The Black Phone combines real world terror with supernatural horror as a child abductor’s latest victim receives unexpected aid in his fight for survival.
While social media and other technological advances have come with their own risks and safety concerns, malefactors taking their opportunities to prey on others have always existed — they’ve simply been provided with another medium through which they can operate now. However, in a world where so much can be tracked and traced, there’s greater anxiety about a past in which those capabilities were rare or non-existent. Thus, many new horror movies are choosing to set their films a few decades earlier when everyone was less connected. Consequently, The Black Phone takes place in the ‘70s, but its most chilling elements are independent of its time.
Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) have a complicated home life that’s strengthened their sibling bond. They share secrets and tips on managing their dad (Jeremy Davies), and try to keep each other out of trouble. However, their neighbourhood is plagued by a string kidnappings. Several boys have been taken by a man, nicknamed “The Grabber” (Ethan Hawke), and never seen again. When Finney is abducted, he’s determined not to become his captor’s latest victim — and some outside force appears to be on his side. As the search continues and Gwen desperately does everything she can to rescue her brother, he exhausts his options for escape.
The trailer presents a terrifying tale of a man that dons creepy masks in an effort to hide his identity, intimidate his victims or perhaps both — however, the full narrative is actually far more disturbing. Audiences are drawn into a nightmare of abused children and a sadistic abductor who toys with the adolescent boys as he lures them into playing game to which only he knows the rules. While the details of the previous boys’ experiences remain off-screen, viewers are provided enough clues to understand the fate Finney is determined to avoid. The commonalities between the boys doesn’t seem to go beyond the fact that they live in the same neighbourhood and would be considered handsome as some were bullied while others are tough guys and they vary drastically physically. The other element of the story is best left for viewers to discover for themselves, but is handled with incredible care to better the narrative rather than provide an easy way out.
Director Scott Derrickson broke his teeth on horror movies before eventually being handed the keys to Marvel’s Doctor Strange. He’s now returned to genre filmmaking to deliver a hauntingly satisfying story that combines real world terror with supernatural horror. The picture is based on a story by speculative fiction writer Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son) and skillfully adapted for the screen in a manner that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats in spite of some intermittent humour. This isn’t a role that one would immediately pick Hawke for, but he captures the character’s unusual and heinous personality perfectly. In the meantime, this is most of the boys’ first feature films and they are all excellent in these challenging roles. McGraw, on the other hand, is a bit of a veteran comparatively and is sure to be one of the most liked young female personalities of the year.
In a movie with a little of everything, it is undoubtedly one of the best horror pictures in recent memory.
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw and Ethan Hawke
