The Black Phone

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I like this movie 🎥 beacause it's one of the best movies I've ever watched

A Scary Ethan Hawke And Terrific Young Stars Make This Thriller A Blumhouse Best....... As Universal's distribution head Jim Orr said in introducing Tuesday night's CinemaCon screening of the studio's upcoming late June release The Black Phone, studios don't normally bring a movie like this to show in its entirety at a theater-owners convention two months ahead of opening unless they know they have the goods. With this one reuniting producer Jason Blum and Blumhouse with director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill - all having worked together on 2012's Sinister - Universal does have the goods, and then some. Being marketed apparently as a horror film, with a poster dominated by a fully terrifyingly masked and horned Ethan Hawke, what this late 1970s-set movie really is about is the trauma of youth crossing from childhood into teen years, more appropriately falling into the suspense thriller category than the kind of standard horror the marketing seems to indicate. Hopefully audiences won't be put off by that approach, because this is a truly effective movie that defies easy description but should appeal to a wider crowd. It originally premiered at the 2021 Fantastic Fest and was planned for a January release but Blum and the studio felt it needed to be seen in theaters, thus the smart move to a prime summer slot and exclusive theatrical run. Based on the 2014 Joe Hill short story comparisons to Stephen King, and particularly It, will be inevitable, but The Black Phone marches to its own beat as we are introduced to its protagonist, young teen Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), an ace baseball pitcher who nevertheless finds himself subjected to constant harm by school bullies, as well as a single alcoholic father (Jeremy Davies) who is in over his head in raising Finney and his younger, foul-mouthed but quite religious sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). Gwen's psychic dreams are given credence by local authorities (if not her own dad, who physically abuses her and orders her to stop) when she is able to pinpoint an abduction of one of the Colorado town's young teen boys. The best movies of any genre are the ones that focus on character giving us a reason to root for them. These filmmakers put the thrills and chills (and there are many) in second position to favor advancing a story that also stands in as an allegory for the terrors of growing up and losing the innocence of childhood in a very dark world, this one inhabited not just by The Grabber, but also bullies who mercilessly beat up their fearful schoolmates, unhinged parents, and other realities of life. The Black Phone may also be known someday as a star-making film, with both Thames perfectly anchoring the story as Finney, a kid whose own awkwardness and eventual determination to survive has us cheering for him, and particularly McGraw, who steals every scene she has with a seeming ease that says this movie will not be the last we hear of her. She is a true standout.

After what seems like forever since we had anything close to being a mainstream horror release over the past year, The long awaited delayed Black Phone is finally here. Let me start out by saying just how excited I was to see Scott Derrickson and Ethan Hawke team up once again after the massively underrated and disturbing "Sinister" in 2013. Derrickson has directed some absolute gems while still remaining slightly under the radar. Hawke's versatility has always proved effective when he dabbles into the horror genre. So with a duo like this you're bound for success. The Black Phone is no exception as it grabs a hold of the audience and never lets up. Ethan gives one of his most extreme performances to date and this particular villain will be remembered for quite some time for his gruesome yet comedic insanity. Almost channeling a little bit of The Joker and Freddy as well as his own signature style. The story is actually very complex and gives a certain bit of emotional impact while remaining dire and suspenseful simultaneously. While it does borrow slightly in certain aspects from other films it's still remains its own entity with clever plotting. It unravels into something you will not see coming which is always a welcome factor. The visuals and settings are absolutely excellent and put you back into a different time entirely where this sort of crime was being committed with ease throughout the country. That's another reason this film is so strikingly disturbing because 30 to 40 years ago this was a massive problem and a huge fear for so many parents. The retro Ambience is palpable. Overall just a very well executed horror film albeit with certain familiar clichés, with a performance from Ethan Hawke alone that stands out phenomenally. Definitely a great time for a summer horror film.

Thought it would be better. It's entertaining, yes, but has lots of plot holes. We have seen much better movies with similar stories. However, we see great performances mostly from Ethan Hawke. He is really twisted and creepy here. But again, one of those films that you forgot quickly.

I've been hearing about how different and scary this "horror" movie was from the usual fare. Not so. It's pretty dumb. Not at all scary and what was ethan hawke thinking. And really, the cops can't find this guy, with a black van, in this small town. And by the way, where did that steak come from?

The phone ringing added a great amount of tension at times. The film itself has too much going on that doesn't fit. Too many unanswered questions at the end. A little more development and it would have had a chance.

I was so hyped and hopeful for this movie for a long time but I'd never thought I would find it overrated. I haven't read the book despite the fact that I'm a huge fan of Joe Hill and Stephen King and their common stories but unfortunately I couldn't like this one so much. I don't find it neither unique nor original at all among their other stories. I knew and predicted how the ending would be right in the fifth minute because this is not the first time Hill is winking right in the face how everything is going to end up. The thing that bugged me the most was the father's reaction to his lost son. I'd want to have seen more reaction and also Ethan Hawke's character became uninteresting after some point and I was disappointed when we were left without any backstory for his character. Why does he do all of this stuff? When did he start? Why doesn't he like his face? How is he getting away from being caught for so long? Etc. Etc. I don't agree with people say " you are supposed to read the book " , a big no to that from me. If I am at the cinemas and paying for the picture, that film is supposed to serve me. This is not an exam. And I am really hoping for a future that people will stop overrating movies just because it's popular or something. I think some people feel really pushed to rate films higher. Don't do that to yourself people. Don't be a sheep.

Starting from a really good and somewhat original premise, it's not because it addresses a repeated theme (Kidnapper and a basement) that it's generic or copy, it's the same as saying that every mafia movie is a copy of The Godfather. However, I believe that what was lacking in The Black Phone was to delve more deeply into its characters, using the star Ethan Hawke more, giving his character a dual personality tone, which would consequently result in a greater wealth of details and plot. The scenes inside the captivity with the boy are really chilling, however, I believe that if the secret of the film was revealed later leaving the viewer in doubt, the film and psychological horror would have worked better, certainly better than jumpscares. In addition, the film doesn't bring the repercussion of the facts that happened outside the captivity where nobody seems to worry much (Several children from the same location disappear and no parent worries about letting their children walk alone to school? Really? ) In addition, there are certain scenes that add nothing to the story. There are obviously its positive points, like the scene between father and daughter that is really shocking probably because it involves a child, but it really turned out really good the girl's expression is really creepy (A shame because after nothing an abusive and alcoholic father becomes a loving and caring father). The movie is obviously far from bad, but for maybe promising so much and creating expectations for something deep or a plot twist and not delivering it ended up frustrating me a little.