The Black Phone

The screenplay is an adaptation of a 20-page short story yet seems like it crammed in a four-pound novel. Lots of unrelated scenes, an unnecessary number of supporting characters, implausible interactions and relationships, and most importantly, the whole thing is totally littered with plot holes. Scott Derrickson boasts that unlike other directors, for him a test audience is not an annoying obstacle but a creative collaborator, and this film looks it. (10/15/2022)

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)

Like the source material, which is not one of the best pieces in the collection (in fact, I didn't remember the story at all, unlike others), the film version of The Black Phone is not a groundbreaking work. Actually, it’s not even horror, rather a thriller with supernatural elements. Is it a shame? Quite the contrary! The film is so well shot and acted (the child actors, the brother and sister, are perfect) that it is strongest in those scenes where nothing supernatural happens and it’s simply about people. The supernatural is important, but in the exact spirit of Hill, it's not really explained properly and serves more as a deus ex machina, which was fine with me. The excellent period atmosphere and the superb villain took care of the rest. (07/23/2022)

Scott Derrickson has got the touch like few others. It's shot in exactly that unsettling thriller tone, plus it has top-notch sound design. Narratively, it's maddeningly unbelievable (from the kid fights to the phone gags to the final showdown), but overall it holds together by the skin of its teeth in some weird way. It's not much, but for unpretentious one-time viewing it's doable. [60%] (07/18/2022)

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)