Don't Breathe 2 (2021)

Stephen Lang returns in the role of “The Blind Man” in what may be, despite strong competition, one of the most unnecessary and unpalatable sequels in recent years. Because the last time we saw The Blind Man, he had been up to all kinds of nastiness.

Lang’s character is now the guardian of a little girl, Phoenix (Madelyn Grace). He saved her from the burnt shell of a house some time ago, and has been raising her ever since. He has also been teaching her some survival skills. Those skills come in handy when Raylan (Brendan Sexton III) and his gang break in to kidnap Phoenix. Raylan claims to be her real father, and he is offering to correct the lies that she has been told by her blind parental figure. Does Raylan have his own agenda though?

Director Rodo Sayagues makes his debut here, moving up from his successful producer role, but keeping himself safely in the company of Fede Alvarez, who helmed/co-wrote the first film and helped co-write this one. Sayagues tries to keep things in line with the first film, but he cannot overcome the major hurdle that most people thought about when this was first announced. How do you get people rooting for such a bad guy? Okay, you make his potential enemies worse, but that’s not enough to erase the memory of just how depraved our new “anti-hero” is, or once was. 

Lang is as good as he usually is here, and his performance is on par with his performance in the first film, but he is fighting against weaker material here. Taking the character out of his own home, as it does just before the halfway point, makes it harder to just accept his apparent super-powers. The fact that it is Lang manages to just about keep it believable though, as I know he could still kick my ass without needing to have full use of his eyes. Grace is good as the plucky young girl in jeopardy, and Sexton III is a decent baddie, supported by Adam Young (in a role that may as well be named “main henchman”). There’s also a small role for Fiona O’Shaugnessy, who makes a strong impression with the limited screentime given to her sinister and cruel character.

There are a number of individual moments here that work well, most of them involving Lang delivering some serious pain to people who sorely underestimate him, but this never feels like it has enough going for it to work for an entire film. Even the visual style, although cool and fitting at times, becomes stale and repetitive before the end credits roll.

Some people still managed to enjoy this. Personally, I don’t see the appeal.

5/10

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Netflix And Chill: Session 9 (2001)

I'm not going to draw this out, Session 9 remains one of my favourite horror movies released in the past two decades, and one of my favourite horror movies of all time. Making the most of one main location, the Danvers State Mental Hospital, it is an impressive psychological horror that just keeps diving darker and darker, all the way to one of the most disturbing endings of all time.

Gordon Fleming (Peter Mullan) is the boss of a crew who have been hired to remove asbestos from an abandoned hospital. He needed the gig badly, and so made sure to match any other one while promising to get the job finished in a week. This puts extra pressure on him and his crew, but there's a massive bonus in it for them if all goes well. Phil (David Caruso) is his second-in-command, basically, there's Mike (Stephen Gevedon) and Hank (Josh Lucas), the latter individual now in a relationship with Phil's ex, and Jeff (Brendan Sexton III), Gordon's nephew. Tensions build as the work is carried out, and you get to hear spooky tapes being played by Mike, who spends some of his break times listening to the psychiatric sessions he discovered in one of the many abandoned rooms. Gordon also has domestic problems on his mind, but maybe all will be well if they can get the job done in one week.

The more I think about it, the less I can think to criticise about Session 9. Director Brad Anderson (and I'd argue that this film, despite not making a massive impact when first released, helped him step up a level, in terms of exposure, after it was embraced by genre fans) puts everything together with an expert touch, working from a great script co-written by himself and Gevedon. It may be making use of a location, but a) it doesn't feel like that is all it has going for it, and b) it's a damn fine location for a horror movie.

Mullan is as great as he always is in the lead role, and he can convey a real mix of emotions underlining all of the building horror as everything becomes clearer during the final moments. Caruso has rarely been better, doing a great job as a blue-collar worker trying to earn a good payday while helping a friend through a tough time. Lucas puts in another turn that allows him to be a bit of a douchebag, and Brendan Sexton III walks a fine line between annoying youngster and vulnerable kid, particularly as his severe nyctophobia plays into the plot. I'm not too familiar with Gevedon, but he does just fine, although his strength seems to lie in the writing side of things.

Despite the moments that feel like standard horror tropes (when people start to go missing, when everyone splits up to search for someone, etc), this is, like the central location itself, an atmospheric and dark building that creaks and groans while sitting on some very solid foundations. All of the exposition, and it is a film that threads a LOT of exposition throughout, feels natural as it is conveyed between different characters, the geography of the site is clear enough to follow everything, and the character development is never warped for the sake of the scares.

Do yourself a favour and watch this one ASAP. You won't regret it. If you do, well, I can't help it if you have bad taste.

10/10

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