'Don't Breathe' director: 'I like to provoke'

<h3 class="briefHead">'Don't Breathe' director: 'I like to provoke'</h3>

Uruguayan film director and screenwriter Fede Alvarez directs the new home invasion suspense thriller "Don't Breathe." I hit him hard with five questions during a recent interview in Chicago.

Q. Any particular films you might have used as an inspiration for "Don't Breathe"?

A. Usually, I work from my instinct, and that's made of all the movies I've seen in my life. But I would really have to go back to Hitchcock's movies. My father would show them to me and talk about them, but he would never talk about the scares. He would talk about suspense.

My film is like "Psycho" in a way because of the structure. You start out with a person doing a robbery in a plot you don't know where it's going to go.

Q. "Don't Breathe" recycles several conventions from the 1980s mad slasher films. Were they a conscious homage?

A. The ending and the '80s stuff? I think that's just because I'm a kid from the '80s and saw a lot of those movies. If I can use something from them, and it's not forced into the story, and it's not there just for nostalgia. We have to be modern and relevant. Sometimes you just go with your gut because you like it.

Q. Your movie contains a crazy, unnerving sequence that takes the story into a whole new orbit. Did you ever get pressure to delete it?

A. I would never remove that. I was asked to do that during the script level. I got feedback from producers and the studio fearing the scene would alienate audiences. The more they told me that, the more I wanted to keep it in the movie.

There are some who when they see that (scene), fall in love with the film. But I've also heard people say, "Oh, that's where you lost me!" I get it. I respect that. I prefer to be polarizing, where people hate the movie rather than just don't care. I do like to provoke the audience some how.

Q. Were there any scenes or shots you really liked but had to cut because of pacing or context?

A. I think there were five scenes that I shot that weren't in the movie because I didn't like them. People will probably see them on the DVDs and Blu-Rays when they come out. I like the movie the way it turned out.

Q. Will you direct a sequel to "Don't Breathe"?

A. I know the ending looks like a setup for a sequel, but I'm not a sequel person.

<h3 class="briefHead">Trashing trailers time</h3>

If you want to fully experience the shocks and surprises of the thriller "Don't Breathe" this weekend, do NOT watch its trailers or commercials. In a complete nose-thumb to audiences, Screen Gems marketeers reveal who dies and ruin the thriller's biggest "gotcha!" moment.

This deliberate, outrageous sabotage is the inexcusable result of imagination-challenged studio executives who think nothing of diminishing the quality of our moviegoing enjoyment in a thoughtless frenzy to get butts in theater seats.

The egregious "Don't Breathe" trailers even surpass the killjoy commercials and trailers for last week's "War Dogs." They undermined the comedy's biggest laughs and revealed every major plot point. (Fortunately, "War Dogs" didn't have as much to ruin as "Don't Breathe.")

Studios execs probably think their biggest problem continues to be piracy. They remain oblivious to their own practices that undermine the value of their products. Then wonder why we think movies aren't as good as they used to be.

<h3 class="briefHead">Teen film fest winners!</h3>

Congrats to winners of the 10th annual Teen Film Fest at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library:

• "Living Colors" by Valerie Depa of Prospect High School for Best Animation.

• "Pranks" by August Graham of South Middle School for Best Comedy.

• "Inside Guy" by Rhegan Graham of Prospect High School for Best Drama.

• "Vast Transit" by Garrett Strother of Prospect High School for Best Music Video.

• "The Dark Theorem" by Daniel Carpenter, graduate of Rolling Meadows High School for Best Overall Movie.

<h3 class="briefHead">'Art Addict' at Tivoli</h3>

The After Hours Film Society presents "Peggy Guggenheim, Art Addict," Lisa Immordino Vreeland's doc on the heiress who became a central figure in the modern art movement. It's at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, at the Ogden 6 Theaters, 1227 E. Ogden Ave., Naperville. afterhoursfilmsociety.com.

<h3 class="briefHead">Our Film Club turns 10</h3>

Ten years! Dann & Raymond's Movie Club celebrates its 10th year of service to the Northwest suburbs starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1, when 007 novelist/film historian Raymond Benson and I present "Lights! Camera! Action! Movies About the Movies" at the Schaumburg Township District Library, 130 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg. Featuring clips from "Singin' in the Rain," "Sunset Boulevard," "The Artists" plus 12 more. Free admission! (Bring your own popcorn.) schaumburglibrary.org.