by John Zenoni
Man, talk about a creepy, edge-of-your-seat thriller! While the subject matter alone is disturbing, “The Black Phone” is one of the best, well-made scary flicks I have seen in a long time. The thing that makes this film different from the modern horror films is 1) it does a great job of envisioning the 1970’s vibe 2) it doesn’t spend time on any background on the antagonist - we just know this is a bad, evil person - and 3) it doesn’t rely on a lot of gore and blood as many others do to provide scares. It's all the setting/situation/what happens with the black phone that is so gripping.
The film is set in a small town community in 1974 (the year ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is in theaters) and is where Finney (or Fin) and his younger sister, Gwen, live with their abusive, alcoholic father. Gwen is important to the film as she has dreams in which she sees things that turn out to be true. Around the time of the film’s opening, young boys/teens in the community are disappearing and being taken by someone named The Grabber. I'm sure you can already guess where the film is going with Finney but what happens when he is in the solid, quiet room keeps you wondering what is going to happen next.
The acting in this film is solid, including that of Ethan Hawke, who really surprised me in this role. Definitely not something I would have thought he would have picked but he does it well!
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