YNOT at the Movies

The situation of being kidnapped by a clown wearing a scary mask and then being locked into a dungeon in the basement is scary enough itself. But "The Black Phone" (USA 2021 | 102 min.) adds more jump scares to it, even though it's unnecessary. However, that doesn't really dampen the creepiness of the film, and the director Scott Derrickson nicely crafted a horror film with an impressive color and look of the '70s.

Set in 1978's Denver, the 13-year-old Finn (Mason Thames) is a typical boy who plays baseball, loves to launch toy rockets, watches horror films on TV, and deals with an abusive father at home. He is also horrified like everyone else when teenage boys go missing one after another in the neighborhood, including Robin (Miguel Cazarez Mora), who protects Finn from bullies at school.

Finn's sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) appears to have the psychic power that lets her visualize the kidnapping of these boys in her dreams. She tells the police that she saw a clown (Ethan Hawke) driving a van with black balloons grabbing these boys, and they call him the Grabber.

As predictable as the plot goes, Finn becomes the next victim of the Grabber. When Finn wakes up, he finds himself in a soundproof basement equipped only with a dirty mattress, a filthy toilet, and a disconnected black phone on the wall. The Grabber comes down occasionally to deliver some scrambled eggs and a bottle of soda, and often leaves the door unlocked on purpose. As if that's not terrifying enough, the black phone starts to ring. When Finn answers, he starts to talk to some strange voices that give him courage to fight off the Grabber in order to escape.

The director Scott Derrickson superbly creates a hideous and desperate scenario on screen. From color to clothing, the film's images often look like faded Polaroid photos, which effectively bring you back to the '70s. The grim look reminds us of other thrillers such as "Se7en" (1995) and "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991).

The film devotes the story to the hero of the film, the courageous and resourceful young Finn who fights for his survival, but it keeps his villain as mysterious as possible. Not only do we not know the Grabber's motive, but we also have no clue as to what his next move is going to be, which makes the story more tense and scary, and he always appears behind a nasty mask.

The movie would have been more thrilling if it had not added so many supernatural moments to it. They dilute the credibility of the story. Perhaps those phone calls and anything happening in the basement cell are not supernatural but are all illusions from Finn's imaginations. However, no matter what they really are, they distract us from the urgency in reality. The jump scares are also unnecessarily added for some cheap thrills. Without them, the film is already extremely creepy and terrifying.

"The Black Phone" opens on Friday, June 24, 2022.