Don't Breathe 2 looks to suffocate audiences with fear in theaters this Friday the 13th weekend. Though Rodo Sayagues replaces Fede Alvarez in the director's chair, the film continues the twisted story of Norman Nordstrom aka The Blind Man (Stephen Lang), a sightless war veteran with a frighteningly sinister secret that he must confront upon having his home terrorized by strangers.
Don't Breathe 2 and its predecessor are firmly entrenched in the home-invasion subgenre of horror/thriller movies, joining a long line of intense, hyper-realistic, unpredictable, and downright mortifying examples of the horrific subject matter.
Funny Games (1997) - Stream On HBO Max
Michael Haneke's Austrian home-invasion thriller Funny Games is a genuinely unnerving tale of two sadistic young men who, for no reason other than their sick and twisted amusement, break into the vacation home of an idyllic family and begin to torture them in a series of sinister games.
Haneke, the acclaimed European director, remade the movie a decade later in English, but the original remains superior. Like Don't Breathe 2, Funny Games has a shocking level of violence, a claustrophobic sense of inescapable terror, and unpredictable third-act story beats that keep the audience off-balance and on edge.
Hush (2016) - Stream On Netflix
Mike Flanagan's Hush is a perfect film to watch as a triple feature along with the two Don't Breathe films. In Don't Breathe, the man whose home is violently invaded happens to be blind. In Hush, the woman whose secluded cabin is terrorized happens to be deaf. Both overcome their perceived disadvantages to overpower their assailants.
In Hush, Maddie (Kate Siegel) is a deaf/mute author retreating to the woods to write her new manuscript. She's soon stalked and violently tormented by a masked intruder known as The Man (John Gallagher), using her wits and wiles to outsmart her assailant and turn the tables on him. With an excellent performance from Siegel and genuine thrills, Hush and Don't Breathe even sound simpatico.
The Strangers (2008) - Stream On Netflix
In a superb exercise in less-is-more restraint, Bryan Bertino's The Strangers is one of the most bone-chilling and hair-raising home invasion thrillers of the past dozen years or so. The film is all about creating insufferable tension and suspense through deliberate pacing and palpable atmospheric dread.
Following their friends' marriage, quarreling couple James (Scott Speedman) and Kristen (Liv Tyler) return to their isolated vacation cabin in the woods to work out their issues. Soon, they're systematically stalked by a trio of freakishly masked home-invaders with homicide on their mind. Like Don't Breathe 2, the film has protagonists who must work out their own issues while contending with an external force, which increases the overall drama.
You're Next (2011) - Stream On Hulu
One of the most exciting twists about Don't Breathe and its sequel is how physically capable The Blind Man turns out to be. Likewise, in Adam Wingard's riveting home-invasion thriller You're Next, the vicious intruders are stunned when one of their victims fights back with equal force.
As a couple celebrates their wedding anniversary in a secluded mansion in the woods, their serene vacation turns into a gory bloodbath when intruders donning eerie animal masks maraud their home and attack their family. However, like the intruders in Don't Breathe 2, the killers do not anticipate the lethal fighting spirit of daughter Erin (Sharni Vinson), who goes absolutely berserk in self-defense.
Don't Breathe (2016) - Rent On Apple TV+
Obviously, there is no way anyone should see Don't Breathe 2 without seeing the original first. Since the film plays as a direct continuation of The Blind Man's story, it would behoove everyone to see the original to understand exactly what the sequel is all about.
As one of the best, most unpredictable, and truly terrifying home-invasion horror/thrillers in recent memory, Don't Breathe follows three small-time hoodlums who decide to rob a blind man sitting on a fortune in cash. Little do they know that The Blind Man is a skilled war veteran who has booby-trapped his house and has a deep dark secret hidden in his basement. What separates the film from the pack is the shift in sympathy from the invaded to the invaders as The Blind Man's horrifying history comes to light.
Panic Room (2002) - Stream On Starz
David Fincher's Panic Room is an exhilarating home-invasion thriller bolstered by two strong female performances and a touching mother/daughter dynamic. The film stars the iconic Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as Meg and Sarah Altman, a single mother and diabetic daughter who must fend off and survive a trio of barbarous home invaders.
Aside from Fincher's masterful directorial stylings and scary performances by Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakam, and Forest Whitaker as the violent intruders, the movie has an emotional resonance as Meg rushes to keep Sarah safe from her medical condition as well as her attackers. Like Don't Breathe 2, the twisty third act is sure to enthrall most viewers.
Them (2006) - Stream On Shudder
Also known as Ils, Them is a lean, mean, and highly disturbing French home-invasion thriller cut from the same cloth as The Strangers. Don't Breathe 2 fans will enjoy the movie for its indefatigable onslaught of visceral terror and sense of inescapable dread.
When Lucas (Michael Cohen) and Clementine (Olivia Bonamy) awake in the middle of the night to odd noises in their isolated cabin, they are soon taunted, terrorized, and tormented by three hooded assailants. While it sounds basic, it's the genuinely horrifying execution of the material that feels so realistic. At just 77 minutes long, the film has a kinetic immediacy that places the viewer right in the shoes of its two leads.
Inside (2007) - Rent On Google Play
Horror fans who are averse to exorbitant bloodshed should stay clear of the unforgettable French home-invasion horror film Inside. For Don't Breathe 2 fans who haven't such a problem, this movie is must-see appointment viewing.
On Christmas Eve four months after her husband's death, Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is about to give birth to her first child. A mysterious woman suddenly storms into Sarah's home with the express intent of cutting her stomach open and stealing her baby. Disturbing as can be, Sarah is forced to fight back and protect her unborn child in a one-on-one battle royale. Arguably the bloodiest home-invasion film ever made, Don't Breathe 2 fans are sure to get a kick from Inside.
Us (2019) - Rent On Apple TV+
While Don't Breathe 2 hasn't the eerie doppelganger subplot, there is still a lot of similarities between it and Jordan Peele's Us. At their core, both are exquisitely made, well-performed, and truly terrifying home-invasion thrillers directed by people with a genuine affinity for the horror genre.
Us concerns a beautiful family living in Santa Cruz, California, whose lives are violently upended following a beach day at the boardwalk. Upon returning home, Gabe (Winston Duke) and Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o), and their children find their house intruded by people who look exactly like them. Like Don't Breathe 2, Us subverts the home-invasion template by unveiling layered third-act twists that make the audience reassess all that came before it.
Martyrs (2008) - Rent On Apple TV+
Pascal Laugier's French home-invasion horror film Martyrs is as indelibly nightmarish as they come. Daringly original and deeply alarming, the film also shares the same basic plot twist as the Don't Breathe films, forcing audiences to shift their sympathies as the film unspools.
When a seemingly nice French family has their home invaded by Anna (Morjana Alaoui) and Lucie (Mylene Jampanoi), the audience feels for their plight. However, it is slowly revealed that the family members are the bad guys and Lucie is mounting a revenge attack for the abuse she suffered from them 15 years prior. The revelation comes as just as big a surprise as The Blind Man's sordid past, making it the closest Don't Breathe 2 relative.