So, the horror movie of the year award goes to 'Don't Breathe' if the critics' consensus is anything to go by. It looks like Fede Alvarez's home-invasion thriller is a hit across the board as reviewers lap up this inverted concept that feels to some like an homage to old-style horror flicks.

Don't BreatheDon't Breathe has impressed the critics

This movie is about a group of burglars who make a wrong move when they decide to break into the home of a blind man. As it turns out, being blind doesn't always make a man vulnerable, and they immediately regret their decision to target him as he sets out to murder them one by one.

The Verge describes how the 'ruthless economy and storytelling craft' transforms the concept from a 'potentially cheap exploitation horror film into the kind of breathless collective nightmare that's best experienced in a theater'.

Watch the trailer for 'Don't Breathe' here:


 

The exciting cinematography has also been praised, as the Denver Post wrote that it is 'meticulously planned and thrillingly satisfying with a camera always a step ahead'. In fact, the only bad thing this publication has to say is that the plot got 'ludicrous' towards the end.

That is a feeling shared by many critics, in fact. While The Wrap praises it's 'striking first impression', they admit that it 'overstays its welcome' and 'strains credulity the longer [it] goes on'. The Collider isn't keen on how it 'veers from the exhilarating to the revolting' either.

However, the New York Post thought it was 'just about perfect' apart from the odd cliche, and The Guardian enjoyed the 'slow roll of dread that makes it a triumph'. The AV Club describes the effect it has on the viewers in one simple sentence: 'It leaves the audience in the same place as the characters: gasping for air'.

'Don't Breathe' is out in theatres today (August 26th 2016).