The Black Phone [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD]

Director: Scott Derrickson Scott Derrickson

Overview

It is 1978 in North Denver, and shy thirteen-year-old Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) ventures home after pitching a home run in his baseball game. However, The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), a part-time magician who kidnaps children and murders them, disrupts his bike ride home. Finney then finds himself in a soundproofed basement, where the outside world cannot hear his screams for help. Aid comes from the most surprising source, a disconnected phone where The Grabber's past victims guide Finney to freedom. Scott Derrickson directs the horror film.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/16/2022
UPC:	0191329217740
Original Release:	2021
Rating:	R
Source:	Universal Studios
Language:	English
Time:	1:44:00
Sales rank:	4,647

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mason Thames	Finney
Madeleine McGraw	Gwen
Ethan Hawke	The Grabber
Jeremy Davies	Terrence
E. Roger Mitchell	Detective Wright
Troy Rudeseal	Detective Miller
James Ransone	Max
Miguel Cazarez Mora	Robin Arellano
Rebecca Clarke	Donna
J. Gaven Wilde	Moose
Spencer Fitzgerald	Buzz
Jordan Isaiah White	Matty
Brady Ryan	Matt
Tristan Pravong	Bruce Yamada
Jacob Moran	Billy
Brady Hepner	Vance
Banks Repeta	Griffin,Sally's Mother
Parrish Stikeleather	Mr. Hopkins
Sheula M. O'Rear	Principal Keller
Rocco Poveromo	Chief of Police
Kellan Rhude	Patrolman
Reagan Shumate	Teen Girl #1
Bay Allebach	Teen Girl #2
Dashiell Derrickson	Jackass 1
Braxton Alexander	Jackass #2(as Brandon Alexander Defosse)
Lukas Colagross	Shop-N-Go Kid
Mark Riccardi	Umpire
Sheila O'Rear	Principal Keller
Andrew Farmer	Teammate #1
T. Maxwell Martin	Teammate #2
Garrison Starkweather	Teammate #3
Megan Petersen	Math Teacher
Robert Fortunato	Cop
Christy Connell	Office Attendant
Mark Korven	Composer

Technical Credits

Scott Derrickson

C. Robert Cargill

Joe Hill

Scott Derrickson	Screenwriter,Director,Producer
C. Robert Cargill	Screenwriter,Producer
Joe Hill	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Ryan Turek	Executive Producer
Christopher H. Warner	Executive Producer
Jason Blum	Producer
D. Smith	Sound/Sound Designer
Terri Taylor	Casting
Paul Hackner	Sound/Sound Designer
Aidin Ashoori	Sound/Sound Designer
Kevin Strahm	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

The Black Phone, written and directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose), and based on the short story by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son), is more than just the average gore fest, serial killer movie. The film additionally showcases childhood resilience, harkening back to horror when children were in charge of their fate. It visits a time in America with children's faces plastered on milk cartons; the fear of a psychopath kidnapping hordes of children in a van was real, and a faceless monster could drive down the most ordinary street. This story's villain is the Grabber (Ethan Hawke), a kidnapper whose victims' faces are plastered all over the small Denver suburb, which is the film's location. In his matte black van filled with black balloons as a sort of homage to films like It and The Silence of the Lambs, he poses as a magician and, using a phony magic trick, charms little boys, then incapacitates and abducts them. The whole town is on edge, waiting for the Grabber's next victim; it turns out to be thirteen-year-old Finney Blake (Mason Thames). The movie's central focus is Finney's escape attempt and the black broken telephone in which he communicates with the former victims of his captors. It's a movie that lets one imagine the villain's backstory and crimes while rooting for the victim's escape. Although it doesn't hand the audience every piece of information, it holds its mystery and intrigue, and that's the point of high-quality horror. Finney's younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), a clairvoyant, leads the police investigation and is entwined in a sub-plot about their sometimes-violent alcoholic father. Hawke kills as the Grabber. He previously teamed up with Derrickson in Sinister, and in The Black Phone his portrayal of the Grabber is terrifying. Though he wears a mask throughout the film, it cannot hide just how scary he is as he slings his body around with every inflection oozing terror. The young actors eek out their moments of terror and heartbreak without ever feeling stagey or overdramatic. There is an honesty in their performances and a feeling of a brother-sister bond. The audience wants to root for these kids. Children do much of the heavy lifting in this film, and a theme that permeates the film is that children can only rely on each other in a world where adults are unreliable, absent, or cruel. What is refreshing, especially in the horror genre, is that ultimately the children aren't exclusively victims in this movie, wrestling to take back their power. It is extremely effective, lifting the movie beyond standard horror fare into a film worthy of a full-price admission ticket.