Last August, I had the lucky opportunity to fly to Budapest, Hungary to visit the set of Fede Alvarez’s Don’t Breathe, which at the time was being referenced as A Man in the Dark. It was here that I got to meet the cast and some of the crew responsible for bringing this thriller, which we’ve hailed as “…a masterclass in audience manipulation“, to life.

Having seen Alvarez’s Evil Dead, which was also executively produced by Don’t Breathe‘s Sam Raimi, I knew that I was going to witness something special and I wasn’t wrong. What myself and the other journalists I traveled with witnessed was nothing short of harrowing and brilliantly executed. So join me below as I tell you what I saw and heard.

Don’t Breathe opens nationwide on August 26th.

WARNING: There will be spoilers discussed below, so please be careful with what you read.

The Set:
Before I tell you about the set, I feel like I should put the synopsis of the film here, even though you’re all probably aware of it by now, what with all the trailers and posts we’ve got up. After all, it’s important to have a solid foundation so that you know what I’m talking about.

Three teens who get away with perfectly planned home robberies have set their sights on one last payout that will get them out of crime forever. Their target: a reclusive blind man with millions of dollars in hiding. But as soon as they break into his home, the tables are turned and they find themselves trapped and fighting for survival against a psychopath with secrets of his own.

Now, I’m a Michigan boy, born and raised. I currently live in the Southeast area of the state known affectionately as “The Mitten”, which means hitting up Detroit for a concert at St. Andrews Hall, some burgers at Green Dot Stables, or a Red Wings game at the Joe is a normal thing for me. So trust me when I say that I’ve seen my fair share of the Motor City, which is where Don’t Breathe takes place.

So, when I walked into the soundstage and beheld a house that looked like it had been picked up and transplanted right from the run down neighborhoods that populate Detroit, I had to turn and jokingly ask our PR guide, “You flew me across an ocean just so I could come home?”

Stephen Lang’s home in ‘Don’t Breathe’

Sure, it’s a solid quip but it’s also a testament to how accurately they created that Detroit look over 4,600 miles away. When asked about how they created that look, production designer Naaman Marshall explained that they were all kind of blown away by the state of Detroit. “It’s full shellshock. Absolutely shellshock when you drive through there. And it’s not like you drive from one neighborhood to the next. It’s like you are amongst it all and you actually pass into a neighborhood that’s being lived in. It’s opposite. Normally you are looking for the dilapidated. This one, you’re like four streets and then a full street full of cars, full of people. It’s crazy. It’s extremely depressing.

Alvarez takes it a step further, explaining why he wanted to set the movie in Detroit. “I guess because it’s the isolation element. This guy lives in a house that’s on a street where there’s nobody. And not even a street. It’s a neighborhood that is empty. That’s something that you find in Detroit.”

The house that the film primarily takes place in is, according to Stephen Lang, “…your proverbial brick shithouse. It’s got a slightly fortress-like quality, I think, to it.” Marshall agreed, explaining that this wasn’t originally the case but rather the effect of time taking its toll on the house. “It has the bones of what used to be a proper house in a proper neighborhood with proper families.”

The scene that was being filmed that day took place at night, so the soundstage was illuminated by orange lights, mimicking the glow that streetlights emit. We walked around the outside of the building, down a small “alley” between Lang’s house and the home next to it where we found a small yard, which Marshall states was meant to give him a story, “…like he has something that he likes to tend to. This was a nice something that had some growth and life.”

We made our way throughout the house, through a kitchen and down a hallway into a large living room where we were told more about the creation of this set. “The idea of being able to build the whole house in the entirety with the outside, [to] be able to shoot through the windows, working with Pedro lighting it and being able to completely create something from scratch,” was what excited Marshall the most when he was attached to the film. To say that it shows is an understatement. There are levels of detail and attention that go beyond what many normally see.

“If you were blind and you had the rugs, you would duct tape the corners down. The furniture is pushed against the fireplace. He doesn’t use the fire. And then he just left himself this grand space, as opposed to what we would all live in.”

But what stood out the most to all of us were these strange drag marks near the middle of every wall. Lang had explained it to us when we interviewed him prior to our walkthrough, stating, “If you look along the walls you’ll see right in the center of the wall where my hand…if I raise my hand, it’s worn into the wallpaper because I trace it as part of my path.” It’s a testament to how much the crew thought ahead and realized that this little detail would make this world feel all the more real.

‘Don’t Breathe’

The Scene:
During the set visit, we were taken onto the stage to sit and watch a scene being filmed. This scene showcases a pivotal moment, one that probably would’ve have stunned audiences had it not been unfortunately ruined by the trailers. I’m talking the death of Daniel Zovatto’s character “Money” by Lang, who shoots him. Specifically, we watched the aftermath as both Jane Levy’s “Rocky” and Dylan Minnette’s “Alex” stand by helplessly just a few feet from his body while Lang covers Money’s head with a plastic bag and drags him away.

Both Rocky and Alex are clearly in shock and are absolutely terrified for their lives after seeing what this man has just done to their friend. Clearly Lang hears something – perhaps a breath? – because he stops, stands still, raises the gun and aims it right at Rocky, who stands petrified, unwilling to even take one breath lest she meets the same fate as her accomplice.

Minnette, in talking about this moment in the grand scheme of the film, explains, “There’s going to be moments where you are locked into your seat because you just have to be still, the characters at least. …things are going to happen where you need to react big, but you have to just keep it inside. A lot of that requires holding your breath and standing still and just making sure that you make zero movements.”

Lang explained this shocking moment to us by making it abundantly clear what kind of character he plays. “You draw a line in the sand only so far. But that line stops at my front door. If you come further than that, I’ll do everything I have to do. I’m not going to retreat anymore. You can bomb out the neighborhood. You can destroy it around me. But this is mine. So if it takes bloody knuckles or a lot more than that, then I’ll do what I have to do.”

Stay tuned for the next part of my set visit, which includes interviews with Zovatto, Minnette, Levy, Lang, and Alvarez, coming tomorrow.