the fresh films reviews

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The Black Phone (2021)

Director:
Scott Derrickson

COUNTRY
USA

Genre
Horror

NORWEGIAN TITLE
The Black Phone

RUNNING TIME
103 minutes

Producer:
Jason Blum
Scott Derrickson
C. Robert Cargill

Screenwriter (based on the short story by Joe Hill):
Scott Derrickson
C. Robert Cargill


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Finney Mason Thames
Gwen Madeleine McGraw
The Grabber Ethan Hawke
Terrence Jeremy Davies
Detective Wright E. Roger Mitchell -
Detective Miller Troy Rudeseal -
Max James Ransone -

 

Review

Although the 1970s were the heyday of both the American serial killers, groundbreaking horror movies, and school bullying, the serial killers weren't abstract concepts, there weren't any ghosts that scared you with loud sound effects but were really there to help you, and the school yard fights weren't UFC matches. The Black Phone is the name of Scott Derrickson's latest picture – a cinematic computer game disguised as a horror movie. Based on a story by Stephen King's son Joe Hill and with a script co-written by Derrickson, the film is obviously a nostalgia trip for the filmmakers. They want to revisit the unforgiving school yards and dysfunctional home lives of their youths, and the film touches a nerve when delving into the latter. When alcoholic dad Jeremy Davies whips his daughter Gwen brutally with a belt, the film connects with a reality which it never is able to repeat or satisfactorily follow up on. Davies' character is the only really interesting one in here. The serial killer, called "The Grabber", on the other hand is not. He is a theoretical being of horror cliches; a plot device the protagonist Finney (Mason Thames) must overcome to win his escape room challenge. Granted, there are one or two clever ideas in the mix, but as with most of the suspense elements, they come off as so overly planned and neatly presented that any spunk the film could have had is lost.

Copyright © 11.08.2022 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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