Don't Blink Movie Review

Runtime: 92 minutes
Release Date: September 18, 2014
Rating: NR?
Director: Travis Oates


Tracy (Mena Suvari) and her boyfriend Jack (Brian Austin Green) take a trip to a secluded mountain resort with eight of their closest friends. Among those on the guest list are a cute girl who seems to be the only one who realizes something is wrong and Jack's ex-girlfriend. Not long after arriving, Tracy finds a car seat with everything a baby might need except for a baby. In what seems like a blink of an eye, she disappears without a trace.


While taking a walk around the property and trying to get an idea of what's going on or find the caretaker who is also missing, several notice that there are no birds or other animals anywhere near the resort. As the mystery grows a little darker, characters slowly go missing. Someone can be there one second and gone the next. The only hope they have is to figure out what happened or stay awake all night without closing their eyes before they all disappear.


Say what you want about the horrible Phantoms movie, but I liked it, and I also liked Identity. Don't Blink is essentially Phantoms crossed with Identity. Not long after it started, I thought it might be a classic slasher flick with a twist, then I wondered if it was some type of biological warfare flick. The sad truth is that we never get an answer for what happened. If you're one of those people who has to have an answer and wants a solid reason for the events that take place in a film, this is far from the movie for you. If you don't really care about all that, give this one a shot.


There were a few things I liked about Don't Blink and a few things I didn't like. Let's get one of the biggest issues out of the way first, shall we? Jack spends a few minutes reassuring Tracy that he doesn't care his ex is there and that nothing will happen. Literally hours after she disappears, which is around 20 minutes in the film, he hops into bed with the other women. Needless to say, when she abruptly disappeared herself, I had to give a silent cheer.


One of the things I did like is that the story seems fairly realistic. You know how when you watch some movies and see people stuck in a house together and wonder why they don't turn on each other? Yeah, that doesn't happen here. I love how horror movies always seem to put one character in charge and everyone else just follows him or her. In Don't Blink, they seemingly elect one character as the leader, but two of the others eventually turn on them and take off on their own. Granted it doesn't end well for them, but at least they still go.


I always want to give it up for Green. He vanished off the face of the acting map for awhile, though if you had a hot wife like Megan Fox waiting at home for you, wouldn't you want to spend more time at home? Green does a pretty good job of playing a man stuck caring for his close friends when all he really wants to do is spend a weekend away from home with his girl.


I went into Don't Blink with no expectations, and I left pleasantly surprised. It's more of a mystery flick than a horror movie, but it did have some of the jump scenes you might expect. The director did a great job of not letting everyone vanish in the same way or even when you might expect, which kept me interested in the movie and watching and waiting to see who would go next.