Most modern horror films do not grab me, at least in the last decade or so. Blumhouse Horror puts out new rebooted variations on "Halloween" and the upcoming "Exorcist" flick. Still, my interest was sky high when I heard about this "Black Phone" movie and seeing the grainy visual look of the trailer. This is sneaky, pulling-at-your-hair-in-shock-of-what's-around-the-corner horror superbly directed with flair by writer-director Scott Derrickson (the excellent "Sinister"). The title sounds freaky but what really sold me, other than the 1970s Kodak look of it, was Ethan Hawke. If Ethan is on board, so am I.
Ethan Hawke doesn't have a lot of screen time yet his presence and that horrifying mask he wears (designed by makeup legend Tom Savini) is shown often enough to give anyone the heebie jeebies. The film begins in 1978 with the disappearance of a high-school teenage baseball player. He hits a home run and Finney (Mason Thames), the 13-year-old pitcher is miffed yet accepts defeat. Seems like everything is fine until after Finney fires a small rocket and the player approaches a black van. The screen fades out as it does with other disappearances seen in the first hour of the film. The only clue to these missing kids is that black balloons are seen on the road, and Finney's sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) sees them in her nightmares. Meanwhile, after Finney encounters bullies and is saved by one tough kid who also disappears, a black van is seen again with a man wearing a stovepipe hat and now Finney is kidnapped!
"The Black Phone" could easily be nothing more than an eerie kidnapping story not unlike some of the real-life horror stories we have heard for so long of missing kidnapped children. The difference is that the characters are given some insight, some measure of sympathy and we have scenes of familial discord that are uncommon in horror films nowadays. There is the aforementioned bullying of Finney who has to prove he can stand up to anyone (of course, standing up to a child killer is an unprecedented task for this youngster). The physical and emotional abuse from Finney and Gwen's alcoholic father (Jeremy Davies, a hirsute mess) is deeply felt and disturbing, more so for the viewers who can identify with such unwarranted violence. In one particularly fierce scene, the father whips a sobbing Gwen with a belt after he was interrogated by the cops at his job. What makes him mad is that his wife, who committed suicide, had visions in her sleep and it reminds him too much of Gwen's visions of these current disappearances. That scene hit me like a ton of cement blocks, never mind bricks, and how Gwen seeks comfort from Finney while watching TV is emotionally true and devastating. The two kids, Thames and McGraw, are amazingly credible as is Jeremy Davies - this is about as real a dysfunctional family as you are likely to see in a horror flick.
So how is Ethan Hawke as the Grabber? He is terrifying and the less we see of him, the scarier the guy is. No motive is given and none is necessary. The tragedy masks he wears are to sure make jaded horror fans, myself included, a bit uncomfortable and the most original of its kind we have seen since the Munch-inspired Ghostface mask from "Scream." That is the pervasive feeling underneath "The Black Phone" - the discomfort and the supernatural aspects revolving around a black rotary phone in the basement that rings despite it being disconnected. How Finney deals with the grim situation and with the Grabber will have you rocking back and forth in suspense (added bonus is including Pink Floyd's "On the Run" on the soundtrack to build momentum). Blumhouse Horror has done itself proud with this one - it is literally a grabber.
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