After years of little activity, Don't Breathe 2 is finally moving forward, but making it without original director Fede Alvarez is a mistake. For horror fans, Alvarez has turned out to be a bit of a frustrating filmmaker. He burst onto the genre scene with his first feature, 2013's remake of Evil Dead. While most horror remakes earn derision and contempt from diehards, Alvarez's Evil Dead was commended for deviating from the original in a number of fun ways, ramping up the tension even higher, and featuring lots of practical gore effects.
It took him three years, but Alvarez would prove to horror fans that he was no one hit wonder with 2016's Don't Breathe. Playing on silence in a way that wouldn't be seen again until A Quiet Place, Don't Breathe often played to theaters so quiet one could hear a pin drop, a rarity in today's culture of constant cell phone use. Like Evil Dead, Don't Breathe was a critical and commercial hit, and even sported the same lead actress, Jane Levy.
The reason Alvarez has proven frustrating is that he hasn't directed any other horror films since, even though he's been attached to or rumored for multiple projects that didn't pan out. He's also repeatedly teased the possibility of directing sequels to both Evil Dead and Don't Breathe, yet never made any progress on doing that. Now, Don't Breathe 2 is set to finally happen, but without Alvarez at the helm. This is a bad move.
Neither Evil Dead or Don't Breathe have very complex premises, although both aren't as simple as they would first appear. Still, a big part of the reason both films worked was Fede Alvarez's direction and visual flair. Alvarez played with lighting and shadow wonderfully in Don't Breathe, and also showed a flair for kinetic direction and stunning camera moves in both films, sometimes calling to mind Sam Raimi himself. He also showed a Hitchcockian flair for milking tension to the breaking point in Don't Breathe. To put it succinctly, Alvarez is a talented man.
To be fair, Alvarez is still at least onboard Don't Breathe 2 as co-writer and producer, so he'll have some influence. However, those roles don't come with the same creative control as director, even if Alvarez does contribute on set. That's not meant to be a knock on Rodo Sayagues, Don't Breathe 2's new director, who co-wrote both films with Alvarez. It's good that the project is at least being entrusted to someone who understands the material. Still, Sayagues is a first time director, and it's not that common for first timers to knock it out of the park like Alvarez did with his debut. Horror fans will certainly wish Sayagues luck in crafting a quality sequel, but in the end, Don't Breathe 2 probably should've been left to Alvarez or no one.
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