While they are statistically rare occurrences, tales of child kidnappings often strike a chord of fear in Malaysians. After all, there have been cases of children being snatched off local streets never to be seen again.
“The Black Phone” preys on these natural fears, telling the story of a boy who undergoes every child’s, and parent’s, worst nightmare.
Based on a short story by author Joe Hill – son of the King of literary horror, as in Stephen – “The Black Phone” is set in 1978, where a small American town is terrorised by a string of kidnappings.
The kidnapper known only as “the Grabber” is played with great menace by Ethan Hawke, in a break from his usual heroic protagonist roles.
Given that this era was rife with serial killers, one is able to sense the fear and dread that has descended upon the town.
Enter Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), a shy but capable student – son of a depressed alcoholic father (Jeremy Davies) and sibling to a feisty sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw).
Their late mother was a clairvoyant and, to some degree, her children, especially her daughter, have inherited the gift.
Finney, of course, ends up as the Grabber’s next victim and is kept in a basement with only a single disconnected black telephone for company.
While awaiting his doom, he starts receiving calls, with the spirits of previous victims speaking to him.
Meanwhile, on the outside, the distraught Gwen starts seeing clues as to her brother’s whereabouts in her dreams, slowly revealing the path to him.
A horror-thriller at its core, “The Black Phone” successfully manages to combine supernatural, suspense and horror elements.
Director Scott Derrickson is no stranger to the genre, having worked on “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”, “Sinister”, and, funnily enough, “Doctor Strange”.
Horror movies succeed or fail based on their antagonist, and Hawke’s Grabber is somewhere in the middle: scary, but not entirely novel. His personality ranges from being a friendly gentleman to a downright lunatic, all the time toying with his victim’s fears.
Still, the creepy masks he wears throughout would certainly make for good Halloween costumes this year.
As for the protagonist, Thames’ Finney does have enough of a likeable personality for the audience to root for him and hope for his escape. However, it does feel that the boy really owes his survival to the ghosts of victims past, since much of what he does is based on what they tell him.
It would have been nice for him to figure out what to do independently, rather than take notes via spectral phone calls the whole time.
As for the phone… well, it’s certainly an interesting plot device that’s different from other horror films, and ends up being a literal lifesaver.
Each victim, some of whom Finney knew personally, ends up contributing a way to defeat the Grabber and bring him to justice.
Hence, when the climax approaches and the previously meek Finney puts up a valiant fight, the audience gets a well-deserved and satisfying ending.
So, is “The Black Phone” worth a watch? If you are fond of “Stranger Things”, you might find it to be right up your alley.
Like the Netflix series, it oozes late-’70s, early-’80s vibes and respects its child characters as thinking and intelligent individuals.
The adults are often unhelpful, so it’s up to the kids – friends and siblings – to come together to beat the bad guy.
With its 104-minute runtime, it’s definitely watchable with enough jump-scares to spill some popcorn.
And at the end of the day, one can’t help but appreciate the performances of teenage actors Thames and McGraw, who hold their weight just as much as the veteran Hawke does.
‘The Black Phone’ is playing in cinemas nationwide.