The Black Phone

 

The Black Phone does seem inspired by and borrows from things like It and a Nightmare on Elm Street. While those movies were much more supernatural with a hint of grounded reality, The Black Phone is more grounded with some supernatural. I don't know how much of this was based off of Joe Hill's book but he uses a lot of subtle things both character wise and setting wise that his father does but he puts his own stamp on those things. The premise of the Black Phone is one of the most intriguing ever. It leads to a predictable, but also thrilling movie. It wouldn't work without outstanding performances from leads, Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw. Those two together create what I believe is one of the best brother-sister relationships in cinema history. 

Synopsis: Finney Shaw (Thames) is a shy but clever 13-year-old boy who's being held in a soundproof basement by a sadistic, masked killer. When a disconnected phone on the wall starts to ring, he soon discovers that he can hear the voices of the murderer's previous victims -- and they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney.

The filmmakers do a good job of making you like Finney right off the bat. He is shown not being able to strikeout a really good baseball player named Bruce. Bruce is apparently kind of the town hunk among kids Finney's age. While Bruce is biking home he is taken by the grabber. At school Finney is bullied by three individuals. His friend, Robin is sometimes able to chase the bullies off. Robin is also eventually grabbed by the Grabber. The movie does a good job of showing that even tough young boys are no match against adults, something Summer of 84 did well also. Finney and his sister Gwen have an interesting relationship. At one point Finney is being attacked by the three bullies. Gwen comes over and hits one of them with a rock. Gwen is also having dreams about the Grabber and his van with the black baloons. The police ask Gwen for more information but she cannot give them any as she doesn't necessarily know how to control her dreams. Finney and Gwen's father Terrence is an abusive alcoholic and beats Gwen and blames her for the police coming to his place of work. He tells her that her dreams aren't real. Apparently the matriarch of their family took her own life as a result of not being able to control her own dreams or supernatural abilities. 

Finney is eventually Grabbed. While the first tow abductions only showed the two victims approaching the van and the scene quickly blacked out, we see Finney approach the van and get caught and try to fight back. Ethan Hawke is absolutely magnetic and terrifying as the Grabber. I like how much he looks like a Lon Chaney character with the mask. I also really enjoyed the look of this movie. Instead of forcing a bunch of late 1970s references on the audience the movie naturally occurs in that time. There is a conversation I enjoyed between Robin and Finney about how Finney needs to see the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and how Robin had seen at the the drive in. For the time that totally makes sense. Madeleine McGraw is going to be a star. Her ability to flip between dramatic and comedic at times in this movie was incredible. I like seeing Jeremy Davies, who plays Terrence in anything. He always has a mysteriousness to him. 

Spoiler Section

Some of the Stephen King similarities and references in this are subtle and others a bit heavy handed. For the most part I liked a lot of them. A kid wearing a yellow slicker in the rain, an abusive parent, a trope which I hated at first. I thought really, another Stephen King like story with an abusive alcoholic character?! They do a good job though of showing Terrence's changing attitude throughout the story. By the end they feel like a proper, if not a little dysfunctional family again. Another Stephen King trope is bullies and even ones getting by rocks. I know this is a Joe Hill story but he uses a lot of the same things as his father does. Again though, the bullies, like Terrence are shown as human beings and not completely evil. Once Finney is abducted the film becomes a great thriller. I enjoyed hearing what Finney could find out from the previous victims about the house.

While the first jump scare was very well done, the rest felt unnecessary. The movie does something I like though where you don't have to jump scares you can have people in the background of a scene suddenly appear out of focus and I actually think that is more effective than jump scares. The axe kill at the end was awesome. The first victim retelling their story and then connecting with Gwen in her dream was awesome. That reminded me of the first time Abra and Rose interact in a dream in Doctor Sleep and I love that kind of supernatural synchronization stuff. It never feels to be fantastic to me. I really liked how they had that scene a little past the middle of Finney almost escaping because when that happens it makes the actual escape and resolution more rewarding later. The misdirection where it seemed the cops were going to the wrong house, only for it to be the house right across was great as well. The intersecting storylines coming closer and closer together was very well edited.  I did have a slight problem with having no explanation for the supernatural stuff here. I would have liked at least so exposition like oh the characters have the shining or something. It's still interesting but I always like an explanation for that stuff. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Trivia: The mask was designed by Tom Savini. 

Trailer: