The Black Phone
2021
**
Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, E. Roger Mitchell, Troy Rudeseal
In 1978, a man nicknamed the Grabber is abducting children in Denver. 13-year-old Finney finds himself locked in the man's basement room with a disconnected black phone that receives calls from the room's previous occupants. This overrated horror thriller delivers neither scares nor thrills. The kidnapper talks a lot but doesn't do anything and the victim is not scared at any point, so why should I be. The initial premise is intriguing, but the movie quickly becomes implausible and repetitive. The Grabber is too busy sitting menacingly on his kitchen chair to notice that Finney attempts to escape through the wall, floor, and window. The supernatural elements are poorly incorporated into the story. Based on a short story by Joe Hill, who is Stephen King's son.
