DON'T BREATHE [2016]

Fede Alvarez directs Don't Breathe, a home invasion thriller that flips the usual story on it's head and isn't afraid to get really really vicious with it.
Three young thieves wait until dark to break into a blind man's house thinking it's an easy score only to find he's a lot more than what they bargained for.
Despite it's simplicity and thinly written characters, Don't Breathe manages to constantly up the intensity and thrills with clever menace.  There's all sorts of minor themes and ideas thrown around in the background but they never detract from the fact that the film intends you to nervously be gasping for air by the time the credits start rolling.

3½ ladybugs out of 5

PRISONERS [2013]

Canadian director Denis Villeneuve has a knack for leading the viewer down some dark, disturbing and truly haunting passageways.
Prisoners is no exception.
A beautifully lit thriller that's dreadfully cold, tightly calculated and more emotions and reactions within each scene you can't help but want to follow each character as they go their separate ways.  This is easily Hugh Jackman's absolute  best work to date as he layers his troubled character with so many demons, emotional complexities and vulnerabilities that your heart wrenches with each thought he makes.
Quite easily one of the best films of the year that won't be for everybody due to it's cold, unsettling atmosphere.

4½ bunny socks out of 5