The Black Phone fits into a neat little niche of works that do Stephen King’s gimmick better than the author himself. Since it’s an adaptation of his son’s story, it probably makes him proud. The film is a suburban horror story about a teenager with a limited connection to the supernatural in a very human crisis. It combines so many compelling storytelling elements that I came away shocked that its tricks weren’t more common. Even now, two years after the film’s wide release, audiences still flock to the film on Netflix, pushing it to #8 on the streamer’s top ten.
I hope Scott Derrickson and Ethan Hawke get to work together a few more times. They’ll never have the star power of iconic duos like Scorsese and De Niro, but I genuinely think they pull the best out of each other. They first worked together in Sinister, one of the finest horror films of the 2010s. The Black Phone sees him become the antagonist and the film’s greatest asset. Thankfully, they’ll soon reunite for the sequel.
The Black Phone Rings Again on Netflix’s Top Ten
The premise of The Black Phone remains excellent. Mason Thames stars as Finney, a kid struggling to survive dozens of bullies and his abusive father. The commitment to the 70s aesthetic has the side effect of making Finney’s Colorado suburb feel like the town from a 90s beat-’em-up. The school kids rank the best fighters like they’re in a shonen anime. Finney can’t defend himself, but he can make friends. Those skills come in handy when he becomes the latest victim of a serial killer called the Grabber. Finney wakes up in a disgusting basement with little more than a gross mattress and the titular telephone, which happens to be unplugged. Though all hope seems lost, the phone rings, connecting Finney with the spirits of the Grabber’s previous victims. He’ll have to use their guidance to escape or defeat a serial killer. It’s a stellar pitch with great execution.
The horror box-office market feels significantly different from that of most other genres. Production companies like Blumhouse fire off countless forgettable entries, one in every ten of which makes a ton of cash. If you look at the budget and returns of The Black Phone, you’d almost see a similar circumstance here. In truth, horror doesn’t often need the same level of investment as its action and sci-fi counterparts. This film made a whopping $161 million on a budget around $17 million. Critics also loved it, granting the project a guaranteed sequel. This recent return to prominence on Netflix is far from the first. The Black Phone sticks with you.
I don’t know what the second film in this series will be about. Believe it or not, there’s an in-universe spin-off short buried in V/H/S/85. It didn’t really give us a hint to the next film’s direction, but that follow-up is practically guaranteed. The Black Phone‘s mix of grounded true crime fiction and supernatural elements feels perfect. It’s a call well worth picking up, on the big or small screen.
