Rating of
2.5/4
Movie Review
Terry - wrote on 09/19/16
I don’t know what to say about this one. The premise was good. It gave a fresh take on the home invasion suspense thriller but just didn’t deliver as anticipated. The acting was fine and Stephen Lang plays the role of the blind man well but the character depth and development was poor in my opinion.
The story goes like this. A group of three friends Rocky, Alex, and Money rob houses as a means to make money by breaking into the houses that Alex’s father’s security company secured. Rocky’s dream is to gather enough stolen money and to move to California with her little sister and to leave their troubled home.
After Money gets a tip on a particular house containing $300,000, owned by an blind, ex-marine whose daughter was killed in a car accident by a well-off young woman, the money given as a settlement. Rocky and Money decide to steal it, the amount of money being too irresistible. Up until now they have stolen items to sell. Alex, hesitant at first, joins later.
While staking out the house, they learn that the owner of the house is blind. There is a second of reconsideration as the idea of stealing from a blind man just isn’t right. Money sees it as an easier steal and they all agree to go ahead with the break-in and get into a situation that they never expected.
There was hardly any background story or emphasis on circumstances except for our main characters goal to move far away from the city, away from a disruptive home and to take her younger sibling with her which is unoriginal at best, we’ve seen this before, not only in horrors, but all genres. Troubled home, need to run away, older sibling looking out for younger sibling and a better life.
If only more effort was put into this, the movie may have pulled it off. The beginning starts well, with the long, suspenseful camera shots as the group searches the blind man’s house. The dark, edgy atmosphere plays out well and is what we’d expect for anyone in that situation.
I also liked the isolation effect. The old house about to fall apart in a deserted residential area with just as many neglected homes. Like a ghost town there is no one around although this is perfect for a break-in for lack of witnesses, it’s also perfect for murder. The setting makes both parties of the plot vulnerable.
The thing that I really like about the story is that it’s not clear who the bad guy is. The blind man’s house is being broken into after all and even though they know that the money was received as part of a court settlement for the death of his daughter as a result of a car accident, they still go ahead with the plan. On the other hand, the ex-marine clearly has a dark streak and will kill with no remorse if needed.
I also think that the movie way a little to short. I like movies that avoid unnecessary scenes but I feel there was too much left out already and more than enough time to be added to the film without it becoming overboard and boring.
The blind man and the group obviously have no reason to know anything about one another and that’s fine, even logical to leave out, but separate when they are not sharing the screen there definitely needed to be more to the story and the characters in terms of depth and substance. We’re simply shown the crust of their personalities and background when it could’ve and should’ve been delved into more.
Apart from that I would say that the movie is good and it’s worth a watch. Just don’t expect to be thinking of it once it’s over.
