INHALE FELLOW

Exclusively, for now, in theaters:

Don't Breathe 2--The 2016 shocker Don't Breathe was, essentially, Wait Until Dark in reverse. Three thieves break into the home of a blind person, but this time, they discover that he's an ex-Navy Seal with murderous skills that compensate for his blindness and then some, and that he knows the turf and they don't. The crooks find themselves fighting for their lives.

It was a gruesome but gripping and witty tale, and it was built around a stunning performance, by Stephen Lang as The Blind Man. The veteran Lang has long seemed to me like a great actor who's never quite had a great role, and with The Blind Man he elevated this movie's Grand Guignol corn, as if by force of acting will, to an almost Shakespearean level.

For this sequel, co-written and directed by the Uruguayan Rodo Sayagues (who co-wrote the original), The Blind Man has been made the hero, more or less; this time he's fighting to rescue an adolescent girl, Phoenix (Madelyn Grace), from a cadre of slimy creeps connected to human-organ trafficking. Although he wreaks gory havoc on the bad guys, his character is softened by comparison to the earlier film. This inevitably results in a shrinking of Lang's power, though he's still unforgettably baleful.

 

And Don't Breathe 2, like the first film, has an outrageous and unsavory plot twist that you aren't likely to see coming. But be forewarned: it's hideously violent, and animals are among the targets. Despite this, however, the movie does have a notably reverent attitude toward dogs; The Blind Man is reluctant to kill a dog even when his life may depend upon it, and the dog doesn't fail to reward his consideration.