Director of the 2013 “Evil Dead” remake, Fede Alvarez, delivers a startling experience in fright with his latest film, “Don’t Breathe.”

Three thieves, whose survival depends on what they can steal from other people’s homes, decide to go for one last big score—targeting a blind Vietnam War veteran. The blind vet, played by Stephen Lang, lives with his dog in an abandoned neighborhood in Detroit. One of the would-be thieves, Alex, hesitates, arguing that it would be “wrong to rob a blind guy.”

The blind man, Norman Nordstrom, had received an undisclosed sum of cash in a legal settlement after a rich woman killed his daughter in a car accident.

The trio of thieves case Mr. Nordstrom’s house. After feeding the blind man’s dog a tranquilizer, they proceed to break into his home in the middle of the night. Nordstorm wakes up to discover the thieves have invaded his home, and the group of delinquents are swiftly taught they had picked the wrong man to rob.

While toying with the viewer through a series of unnerving plot twists, Alvarez drags the stereotypical idea of a home-invasion thriller/horror flick into a dark dungeon in the cellar of his mind.

“Don’t Breathe” remains unrelentingly terrifying while inducing frightened flinches and gasps, and satisfies the horror fan’s savage appetite for a good squirm.