Directed by:
Scott DerricksonCinematography:
Brett JutkiewiczComposer:
Mark KorvenCast:
Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Davies, E. Roger Mitchell, James Ransone, Gina Jun, Banks Repeta, Megan Petersen, Kellan Rhude (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney. (Universal Pictures US)
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Reviews (10)
He's a bad boy, that Ethan, but let's be honest, without his meaty glam rocker, this would hardly be a slightly scarier episode of a cartoon. There are a couple of ideas in there, but they are not the most polished I’ve ever seen. Derrickson surprises us a bit through the fluctuation of tone, and the goofball elements are really out of place. Overall, I wasn’t really blown away by it. Deliver Us From Evil may have been corny as hell, but it had a dense atmosphere. This film oscillates between a cute Stranger Things ballad and a feeble genre hybrid. I am not going to give him any credit next time.
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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...
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Hill's collection Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead is pleasantly old-fashioned, surprisingly often discontented, and chilling in several places. Overall, however, its title promises something different, specifically a compilation of small unpleasant horrors that an uninformed reader would expect from King's son. The Black Telephone, on the other hand, is one of the weaker pieces in the book. It is a short suggestive story full of only partially fulfilled potential, with two successful parts, and what harms it the most is the fact that it takes place in one location. Promising a film adaptation seemed like a very bold idea to me, but Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill surpassed themselves. They dug deep into the story, where in the original only names jumped out, they added significant plot lines, and they turned Gwen, played by the incredible Madeleine McGraw, into an equal main protagonist. And yet I'm not sure about the way they explain key events. In many places, they only mention one sentence (the mother's death, the father's motivation, conditions in Finney's prison, the killer's convenient blindness towards broken or tidy things, the willingness of the police to listen to unorthodox solutions), but they rarely expand on it. Of course, I was able to read between the lines in this case, but it's a solution in the style of "If I see it there, then it's there". But if it was really just viewer theories and lucky writing coincidences, it would be dead ends or even plot holes, and that would be a shame in this case. So I lean towards the version that everything is perfectly thought out and that's exactly how I should feel – torn.
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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.
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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.
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