Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Ohhh Boy!!! Nothing makes me happier than when a movie is as exciting as I hoped it would be. And The Black Phone is that. Good story… Creepy… Scary… and Suspenseful.
I enjoyed how they set the table on this one. Right off the bat, showing us the aggressiveness of The Grabber (Hawke) and how often he created chaos in this late 70s Denver neighborhood. Usually, with young teen/child actors, you can get upset with their character because they usually have them as dumb & weak. However, Finney (Mason Thames), was anything but that. Scared, yes, but determined to survive.
Ethan Hawke, who, for me, hasn’t ever done anything I was overly impressed with. His portrayal here, as simple as it was, was incredibly creepy every single time he was on screen.
Director, Scott Derrickson, did a fabulous job keeping it simple. Just enough, and good use of CGI for the paranormal moments. It also never felt like he was trying too hard to make a scene bigger than it was or needed to be.
Halfway thru 2022 and this is only the 2nd horror film that I can actually say was good… if not great. And one that I would happily see again.