Scott Derrickson shocked audiences with Sinister back in 2012, presenting a startling film that featured a number of grisly Super 8 tapes that made the viewer feel like they were watching something they shouldn’t be. Post-Sinister, he broke into the big-bucks Marvel cinematic universe with Doctor Strange; however, in 2021 he returned to the horror genre with The Black Phone, an adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story from his book 20th Century Ghosts. With limited settings and a small number of characters, Derrickson shoots for a personal and disturbing atmosphere about a child abductor in the late 1970s; but does this ring true, or get a busy signal?
The film stars Mason Thames as Finney, a 13-year-old living with an alcoholic dad (Jeremy Davies, who does this kind of part too well!) and his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) in North Denver, where a series of child abductions have taken place. Since this is the ’70s, he’s also conjured a catchy name: The Grabber, evoking both the abduction itself and the unsavory element of pedophilia. Quickly, Finney finds himself nabbed by the Grabber, who, it turns out, is Ethan Hawke wearing a number of yōkai-esque masks that he can don and doff as his mood suits; thrown into a basement, Finney only has a bed, a window, a bathroom, and a creepy black phone to keep him company, which begins to ring with the voices of dead children that have already met The Grabber’s wrath.
Derrickson knows how to elicit good atmosphere, and the opening moments of The Black Phone are ripe with them; sprawling city shots, more personal home spaces, and thrilling childhood fights all make up the first act of the movie, and it sets a great mood. The sepia-tinged ’70s aesthetic works well here, and the swelling score by Mark Korven sets up the disturbing emotional toll that a loose serial killer should have on a town. Add to that a variety of Super 8 scenes that depict the Grabber at work, with Hawke wearing a creepy magician’s outfit and holding black balloons à la It, and you have yourself an eerie setup that should have audiences on the edge of their seats.
Unlike the startling clangor of a phone ringing into the silence, though, The Black Phone rarely does much with its atmospheric dread in its middle act. Both Thames and Hawke do a good job in their respected roles, but the menacing element of the Grabber is somewhat lost on the viewer thanks to his routine incompetence; at this point in his “career,” there’s no reason this serial killer should be so bad at what he supposedly does best, especially since he’s been able to avoid the police with nary a clue besides the black balloons. The titular phone itself is an interesting concept, but far from unique; this is, effectively, another film about ghostly revenge from the ethereal plain, with the kids banding together to help each other out even after death.
Frankly, Derrickson holds Finney captive for a little too long, where the film loses its momentum in the process. The final moments, where Gwen has a premonition in her dreams and finds the killer’s house, are thrilling but expected, and one wishes Derrickson had gone a little bit more into just how the Grabber has been able to elude the police and his own brother – who lives in the house – for so long, since one would expect Hawke to be high on the suspect list due to his routine purchases of ~20 bags of lime at the local hardware store.
While the appeal of The Black Phone is evident – supernatural elements, spooky mask, true crime aesthetic – and the players all do a good job, the film is just a little too long and ham-fisted for its own good, a trait that Derrickson seems to bring to most of his horror films. The Black Phone is perfectly watchable, even thrilling at points; but there’s too much static.
Blu-ray
The Black Phone has received a Blu-ray release thanks to Universal Studios, and most likely the first question consumers will have is, “Why not a UHD?” Your guess is as good as mine, since this film could certainly have benefited from the black contrasts that are achieved from HDR. With that said, this Blu-ray is still a great representation of the film on home video, featuring strong detail and a great management of the film’s sepia-tinged color scheme. Blacks are not crushed and have good delineation, which is important in the film’s darker sequences in the basement, of which there are many. Overall, there should be no qualms about The Black Phone‘s video quality on Blu-ray – but the lack of a UHD release is certainly apparent and makes viewers wary of getting duped into a double-dip later on.
Universal provides a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 English track as the primary option for audio, which sounds robust with nice utilization of the satellite and ceiling speakers for maximum atmosphere; sound effects and Korven’s score are very affecting here. One area that seemed lacking was low end frequency, with a more tempered use of bass. Also included on this release are a DTS-HD High Res 7.1 Spanish track and a DTS Digital Surround 5.1 French option, along with a Dolby Digital 2.0 descriptive video track. English, Spanish, and French subtitles are also included.
Extra features include a number of EPK-like featurettes that encompass discussions on Ethan Hawke playing the villain rather than the lead protagonist, a behind-the-scenes look, the use of Super 8 film in the movie, and set design of the film. Deleted scenes are included but are relatively lackluster, adding very little to the context of the movie (quite literally, 45 seconds). Scott Derrickson’s short film for Blumhouse TV, “Shadowprowler,” is also included. Finally, a new audio commentary featuring Scott Derrickson is the only extra containing the director; here he goes into the production and scene composition throughout the movie.
Extra Features
- NEW Audio Commentary featuring Co-writer/Director Scott Derrickson
- NEW Deleted Scenes (1080p; 0:25; 0:45)
- NEW Ethan Hawke’s Evil Turn (1080p; 4:25)
- NEW Answering the Call: Behind the Scenes of The Black Phone (1080p; 10:40)
- NEW Devil in the Design (1080p; 5:15)
- NEW Super 8 Set (1080p; 1:48)
- Shadowprowler – Short Film (1080p; 11:57)
Verdict
The Black Phone has a number of effective moments that don’t rely on jump scares, but all of this is caught up in some questionable pacing and a reliance on suspension of disbelief. This Blu-ray from Universal is also perfectly adequate, if a little light on extras and lacking a 4K UHD release.
