun at Bradley. Begging for his life, Bradley claims that he has changed and being alone on the island with her has taught him some valuable life lessons. He goes on to say that he now loves Linda and wants to stay with her on the island forever, before grabbing the shotgun, pointing it at her and pulling the trigger, twice, only to find it unloaded. A brief scuffle ensues, resulting in Linda beating him to death with a golf club.

A year later, and Linda has been rescued, and is a wealthy businesswoman after usurping control of the Preston family company. She is interviewed at a celebrity golf tournament about the upcoming film adaptation of her best-selling memoir, in which she claims to be the only survivor of the plane crash. Linda drives away with her pet cockatiel, singing along to Blondie's 'One Way or Another' - her favourite song of all time.

With 'Send Help' Director Sam Raimi has pulled out of his box of tricks a film that has his trademark thrills, jump scares, plenty of bloodletting and puking, emotion and wry humour to keep you entertained for this films 113 minute runtime. All the while, grounded by O'Brien's and McAdams performances of the shifting dynamic of ruthless boss and hapless employee, with the latter well and truly turning the tables on the former, and rising like a phoenix to claim what was rightfully hers in the first place - and then some! This film is a mix of 'The Office' and 'Castaway' with horror elements thrown in and thrills aplenty - you won't be disappointed!

'Send Help' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS : Tuesday 10th May 2022.

'DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS', which I saw at my local Multiplex this week, is an M Rated American Superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of Doctor Stephen Strange and is the sequel to 2016's 'Doctor Strange' which grossed US$668M off the back of a production budget of circa US$200M and is the 28th feature film and part of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film is Directed by Sam Raimi who replaced Director Scott Derrickson from the first instalment. Originally slated for release in early May 2021, it was pushed back to early November 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before it was further shifted to the end of March 2022, and in October 2021, it was shifted once more to its current May 2022 date with the World Premier on 2nd May and its world wide release last week. On a budget of US$200M, the film has so far grossed US$533M and has received generally positive Critical feedback. 

Set a few months following the events of 'Spider-Man : No Way Home', the film opens up with teenager America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) and an alternate version of Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) being chased by a demon in the space between universes while searching for the Book of Vishanti (the greatest known source of white magical knowledge on Earth that contains spells of defensive magic). Strange is killed before he can reach the Book of Vishanti and Chavez accidentally creates a portal that transports herself and Strange's corpse to Earth-616, where that universe's version of Strange is attending the wedding of his former love interest Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). 

Sipping Martini's post ceremony Strange springs to the rescue of  Chavez from an octopus demon with help from the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong (Benedict Wong). Chavez later explains that the demons are hunting her because she has the power to travel through the multiverse, although she is unable to control when and where she travels to and from. 

Recognising witchcraft runes on the now slaughtered octopus demon, Strange consults Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) for help but realises that she is responsible for the attacks. After acquiring the Darkhold (also known as The Book of the Damned, a textbook of black magic) and becoming the Scarlet Witch, Maximoff believes that controlling Chavez's powers will allow her to reunite with Billy (Julian Hilliard) and Tommy (Jett Klyne), the children she created during her time in Westview, New Jersey. When Strange refuses to surrender Chavez, Maximoff attacks Kamar-Taj in Kathmandu, Nepal and the main HQ for the Masters of the Mystic Arts, killing many sorcerers. 

Chavez accidentally transports herself and Strange to Earth-838, taking in a multitude of multiverses to arrive there, while Maximoff uses the Darkhold to 'dream-walk', taking control of her Earth-838 counterpart, who lives a suburban life with her own Billy and Tommy. With Wong strung up and powerless, a surviving sorceress sacrifices herself to destroy the Darkhold and break the dream-walk. Enraged, Maximoff then forces Wong to lead her to Mount Wundagore (a mountain which holds the power of the Darkhold and features a shrine sitting atop dedicated to the Scarlet Witch), a forbidden ancient ruin, to reestablish the dream-walk.

On Earth-838 Strange and Chavez pay a visit to the Sanctum Sanctorum in that universe's version of New York City. There they are greeted by Sorcerer Supreme Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and brought before the Illuminati, a group consisting of Mordo, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Blackagar Boltagon (Anson Mount), Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), Reed Richards (John Krasinski), and Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). They explain that through reckless use of their universe's Darkhold in an attempt to defeat Thanos, Earth-838's Strange triggered a universe-destroying 'incursion' whereby two universes collide with one completely destroying the other. After defeating Thanos, the Illuminati killed their Strange to prevent him from creating more damage and danger to their universe. Mordo is of the belief that Earth-616's Strange is as dangerous, whereas Charles Xavier is prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and a second chance. 

Maximoff re-establishes her dream-walk at Mount Wundagore and arrives in her Earth-838 counterpart's body before they can pass judgment. Despite their best valiant attempts she slaughters all of the Illuminati except Mordo. Strange and Chavez meanwhile escape aided by Earth-838 counterpart of Strange's ex-fiance Christine Palmer, here a scientist working with the Illuminati.

Strange, Chavez, and Palmer enter through a doorway that leads them to a space between universes to find the Book of Vishanti, the polar opposite to the Darkhold, but Maximoff appears and destroys it. She then takes over Chavez's mind, using her powers to send the others to an incursion-destroyed universe. Back in Earth-616, Maximoff begins the spell to take Chavez's powers. Strange defeats the destroyed universe's Strange in a blackened out wasteland that was that universe's version of New York City and the Sanctum Sanctorum. 

That version of Strange had become corrupted by his universe's Darkhold, but Strange then uses it to dream-walk in the corpse of the deceased alternate Strange that Chavez was with when she jumped through the portal into Earth-616 initially. With Wong's help, Strange saves Chavez from Maximoff and encourages Chavez to use her powers. 

She transports Maximoff to Earth-838, where she sees Billy and Tommy retreat from her in fear while crying for their real mother. Maximoff relents and uses her powers to bring down Mount Wundagore, destroying all copies of the Darkhold throughout the multiverse and seemingly sacrificing herself in the process, along with the zombiefied Strange. Chavez returns Strange and Palmer to their respective universes.

Later, when peace has returned to Earth-616 Kamar-Taj is in the throes of being repaired as the surviving sorcerers, joined by Chavez, continue with their training. Strange having just exited from the Sanctum Sanctorum falls to the ground in agony as he develops a third eye as a result of using the Darkhold and dream-walking into a corpse. In a mid-credits scene, Strange is approached by a sorceress who introduces herself as Clea (Charlize Theron) who warns him that his actions have triggered an incursion that he must help fix. Strange follows her into the Dark Dimension. 

Sam Raimi's 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' has his trademark touches all over it, from the humour to the horror, and the drama to the thrills, here he explores various worlds within the multiverse that make for an entertaining and enjoyable watch, and, at at little over a very respectable two hour run time. The film is certainly a feast for the senses, but it misses out on an emotional heartbeat in favour of wham bam thank-you Ma'am action set pieces and mind bending CGI eye candy, that sure enough help propel the story along and I guess there's nothing wrong with that either. With twenty-seven MCU films before it, here the Studio and Raimi have delivered perhaps the most supernatural, dark fantasy tinged with elements of horror offering to date replete with the Director's touchstones from his forty year plus filmmaking career. Cumberbatch and Olsen provide the standout performances in their roles, as you would expect now given how settled they both are in their respective capacities, but Wong could have done with a little bit more meat on his characters bones, and I was left wanting to see more of him. As for the numerous cameo's - they're all on point despite many of them coming to a sticky end, albeit in an alternate universe which means that we're likely to see them again!

'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 5th May 2022.

The seventh edition of the Frames of Representation festival takes place in the UK from 5th through until 12th May. This years festival which is centred around the theme of 'Communality', includes eight days of screenings, discussions, workshops, experiments in sound, live performances, and other activities that all explore the idea of communality through different fields of practice. Through the focus on communality, it offers a stage for both engagement and reflection, and looks at documentation and representation as an ensemble of practices through which audiences can shape and elicit their own meanings, causes and effects. Frames of Representation is the Institute of Contemporary Art’s annual film festival, dedicated to foregrounding transgressive, unruly ‘cinema of the real’, which lies at the intersection of fiction and non-fiction.

This years line up of films are as detailed below :-

* Opening Night : 'Dry Ground Burning' from Brazil and Portugal - Adirley Queiros and Joana Pimenta explore the turbulence of contemporary Brazil through the prism of an all-female gang who hijack a pipeline for the sake of their community.

* 'We, Students' - UK Premier from the Central African Republic and France - Rafiki Fariala follows a group of students of the University of Bangui in the Central African Republic, portraying their reflections on political activism and generational conflicts.

* 'The Delights' - UK Premier from Argentina - Eduardo Crespo’s camera observes young students of the Las Delicias agrotechnical boarding school.

* 'American Journal' - UK Premier from France - Arnaud des Pallieres’s latest work unfolds as the four-month diary of an anonymous narrator in an unspecified year, weaving together images and narratives from the USA in the 20th century.

* 'Riotsville' - UK Premier from the USA - the new film from Sierra Pettengill explores the treacherous militarisation of the US Police from the late 1960's up to the present day.

* 'The Dust of Modern Life' - UK Premier from Germany and France - Franziska von Stenglin’s debut feature follows Liem and his friends as they leave their homes in the Highlands of Vietnam to embrace the forest, aiming to maintain the ancient traditions.

* 'Myanmar Diaries' - from Myanmar - Directed by a collective of filmmakers, this film documents life in the country after the violent military coup of February 2021.

* 'My Two Voices' - UK Premier from Canada - Colombian-Canadian filmmaker Lina Rodriguez poetically and empathetically explores the migrant experience through the stories of three Latin American women.

* 'This House' - UK Premier from Canada - Miryam Charles's debut feature investigates the passing of a fourteen year-old girl in the form of an imaginary dialogue with a young girl who can no longer speak for herself.

* 'Brotherhood' - UK Premier from the Czech Republic and Italy - filmed over four years, Francesco Montagner’s feature portrays the aspirations of three brothers to escape from the traditional values imposed on them by their parents and elders in contemporary Bosnia.

* Closing Night : 'When There Is No More Music to Write and Other Roman Stories' - from France and Italy, this latest work from Franco-American artist and filmmaker Eric Baudelaire is fabricated from a variety of materials and sources, exploring the process of creation as a radical act of resistance amid political instability.

This week we have four new cinematic offerings to tease you out to your local movie theatre, kicking off with the 28th film in the MCU that sees this Master of the Mystic Arts open up a door way to various alternate dimensions that results in a threat to the whole of humanity. Next up, we have a British biographical drama film about a much loved children's books author, his marriage to a Hollywood starlet and the tragedy that befell them from which they drew courage to go on to accomplish perhaps their greatest works. Then we turn to an Aussie historical drama set at the end of the 19th century about a heavily pregnant woman living in a remote region with her four children who will go to any lengths to protect her children and her homestead. And we close our the week with a French fantasy drama about a young girl who has just lost her grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother's childhood home, and as she explores the house and the surrounding woods she meets a girl her same age building a treehouse.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS' (Rated M) - is an American Superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of Doctor Stephen Strange and is the sequel to 2016's 'Doctor Strange' which grossed US$668M off the back of a production budget of circa US$200M and is the 28th feature film and part of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film is Directed by Sam Raimi who replaced Director Scott Derrickson from the first instalment. Originally slated for release in early May 2021, it was pushed back to early November 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before it was further shifted to the end of March 2022, and in October 2021, it was shifted once more to its current May 2022 date with the World Premier on 2nd May and its world wide release this week. 

Set a few months following the events of 'Spider-Man : No Way Home' Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) with the help of both new and old mystical allies casts a forbidden spell that opens the doorway to the multiverse, including alternate versions of himself, whose threat to humanity by way of a mysterious new adversary is too great for the combined forces of Strange, Wong (Benedict Wong), and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). Also starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg, Rachel McAdams and Patrick Stewart. 

'TO OLIVIA' (Rated M) - this British drama film was previously titled 'An Unquiet Life' is Directed and Co-Written for the screen by John Hay whose previous feature film credits take in the likes of 'The Steal' in 1995, 'There's Only One Jimmy Grimble' in 2000, 'The Truth About Love' in 2005 and 'Lost Christmas' in 2011. This film is based on Stephen Michael Shearer's biography about the American stage and screen Actress Patricia Neal titled 'An Unquiet Life'. In 1962, Roald Dahl (Hugh Bonneville) was an upcoming children's author, his wife, Patricia Neal (Keeley Hawes), was a Hollywood movie star. This unlikely pairing retreated to the English countryside to bring up their expanding young family, only for their lives to be turned upside down when their seven year old daughter Olivia (Darcey Ewart) contracted encephalitis due to the measles virus and died. Her death devastated the couple, yet, their shared grief became a source of redemption and strength, Neal going on to win an Oscar (for 'Hud' as Best Actress opposite Paul Newman) and Dahl writing the book which made him a household name ('Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'). Also starring Geoffrey Palmer in his final role as Geoffrey Fisher with Sam Heuhgan as Paul Newman, and Conleth Hill as Martin Ritt the American film Director who Directed Neal and Newman in 'Hud'. The film was released in the UK in mid-February, in the US in mid-April and has garnered mixed or average Reviews along the way. 

'THE DROVERS WIFE : THE LEGEND OF MOLLY JOHNSON' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian historical drama is Directed, Written, Co-Produced and stars Leah Purcell as Molly Johnson, and is based on the 1892 short story 'The Drovers Wife' by Henry Lawson. Originally slated for a release in October last year and then delayed due to the cancellation of the in-person Melbourne International Film Festival, the film saw its World Premier screening at SXSW and is finally released this week in Australia. Set in a remote Snowy Mountains township in 1893, the heavily pregnant Indigenous Molly is left to raise her four children alone, protecting the family homestead from floodwaters, intruders and deadly creatures while her drover husband Joe works away for months at a time. Welcoming strangers to her property with 'I’ll shoot you where you stand and I’ll bury you where you fall', she does however, give refuge to an Aboriginal man Yadaka (Rob Collins), a travelling storyteller accused of a terrible crime and on the run from colonial authorities. Initially committed only to the safety of her children and family homestead, over the course of a few days a series of events occur which will change their lives forever. The film has generated largely positive critical reviews.

'PETITE MAMAN' (Rated PG) - is a French fantasy drama film Written and Directed by Celine Sciamma whose previous films include 'Water Lilies' in 2007, 'Tomboy' in 2011, 'Girlhood' in 2014 and 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' in 2019. This film had its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in early March 2021, was released in France in early June 2021 and only now is it released in Australia, having garnered universal critical acclaim along the way and picking up six award wins and a further thirty nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. Following the death of her beloved grandmother (Margot Abascal), eight-year-old Nelly (Josephine Sanz) accompanies her parents to her mother's childhood home to begin the difficult process of cleaning out its contents. As Nelly explores the house and nearby woods, she is immediately drawn to a neighbour her own age building a treehouse, Marion (Gabrielle Sanz). What follows is a tender tale of childhood grief, memory and connection as Nelly bonds with her mother (Nina Meurisse).

With four new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

DON'T BREATHE : Tuesday 6th September 2016.

I saw 'DON'T BREATHE' at my local Multiplex in the week having read much good press about this supposed original horror film. And, I say supposed, because for me this is not a horror film in the traditional sense where we expect shock value, blood and gore, random acts of violence and things that go bump in the night. Directed by Fede Alvarez who brought us 'The Evil Dead' reboot in 2013 here he brings us this suspenseful home invasion psychological thriller film that has received positive reviews since its release and has made US$67M off its US$10M budget outlay. The film is Co-Produced by horror maestro Sam Raimi.

Here the film opens with three Detroit living thieves Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto) breaking, entering and stealing from the homes that are supposedly safely secured by Alex's father's security company. Rocky and Alex go about stealing valuables that can be resold, while Money gets his kicks from vandalising and trashing the houses they gain forced entry into, and keeping a watchful eye out. Their fence gives them well below market value for the goods that Money brings to them, but it is enough for Rocky and her little sister to escape their no hope parents for a life in California by the beach. One day in a meeting with the fence, when Rocky is sounding off about how the risk is all theirs for little reward, he is alerted to an Army Veteran living in a largely abandoned neighbourhood that has recently come into some money - about US$300K from a settlement following the death of his daughter in a car accident, and all that money is in the house, in cash! Later that day Money stakes out the house in a derelict and abandoned suburb of Detroit, and further learns that the man in question is in fact blind.

The three agree that with this kind of pay day, and a blind man holed up in a house alone in an abandoned neighbourhood, that this would be easy pickings that could see them all get outta Dodge once and for all. They agree to go in under cover of darkness at 2:00am in the morning when the blind man is asleep. They drug the guard dog - a Rottweiler, and gain entry by breaking through a first floor bathroom window activating a delayed alarm which Alex is able to disarm using a controller stolen from his father. The threesome scour the house searching for the location of the cash, while the blind man sleeps upstairs, but are unable to find it.

They come across a heavily padlocked door, and despite his best efforts with a crow bar, Money is unable to gain entry. He produces a gun to shoot through the reinforced padlock, but Alex is angry that carrying a weapon exposes them to greater criminal charges if arrested, and motions to leave via the rear kitchen door. Money ignores him, shoots the padlock, which awakens the blind man who stumbles down the stairs as if frightened and weak. A tussle breaks out between the two, but not before Money has stated that he is alone in the house and threatens the blind man if he comes close. Underestimating the strength and fortitude of the blind man, Money is overcome and is shot in the head by his own gun. Rocky looks on in silence from a few paces away and by now Alex has returned to see the dead corpse of Money lying on the floor.

The blind man begins to clean up the mess believing he is now alone in the house, whilst Rocky makes a quick retreat in silence into a closet, and Alex darts into the bathroom from where they gained entry. Hiding in a corner, the blind man enters with a sheet of board, hammer and nails and covers up the broken window making the house secure again. He checks all exists and padlocks every door. Rocky and Alex are now locked in. The blind man, walks into the closet where Rocky is in hiding. He removes a secret panel revealing a safe with a digital combination. He opens it revealing a stash of cash that looks a lot more than US$300K. She witnesses the four digit security code as the safe is locked and the blind man disappears to continue his clean up. Alex locates Rocky and then opens the safe, takes the money and stashes it in her back pack.

Meanwhile, with his heightened sense of smell and hearing, the blind man comes across the shoes left in the kitchen by the three burglars so as to make less noise while going about their thieving. He surmises from this that the dead man was not alone, and as such there must be others still in the house. The two evade the blind man by finding a door leading to the cellar under the house. The cellar is a labyrinth of shelves with access corridors between, and anterooms but upon entering the house they notice a storm door which was bolted from the inside. While searching for the storm door they come across a bound and gagged woman in a makeshift padded cell, who they soon realise is the woman who killed the blind mans daughter.

Her name is Cindy and she shows Rocky and Alex a newspaper clipping proclaiming her innocence. She motions to another safe in which are the keys to her restraints. Racing against time, Rocky and Alex set Cindy free. Reaching the storm door Alex opens the lock from the inside only to be greeted by the blind man waiting for them on the outside, looking down and armed. He shoots at Rocky and Alex using the gun retrieved from Money, but accidentally kills Cindy. He is enraged and plunges the cellar into darkness as the three now scrabble around in the dark with the blind man clearly having the upper hand given that he lives in a perpetual state of darkness.

Rocky and Alex manage to escape back upstairs, but find all their exit points blocked and the dog waiting for them. Rocky tries to escape through the house ventilation system, but Alex is pursued by the dog and falls through a window onto the kitchen skylight below. By now the blind man has re-emerged and seeing Alex semi-conscious on the skylight shoots at it missing Alex but shattering the glass so that he falls through. He drags Alex into a utility room where they fight, with the blind man gaining the upper hand and stabbing at Alex with a pair of heavy gardening shears. He impales the dead body of Money believing it to be Alex. The dog in the meantime has turned its attention to Rocky and is in hot pursuit through the house ventilation ducting, but does not escape the clutches of the blind man, who captures her and beats her unconscious.

The girl comes around tied and restrained in the basement where Cindy was held captive previously with the blind man looking on. He tells Rocky that Cindy was carrying his unborn child, and having taken away his daughter it was now up to her to bear him a new one. Now he blames Rocky for Cindy's death, and therefore having taken his unborn child away it was now beholden on Rocky to bear him a child. He tells Rocky that Cindy was a willing participant in her pregnancy on the condition that he let her go upon the birth - a promise he had every intention of keeping, and will do so when Rocky bears him a child. But, as he's not a rapist he intends to artificially inseminate her using a turkey baster and his frozen sperm, which he is defrosting whilst telling her this. Just before the crucial moment, Alex bursts onto the scene and in another scuffle manages to secure the blind man with a pair of handcuffs used to restrain Cindy and Rocky, and free Rocky in the process. They escape back upstairs, but before you know it the blind man has freed himself and emerges at the cellar door with gun, takes aim, shoots and kills Alex.

Rocky makes off and escapes outside pursued by the dog, and finding the parked car a couple of blocks away seeks refuge therein, but no keys. After evading the dog successfully, she gets out of the confines of the now useless car only to be knocked out again by the blind man from behind. She is dragged by the hair down the empty street in broad daylight and dumped on the floor back in the house next to the dead body of Alex. Using the remote intruder alarm controller which she finds close to Alex's body she activates the loud alarm system which disorientates the blind man for long enough for the girl to beat him with a crow bar and send him backwards down into the cellar discharging the gun he is holding into his own stomach. She retrieves her back pack carrying the stash of cash and makes off into the sunlight just as a Police car rounds the corner and up the deserted street.

I enjoyed 'Don't Breathe' and thought that it is up there with that other sleeper hit of the same genre 'The Green Room' from earlier in the year. The story is simple enough, original, well delivered, with a couple of jump scares, a good dose of suspense, an antagonist who just won't back down when his home is invaded by three opportunistic kids and who harbours a dark secret, and, a protagonist who survives against the odds in a deadly game of cat and mouse within the confines of a humble, albeit well secured dwelling. Certainly worth the price of your ticket.

 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-