The Black Phone

Solid retro psychological-detective-supernatural kidnap thriller. The Black Phone was talked about as one of the potential horror films of the year, unfortunately that didn't happen, but it's still a solid film and one of the better ones. Scott Derrickson is well-versed in the horror genre and is one of the better filmmakers of the last decade, but I found his previous horror release Deliver Us from Devil to be sharper. From the start, The Black Phone impresses with its chilling 1970s visuals that add to the sultry atmosphere of gloomy Denver, where there is a man who kidnaps local children and kills them known as the Grabber. It has that feel of an proper crime drama, too bad we don’t get to really enjoy the investigation itself. The film is not officially based on real events, but it’s inspired by them. The main characters include sibling duo Gwen and Finney, both impress with strong child acting. Gwen in particular steals all the scenes for herself in the beginning of the film – the conversation with her father is downright uncomfortable and emotionally powerful to the point of being Oscar-worthy. Finney is the boy who is kidnapped and even though he comes across as a pushover at first, he shows skill and talent as the story progresses. The film flows at a slower pace, there are purely only two horror scenes, and they are two decently executed scares. Ethan Hawke is solid as the bad guy but I agree he could have had more space and the mythology around him could have been explained to the viewer in more detail. I enjoyed the concept where Finney has the ability to communicate through a black phone with previous Grabber victims. Pulling it up to above average for me was the nicely paced finale, where there was a bit of violence in a well put together duel. All in all, the film builds more on atmosphere, acting performances and confident direction, but those expecting first-rate horror may be slightly disappointed. Story 4/5. Action 2/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 7/10. (07/17/2022)

For a film that was supposed to be one of the highlights of this year's horror season, The Black Phone is terribly basic. There's really nothing extra beyond what the synopsis says and what the trailer showed. I kept hoping that Derrickson and Hill held some sort of ace up their sleeve, but alas. It's well made, it has quality actors and likeable characters, a creepy bad guy, but what's the point when it's more period atmospheric than scary, the rules of how the supernatural works float in a vacuum, the finale lasts about a minute, and the only minor plot surprise elicits raised eyebrows rather than appreciative shock at the screenwriter's abilities. A watchable genre film, but we should demand more from Scott Derrickson's cinematic horror. (07/20/2022)

Scott Derrickson and Ethan Hawke have already shown us in Sinister that they are both masters in their respective fields, but this is not the case in The Black Phone, and the result is pure average without any ambitions, record-breaking efforts or above-average genre peculiarities. Hawke doesn't do much, the idea is a simple abduction thriller with elements of the supernatural, ghosts and sci-fi abilities, but as a whole it doesn't come together very well and the balancing act between real and unrealistic sci-fi didn’t sit well with me at all. There are a few good scares, but there’s no atmosphere to speak of, nor is there any fear for the child protagonist, not to mention the fact that the in the end we are not given any explanations. Fortunately, the film is pulled towards the average by a fairly reasonable running time and a solid pace that doesn't get boring, but the initial feedback from satisfied critics is unwarranted, as there is simply nothing here that will make me remember the film in a week's time. If it hadn't had so much hype, I'd say a decent average, but with the expectations I went into it based on the reviews, I'm actually quite disappointed in the end with how "ordinary" an affair it is... (07/16/2022)

Scott Derrickson is a decent craftsman, and his films always look good. But in The Black Phone, he tries to combine the thriller-style theme of a kidnapper (reality) with a ghost story (fantasy) in a rather more mechanical than creative way, and it doesn’t really work. The ghost-story elements serve only to hinder the plot development. The bad guy is insufficiently scary and underdeveloped. We don’t even find out what his motive is. The dramatic storyline with the weak, violent father is not given enough space. The “someday you will have to stand up for yourself” motif has drive, but it's aimed only at a teen audience. The most stable pillar of the film is young Mason Thames in the lead role. This won’t be the last we’ve heard of him. (09/08/2022)

In my eyes, Scott Derrickson has done it again, and hasn't faltered once in his career, including that piece of craft slavery in the form of a Marvel movie. He's just a smart kid. I could actually do without the supernatural element here, but I understand that it is crucial to the development of the plot. It's not horrifically spooky, but it's finely unsettling, the seventies production design paces flawlessly, and Ethan's masks are creepy enough to make his personality both repulsive and appealing. And on top of that, a double pleasure: the performance of the charismatic boy Mason Thames and the discovery that Jeremy Davies can give a solid performance if the director leads him to do so. I give a shout-out to the musical dramaturgy for Pink Floyd's "On the Run" (from the album "Dark Side of the Moon") at the very end. (04/06/2023)