A scene from 'The Black Phone'

Review: ‘The Black Phone’ is a disturbing depiction of evil and hope

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

Similar Posts

  • Review: ‘Survival Skills’ shows ethics are sometimes secondary (Includes first-hand account)

    While North American law enforcement has come under scrutiny for its bias application of discretion and unnecessary use of lethal force in countless situations, navigating the discussion around these topics can be challenging. Nonetheless, there have been a number of films that do an excellent job of shining a light on the subject and bringing the conversation to the forefront. Many of these pictures tell the story from the perspective of the victim since that narrative has historically lacked attention, but few try to depict the root of the problem. In Survival Skills, audiences are taken into the world of a 1980s police training video that goes off-script.

  • Review: ‘Boy and the World’ is a sad, wondrous and vivid journey (Includes first-hand account)

    To a child, the world is both full of wonder and anxiety; unknowns are both exciting and frightening; the wide open space outside their front door both calls for exploration and holds the terrifying possibility of becoming lost. The desire to understand is often overwhelming, even though the answer may exist beyond their grasp. In the Oscar-nominated animated film, Boy and the World, a child sets out alone to find out why his father has not returned home.

  • Review: ‘Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead’ is true to National Lampoon (Includes first-hand account)

    While political and social commentary still exists, the style of no-holds-barred satire that was popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s is more difficult to find — though that doesn’t mean some issues and pundits couldn’t benefit from the treatment. Ranging from R- to X-rated material, nothing and no one was safe from the wit of the artists’ pitiless pen or writers’ remorseless words. The early years of The National Lampoon set a precedent and generated a new genre of raunchy, antagonistic comedy — and Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of The National Lampoon sets out to prove it.