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The Black Phone
(Universal Pictures/Blumhouse)
By Lucas Allen
After last May’s disastrous “Firestarter” remake, it’s Stephen King’s son to the rescue, hoping to restore his father’s horror screen legacy. Joe Hill’s 2004 short story “The Black Phone” is brought to the big screen by Blumhouse, the leader in producing successful modestly-budgeted Hollywood horror films. It’s co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson, whose previous Blumhouse production “Sinister” will give you a good idea on what he brings to an original terrifying story.
Taking place in 1978 North Denver, the story revolves around middle-schooler Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) and his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) as they go through their daily lives dealing with vicious bullies and growing pains. Worse, they also have to fend for themselves each night from their alcoholic and abusive father (Jeremy Davies). However, the town faces a darker crisis – the mysterious child killer known as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) has been kidnapping children all over. Finney ends up getting abducted by the killer and confined to a soundproof basement with only a mattress, a toilet and a broken phone.
That broken phone becomes his only hope as Finney keeps getting calls from the previous victims. Each new call he gets, Finney gets closer to making his escape from the masked psycho. Meanwhile, Gwen has been having dreams with clues pertaining to the Grabber and the kidnapped children. Soon enough, she uses her dreams to help the local police department to track down the killer and hopefully, save her brother.
Watching the movie, you get the feeling it is a real Stephen King movie especially from a story written by his son. Whereas the “Firestarter” remake wasn’t scary and not entirely a King film, this one understands the concept better and uses scares and drama more effectively. Hill truly inherits his father’s imagination even to the point of using those old tropes as before. The bullies, the supernatural mystery, and the small-town realism are all there with well-put together structure. You can also see this as a spiritual sequel/tribute to King’s “It” with the black balloons as the most overt reference.
The movie can also be unsettling throughout its hour and forty-minute runtime. The first act establishes the kids dealing with bullies and an abusive parent, and then the rest of the film is devoted to the creepy killer. It becomes the case of “pick your poison,” with the viewer not knowing if he or she would rather deal with the parent or the killer.
But one could say that The Grabber could stand alongside Dracula, The Mummy, and The Wolf Man in Universal’s monster legacy. The creepy mask designed by the legendary Tom Savini and cackling voice make him a landmark villain for a new generation of horror fans. It’s also surprising that this film doesn’t go out of its way to reference Universal’s horror history but instead, reference “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and show a clip from the Vincent Price classic The Tingler.
Hawke is astoundingly creepy in his performance giving off unsettling vibes in each scene. Both Thames and McGraw also do a good job holding their own especially during some intense scenes. Davies is fine as the abusive father, but his choice of acting in the dramatic moments can be a bit comical.
If “The Black Phone” makes you want to read more Hill like King, then this movie succeeds as the author’s breakthrough horror film. It’s certainly a solid one, and hopefully a fresh start to a new horror screen legacy. They say like father like son, and this movie proves they’re 100% correct.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for violence, bloody images, language, and some drug use)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.25 Stars (Out of Four)
