Who Wrote It?
Joe Hill wrote The Black Phone as a short story. It was originally published in 2004 in The Third Alternative.
In 2005, The Black Phone was also included in Hill’s short story collection 20th Century Ghosts.
The screenplay was written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill.
What’s It About?
The year is 1978. Thirteen-year-old Finney is a typical teenager, living in a dysfunctional household. His sister, Gwen, has dreams that come true. Their father is still grieving the loss of their mother and is more often drunk than not.
Finney’s picked on by bullies at school, but he doesn’t defend himself physically. He’d rather stay out of their way or be knocked down and get up again afterwards and go about his business.
A man, nicknamed The Grabber, is abducting teenage boys in broad daylight. The boys are never seen again. There is a belief among the kids that if you say The Grabber out loud, he’ll hear you and come for you next.
Finney’s grabbed on his way home from school one Friday and finds himself held captive in a concrete, soundproofed basement. The Grabber wears devil masks whenever he comes into the room.
Finney’s tempted to try to escape when he realises the door hasn’t locked behind The Grabber one night. Before he can try, a disconnected black wall phone rings and he answers it. It’s one of The Grabber’s previous victims.
Over the next few days, each of the previous victims calls and offers him advice and encouragement. One of them says the phone always rang but Finney’s the first one to ever hear it.
Meanwhile, in her dreams, Gwen watches each boy’s abduction as they talk to Finney. She puts together clues from her dreams to find out where her brother is being held.
Who’s In It?
Mason Thames plays Finney. Mason studied ballet and toured for four years with a professional ballet company before being offered his first acting role in 2019 in the AppleTV+ series For All Mankind.
Madeline McGraw plays Gwen. At thirteen, Madeline has a number of acting credits under her belt, but she’s best known for the role of Zoey Campbell in Disney’s Secrets of Sulphur Springs.
Ethan Hawke plays The Grabber.
Jeremy Davies plays Finney and Gwen’s father.
What Should You Expect?
- Expect at least three jump scares.
- Expect good acting and well-cast characters.
- Expect the usual ‘bully’ and ‘drunk single father’ tropes that accompany most stories involving teenage boys and schools, especially ones set in the 1970s.
- Expect siblings that love and support each other, having lived for so long with only each other for emotional support.
- Expect a foul-mouthed sister who’s not afraid to say what she thinks and stand up to authority.
- Expect blood and disturbing imagery of the victims.
- Expect a story about a kid who doesn’t give up, not a story about a serial killer. Yes, there’s a serial killer in it, but he’s not the focus of the story.
- Expect to use your own imagination if you want to know why The Grabber does what he does. The story has very few details about him, his background, or his reasons and motivations.
Should You Watch It?
Yes.
The Black Phone isn’t a cover-your-eyes in fear or sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat horror movie, but it’s a well-told, well-acted story.
Where To Watch It/Get It?
You could also buy Hill’s short story collection 20th Century Ghosts and read it.
