Is "The Black Phone" anti-killer ?, we meet Vijay the Hindi Indiana Jones, & is TXT (투모로우바이투게더) K-Pop grooming middle age dad's & uncles ? let's find out on Hey Twitter World! w/ Uncle Dust.

Is “The Black Phone” anti-killer ?, we meet Vijay the Hindi Indiana Jones, & is TXT (투모로우바이투게더) K-Pop grooming middle age dad’s & uncles ? let’s find out on Hey Twitter World! w/ Uncle Dust.

https://twitter.com/UncleDustComedy/status/1539277073142849537?s=20&t=xKbpAS1aCJu3VzJHUFDIAA All Dusty Morrow’s show links https://linktr.ee/uncledustcomedy Uncle Dust’s show links https://linktr.ee/uncledustcomedy Uncle Dust’s show links…

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Man, I had read some mediocre-to-bad reviews, but The Black Phone was really good, solid horror.

And my favorite thing has to be that they didn’t explain The Grabber; they gave just enough information for you to extrapolate his backstory, but didn’t exposite everything about him, which feels so rare.

Since I’m finally feeling better, and I figured I should get this all out now before the life gets sucked out of me by the joy that is customer service during the Holidays, bleh, but this is basically headcanons I’ve got for the au where Jim Hopper and Vance Hopper are father and son. Obviously, this is full au since I’ve already discussed canon compliant because the timelines match up a lot better than you think for a tragic backstory, but anyway! Full au entails the Black Phone taking place around 1983 or 1984 which would make Vance only about a year or two above El (I can never see him past 14 whenever I post about him, so he’s 14 when he moves to Hawkins and 13 when he was kidnapped), where Vance ends up moving to Hawkins after his dad insists on seeing him more because both the Grabber and Disappearance of Will Byers would, um, definitely be incidents that made Hopper realize life’s too short. 

I feel like I should also mention I personally headcanon Vance as autistic, and I might give him traits I myself have. Also, that in this au, Vance would have been born in 1969-70 instead of 1964 to fit, and that the “Refrigerator mom theory” was only just starting to be discredited in the 60s and 70s, which was a theory people believed meant autism and neurodivergent symptoms in general were the parents’ fault because they didn’t give their child the correct amount of love and attention they should have during their developmental years. With that aside, I kinda tend to ramble, so if this is long, I’m sorry.

It’s mostly about some I have about Vance in general and the Hopper family before Sarah died, so on we go!

Hopper was still very much nervous about having kids due to the stories he heard from old friends who were exposed to Agent Orange with him, about their kids being born wrong or not at all, so he'd never been more relieved or happy when Vance was born perfectly fine if a little early. He figured he maybe got lucky, and wasn’t quite as anxious or felt as guilty about withholding the risks from Diane when she told him she was pregnant again nearly a year later.

Of course, when Sarah got sick with cancer, Jim realized he wasn’t the one that was lucky, Vance was, and he does wonder to himself sometimes through the years if maybe the reason Vance is so “different” is because the chemicals were passed down to him through Jim, too, just in a different way.

The camera shot of Hopper crying in the hospital stairwell is through the perspective of nine-year-old Vance who realized in that moment his sister was never getting better because his father never cries.

Vance is very touch averse unless you're close to him like friends, his parents or Sarah, and even then a warning is best, from behind is not advised without letting him know its you (after escaping the Grabber, coming up and touches from behind was completely off limits for a long while, it sent him into full fight or flight mode and you know exactly which one he's gonna pick), and sometimes touch can still get too much and he will make it known. He reacts really badly otherwise, if you are not close and you touch him, you get a warning on good days by just pushing you away and on bad days, expect him to swing at you.

Vance is not good at reading social cues or how he's supposed to react in certain situations, which results in his rude and standoffish behavior.

When he likes something, he gets very cautious with anything different, someone once posted that getting Vance to try something new is like getting a feral cat into a bath, and that's all I can see.

When getting instructions, Vance needs them super specific, he'll ask questions and such of what exactly he's doing or grabbing, it drives Jim up the wall and he tries to stay patient when Vance is practically interrogating him or when he's not specific enough which ends with Vance bringing back or doing the wrong thing he was supposed to.

This is both because Hopper knows his son just wants to be sure and do a good job and because he knows if he loses his temper and snaps at him, Vance will bring or do the wrong thing on purpose out of pure pettiness and spite.

Jim and Vance's similarities both divide them and bring them together. When Vance was a kid, it helped bond them because while Jim didn't entirely understand what Vance had, he did understand Vance got angry easily the same way he did when he was younger (although for different reasons, Jim because his dad was a fairly abusive douchebag, and Vance because he is easily overstimulated and had a lot of meltdowns.), and tried ways that helped his anger issues to help Vance that actually worked somewhat.

Big Hopper taught little Hopper how to fight. He thought it might help Vance to get the anger out since sometimes, to him, you just need to hit something, and would often encourage him to playfight or practice his punches when he could see Vance start to get overwhelmed at home.

Diane fought with him about it because she didn't like him encouraging violence to solve problems.

Hopper would also playing loud music on the car radio that he knew Vance liked to calm him down by being able to listen to just one, constant sound while he quietly coached him through breathing techniques.

Overall, neither he nor Diane really understood how to deal with Vance, they did try their best with varying results, but every now and then Vance tries to let them know the effort’s still appreciated.

Jim honestly doesn't mind Vance's aversion and just chooses to appreciate that he must be doing something right that Vance feels safe enough around him to consider his touch familiar and calming.

When they were still married, Diane mostly handled Vance since he needed to be handled somewhat delicately because of his aversions and hypersensitivity but at the same time needed to be taught his behavior wasn’t okay when the teacher called home for the tenth time that week on Wednesday. Meanwhile, because of Jim’s hesitance to be too strict or get angry with either of his kids, he let Sarah get away with a lot.

Daddy’s girl Sarah and Mama’s boy Vance.

I’m taking more my experiences with my brother as kids for this one since we don’t know a lot about Sarah.

Sarah and Vance were pretty close, actually, despite their differences, though Vance had to be reminded a few times to be gentle with his sister. Sometimes, the cute aggression would take hold, and he’d tackle her, poke, or pinch her playfully, and once or twice just pick her up to show he could and carry her around the house like a big teddy bear.

They would chase each other a lot and bring back home sticks, rocks, and whatever poor unfortunate worm they found on the sidewalk or grass outside.

They both loved animals and the zoo, and while never successful, would hide from their parents whenever they lured home a stray animal from mice to dogs.

Even as a kid, Vance would probably try to catch baby alligators if you let him, and “No, honey, you cannot pet the giant snake, just because it’s friend-shaped does not mean it’s a friend.”

Like most siblings, they did get into fights that would turn into brawls, but despite what Jim would ever believe, 8 times out of 10, Sarah did start it and she was a biter.

This is getting really long, so I’m just gonna make this part 1 of 2 and get back to this later.

i loved the black phone and i especially loved how the grabber was never given a sad backstory or reasoning for his crimes. theres hints at it but its never explored because the story is from the perspective of the kids who obviously wouldn't care about his tragic childhood, they just wanna get out of there. idk i really liked the movie

So Scott derrickson said that joe hill pitched him a sequel film idea for black phone and he would do it if the movie did well in the box office and it currently has like + 150 million according to Wikipedia…so like… if we get a black phone sequel it will probs be a prequel and probs focus on the grabber which is cool and I’m Eager to see this world again in any shape or form, but I’ll also be bummed cause I will miss finny and the ghost boys and other characters from the first film…

Warnings for a discussion of a film/short story called The Black Phone, which deals with a young boy being abducted and abused by a much older man. This response discusses the abuse toward the young boy.

I talked about what I'd like to see in a sequel before here :)

I see a lot of people speculating on a prequel and I don't mind that idea, really. The Grabber is creepy as fuck, we could get more Max and maybe even delve more into the backstories of Griffin and Billy, who were not given enough screen time. Maybe we even get some mentions of Terrence and his wife, Finney and Gwen's mom. Like, they weren't friends with Albert or Max, but the live in the same town and the Blake mother could be semi well known for her dreams. Al, with his obsession with magic, maybe just makes a note to keep tabs on her.

My ideal sequel is very similar to Ghost in the Machine on AO3, which I'm surprised I don't see more people talking about. Basically, it's set a few years after the film and the Grabber is back haunting Finney as a ghost, still obsessed with him and trying to convince Finney to kill himself so they can be together in the afterlife.

What I would like to see in a sequel is basically that: the Grabber haunting Finney and an exploration as to how the time in the basement affects Finney as he grows.

We know ghosts exist in this universe and we know they can affect the living to some degree (Vance's rage throws bottles, Griffin appears to Finney, Griffin spins a bottle). The Grabber can exist as a ghost

Finney clearly can talk to the dead. His mother was special, his sister has freaky dreams, Finney has his own ability in speaking with the dead. He would be able to communicate with the Grabber if the Grabber was still around

We could possibly see the ghost boys again, though I prefer the idea that they moved on after the Grabber died and they found peace. But, they clearly are able to contact Finney

Opportunity to explore who the boys were without actually featuring them. Robin has an uncle he mentions a lot. Bruce's sister has class with Gwen. These boys had families and unlike the Blakes, their sons/brothers didn't come home. We can explore the lasting effects of what the Grabber did on these families and the community as a whole

Maybe we even get Max as a ghost still trying to come to terms with the horrors of what his brother did

Gwen can still be out there solving crimes for police. Terrence seems to be coming around to her dreams, he lets her help because she saved Finney. But he's paranoid she will end up like her mother and he watches her like a hawk

With Finney speaking to the dead and Gwen exploring her dreams, maybe they make contact with their mother. Or, we get to learn more about her and who she was to the kids. We never see Finney say anything about her and I head canon that he resents her for leaving.

Finney can be in his last year of high school, studying to get into some space program, in a relationship with Donna (or single and exploring their platonic friendship because nonromantic heterosexual relationships are my favorite), trying to move on while still mourning Robin and the loss of his own childhood, when the Grabber starts calling him again

The Grabber is still obsessed with him, still chasing the one that got away. He wants his revenge for Finney killing him and he's not going to go away without a fight

⚠️ The Black Phone Spoilers ⚠️

(˶⸃ ⴰ⸃˶)♡ Been thinking about the movie all day so I wanted to rant about some things I really liked!!

I LOVED how they didn’t explain every little detail about The Grabber’s backstory o(〃’▽’〃)o!!! I’ve seen SO MANY horror movies have someone tell the protagonist (He’s Out There) or a news/radio report explain it (The Collection). The Black Phone included enough details for the audience to put it together while leaving some things up for interpretation!!

I appreciate at the end Finney and Gwen don’t have to accept their father’s apology ❀ (｡◠ ꇴ ◠｡ ). There’s no scene of the kids hugging their dad back and forgiving him.

GWEN’S LINES ꉂ (˃̶᷄‧̫ॢ ˂̶᷅๑ ) ABSOLUTELY KILLED ME!!!! The “Jesus what the fuck?” line made me laugh so hard. Her leading the police to the bodies was a great twist!! I liked how the visuals were handled with that as she walked through Vance’s memories. I got nervous when the house was empty, so it being where the bodies are located was AWESOME!!! Didn’t expect that at all. 

I like how when Finney returns to school they don’t do the whole he wins the girl! The girl isn’t a reward, but rather he now has the confidence he lacked to interact with her. Will something come from it? Who knows, but he’s now more secure with himself (Which is also shown by him going by Finn now).

I REALLY like how not every child was interested in helping Finney escape and that Vance just wanted The Grabber to suffer and pay.

THE ENDING!!!!! The amount I was cheering as Finney strangled The Grabber AND WHEN HE PUT THE PHONE AGAINST HIS EAR!!!! SO SATISFYING!!!!

I usually don’t like supernatural elements in my horror movies, but the way they handled it in The Black Phone was ✧d(•̀ v•̀ )Great~♪!! Every phone call had my eyes glued to the screen!!! 

The way Robin helped train Finney for the final fight!!! Was so sad he died. 

OH AND THE BROTHER TWIST!!! I remember when the screen lowered to the basement IT BLEW MY MIND!!! 

Also this might be a weird praise, BUT THE FACT IT ENDED!!! I’m kinda tired of horror movies leaving these open endings for the possibility of a sequel.

I was scared that the police were going to walk in just after the brother discovered Finney in the basement. (Also that Finney would kill the brother mistaking him for the Grabber). Allowing The Grabber the opportunity to get away and the police to pin everything on the dead brother. 

It was nice to have a solid one off story. 

Bonus - Incredible acting, incredible visuals and I really like how the mask was in two pieces! Allowed for more creative opportunities!!

I liked how the Black Phone was a story about Finn and the victims rather than letting the Grabber steal the show. There's definitely a place in the horror genre for stories that go into the origins of a villain or really play up the villain's backstory, but I liked how the narrative used its space to flesh out a sense of who each of the victims were instead. It was their story of standing together to take down the villain with Finn, and the Grabber felt more like an archetype or a kind of Boogeyman. Anyway 👍

Halloweenathon : The Black Phone

This time we shall look at a film based on the work of Joe Hill..... and one of the most tense films I have seen in a while

In this 2022 film a boy named Finny (Mason Thames) has been kidnapped by a masked serial killer (Ethan Hawk ) ,and through the voices of the killers previous victims that are channeled through a disconnected black phone ,must find a way to escape

So this film is one of the most tense and terrifying films I have seen,and yet there is a sesnse of hope and heart to it .

Now when I say this film is scary ,I dont mean jumpscares and crazy gore and all that.....I mean there is a sense of dread to the film ,its just a kid trapped in a basement by a killer.I also like that the Grabber (HE doesnt have a name ,the killer is just called that ) is he is JUST a guy in the mask ,he is not supernatural ,we dont know his backstory ,he is just a creepy killer in a mask and that works .Also very good performance by Ethan Hawk cause he plays him like he is performing ,when he is friendly,when he is menacing ,the guy is putting on act to either put the kid into a false sense of security or intimidate him.....And that makes the moments when he is genuine,letting the mask slip so to say SCARIER .Also props to the design team cause the Grabbers masks are terrifying

I also like that though this is a supernatural tale....The supernatural elements are good ,be it the ghosts or the psychic powers Gwen,Finneys sister , the supernatural elements are helpful and the monster is like I said just a guy

The best aspect of the film are Finney and Gwen , with their own arcs they must go through ,and Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw give brillaint performances.In fact Finneys arc is really a coming of age story of him standing up for himself .These are two protagonists I really rooted for

So the film is DARK ,it covers a very dark subject matter and the kids also have an abusive alcoholic dad ....And yet there is an optimism to the film .I cant go into why ,cause that would spoil the ending ,so the only thing I will say is the film is not bleak and there are some moments of genuine heart

So criticisms?Really only I found the dads actor ,Jeremy Davis to be just fine ,hes kind of one note,and some dialogue is clunky

Overall,very tense scary movie,I would say its a pretty great movie ,and while scary it is not bleak

@ariel-seagull-wings @metropolitan-mutant-of-ark @amalthea9 @princesssarisa @filmcityworld1 @the-blue-fairie @angelixgutz @themousefromfantasyland

2022 has been such a great year for tv and movies for me. So to wrap it up, here are my top 5 favorite movies for this year! Long post ahead, because I want to gush about this films.

5. The Black Phone

I loved this movie because the focus was more on the victims themselves. The film humanized them. They showed that they had lives and they had so much ahead of them. Oftentimes, these kind of films glorify the killers, but this film thankfully did not do that. They did not even try to show a backstory for The Grabber that will make us sympathize for him. We were just given some hints. Doing that highlights the fact what he is, which is a child killer.

Also, the performances by the child actors were so good, especially Madeleine McGraw (Finney's determined and brave little sister) They really did such a phenomenal job. I hope they get to be in more movies.

4.The Batman

Initially, I thought this would be the best film I've watched this year but still this movie has a special place in my heart. Emo bruce wearing eye make up, played by Robert Pattinson. I can't believe that happened, but wow I am so thankful for it. In all seriousness though, this movie was marketed as an incredibly dark and violent film. It was, but I did not expect it to have such a hopeful message. That was something that I really needed at the time that I watched that film.

Another thing that made this one of my favorites is how they did Seline Kyle. They did not oversexualize her and we got to see more of her vulnerable side. Besides that, I also love the parallels between her and Bruce/Batman.

Lastly, shout out to the soundtrack. When it first came out, I replayed it over and over.

3. Nope

Jordan Peele did it again! This is such a thrilling sci-fi horror film. I'd like to appreciate the clever and gorgeous design of Jean Jacket (that's such a cool name too). There's a lot of sequences that were incredibly memorable for different reasons and it would be too long for me to talk about. But my favorite scene would probably the showdown between Jean Jacket and OJ. I think that scene showcases the main theme of this film.

Another reason why this film is a fave of mine is because it's a film where you can come up with a lot of interpretations and theories. Seeing all the Chekhov's guns paying off was so satisfying.

Before I end this part, I'd like to say that this is my first time seeing Keke Palmer's work. And wow she's such a fun to watch. She brought a really enthusiastic energy to the film that made me love it even more.

2. Glass Onion

This is my most anticipated release for December (December for me because I could not watch it during its theatre release in November) and it did not disappoint. I just want to say I want a full on movie franchise of Benoit Blanc's mystery adventures. Give me MORE. I love murder mysteries and whodunnits and this ticks everything I always wanted in a mystery story. The social commentary it does is also so on point and done in such a fun way. We get to see it come alive through a variety of crazy fun characters with an interesting ensemble of actors.

Half way through, this movie went into a direction that I did not expect. Props to Janelle Monàe for making such a convincing performance, which helped in really selling that twist. I also loved their dynamic and chaotic chemistry with Daniel Craig's Blanc. Them working as investigating partners was such a delight. Lastly, I appreciate that in the end, Blanc was more of just a "helper." It was Helen who was ultimately the "hero," it was her actions that ultimately brought Miles down.

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once

Finally we're here, this movie was the best for me. This movie made me laugh out loud (that d*ldo scene caught me off guard, not gonna lie), made me cry, made me sob, and made me rethink certain aspects of life. After watching this film, I just had to sit back and process everything for a while. The themes and messages from this film felt a little too close for me.

I feel like the editing needs a paragraph of appreciation here, because the editing of this film is WILD! I cannot believe how they even did this. Round of applause for the editors and I hope they got paid wonderfully for their amazing work.

Moving on to the performances, I just want to say that Stephanie Hsu is a talented actress. Go watch her audition tape too because she needs to be booked in more projects. Of course Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and all the other performers were amazing.

I hope more people get to watch this and see for themselves how much heart and thought was poured into this film.

That's all for for now. I hope 2023 would give us an equally interesting and fun set of films to enjoy. Have a great day to you all!

Favorite Horror Films of 2022

The Black Phone: This was just an awesome film. Ethan Hawke is terrifying as the Grabber, an enigmatic serial abductor, and murderer. While some were critical of the Grabber not having much of a backstory (I personally think he was abused by his father who played the "naughty boy" game with him), he is the perfect example of stranger danger personified. His masks are creative and are used to represent a certain mood he was feeling at the moment. Though I don't really understand how he freaked out when his mask was almost removed when he first meets Finney he had no mask on.

Besides Hawke, we had some good child actors. Finney's relationship with Gwen is believable and you are actually rooting for Finney to escape.

Next would be Jordan Peele's Nope. To me, Get Out was my favorite, and I have warmed up to his film Us. It is Get Out first then Nope and then Us. Us was by no means a bad film, just felt that it was too boggled down in its themes. But I have grown to appreciate what Peele was trying to do. It had good cinematography and a soundtrack I'd bop to at the club, and acting.

But as for Nope, I liked it. OJ and Em felt like real siblings who, while they have their spats, do care about each other. Kaluya and Keke Palmer did a good job playing the characters as polar opposites.

The theme of how people are willing to do anything for spectacle is so relevant it is hilarious how Logan Paul missed that point when he made that long "review" on the film. It is also true in its assertion that animals should be respected and if mishandled, there will be consequences.

Of course, people have criticized the film for a number of reasons such as how it is a prominent example of hype backlash due to some putting Peele on a high pedestal (when he himself doesn't mind you) or how it was an unconventional alien film than the trailers were initially letting on. Nope is by no means a perfect film, but I really liked 98.5% of the film.

Jordan Peele has done a stellar job creating movie monsters. There was the Armitage family in Get Out then the Tethered from Us. And now we have Jean Jacket from Nope. Jean Jacket is such an awesome kaiju with how it is a living being instead who devours anything that looks at it is such a unique concept especially when it unfurls in the climax of the film.

X and Pearl are part of a planned trilogy by Ti West with a third film being in development. In 1979, a film crew goes to a farm to pitch an adult movie but things go horribly wrong when Pearl and Howard, the elderly couple living on the farm, start killing the crew off one by one.

Howard and Pearl are so scary because, unlike some killers like Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, they are a human couple who are embittered by having failed to live the lives they wanted and resent the young crew for their sex drive and their freedom from frailties. It is scary because anyone can end up like them whether it be the film crew or you. The film crew, except RJ, are also likable and you are genuinely upset at their gory ends.

Pearl is a great character study where we follow a younger Pearl in 1918 who dreamed to be a famous dancer. However, she had her own psychotic ways to her to where she is an evil clone of Dorothy Gale. While we already know the foregone conclusion that she will not win the spot in the dancing troupe and will stay on the farm forever, one cannot help feeling sorry for her. Mia Goth is an amazing actress who makes a six-minute long raw rant that is spellbinding.

Scream (2022): Loved the kills such as that blade sticking its way into Wes's neck and then somehow peeking from the back.

The Black Phone

“The Black Phone” has a few great moments, but everything in between feels restrained.

Finney Blake is constantly being abused by everyone in his life, whether it’s by his school bullies or his alcoholic father. The year is 1978 and a serial child abductor called, The Grabber, is on the loose. Unfortunately, Finney finds himself being his latest victim. He wakes up in a sound-proofed basement with nothing but a mattress and a disconnected black phone. Through the phone, Finney hears the voices of The Grabber’s previous victims and works with them to try and escape.

I didn’t really have high expectations for this movie and I still came out a bit underwhelmed. I saw a lot of reviews for this movie that were positive and I think I might know why. A lot of those people giving glowing reviews were also highlighting the fact that this movie was made by Scott Derrickson, who also made “Sinister”. I personally really liked “Sinister”, but I didn’t know “The Black Phone” was directed by the same person. The short story this movie is based on is also written by Joe Hill, who is the son of Stephen King. This was another fact I wasn’t aware of before watching the movie. I think maybe knowing the team behind this movie really got people already thinking positively. Without that knowledge, there’s a lot to say about this movie. First off, I didn’t really like the child actors. Maybe I’m spoiled by the performances from the kids in “Stranger Things”, but I felt like the kids in this movie were flat. Mason Thames plays Finney with such indifference throughout most of the film that it was hard to get invested in the stakes. There’s a point in the story where Finney is at his lowest and feeling hopeless. He starts to cry, but there were no tears to be seen. To make matters worse, the camera does a closeup to confirm that there were no tears. I really want to give the benefit of the doubt and say that he was dehydrated from all the work her was doing, but something tells me that wasn’t the case. Madeleine McGraw, who plays Gwen, feels like she has the most potential, but still doesn’t quite hit the mark. Gwen gets beat by her father in one scene and the tone in her voice is just right, but the body language and facial expressions were off. The most egregious example was Miguel Cazarez Mora as Robin. There’s this one scene with Robin and Finney talking in a bathroom and the deliveries from both actors were so dry. Jeremy Davies plays Finney and Gwen’s father and he’s just serviceable. I would’ve loved to see something other than the kidnappings explored in this movie. I would’ve loved to see the backstory of Finney and Gwen’s mother. She clearly had some powers and passed them down to her kids. Maybe revealing the motivations of The Grabber would’ve been cool too. I get that it would take away from the mystique and ruin the horror, but I’m begging the movie to give me something at this point. This movie had a choice to either explore more of the supernatural aspect or the psychological aspect and did neither. Ethan Hawke is obviously the star of the movie and brings the best performance, but there’s so little he’s able to do in the movie that it feels a bit like wasted potential. James Ransone seemed like he’d be a cool character, but ended up feeling super out-of-place for a movie like this. I wish I could’ve seen an actual interaction between him and Ethan Hawke’s character to connect the location together, but we never really get that either. Still, what we do get are some great moments of tension and I think that’s worth something. I do have to admit that some scenes had me holding my breath. Other than that, I think this movie is skippable until they inevitably turn this into a multi-movie franchise.

★★★

Watched on July 13th, 2022

Real glad that I went and saw The Black Phone while it's still in theaters. For the subject matter it is plotted on, it feels odd to say, they did it tastefully.

It feels like most horror movies like to focus on the nitty gritty details and spend too much time dissecting the violence and the general bad things that happen to the main and relevant characters; but Black Phone, the writers and director thoughtfully gives enough details for the viewer to put the horror together themselves without turning the movie into a gorefest and with that they're able to properly focus on the story. It also helped keep the pacing of the suspense of what is going to happen cause the story isn't worried about giving us "lore" and backstory to prove why The Grabber is a bad character.

-----

Anyways, I genuinely thought that they were going to reveal that each mask he wore was a different personality, kind of like SPLIT, but I'm kinda glad they didn't go in that direction.

Answer The Call: The Black Phone Review

I know I’m a little bit late for this review as “The Black Phone” came out on June 24th,2022. But this movie is something I have been wanting to talk about for a while and I didn’t get a chance to do that until now. I’m going to give you my spoiler free thoughts about this movie.

The Black Phone is a 2022 horror film directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister and Doctor Strange) who also produced this movie, The Black Phone is produced by Jason Blum and C. Robert Cargill. The executive producers are Joe Hill, who is Stephen King’s son (and the movie has that Stephen King elements), Ryan Turek, and Christopher H. Warner. The cast involves Ethan Hawke (Sinister) as The Grabber, Mason Thames as Finney, Miguel Cazarez Mora as Robin Arellano, Madeline McGraw as Gwendolyn “Gwen” Blake, Jeremy Davies as Terrence Blake, James Ransone (Sinister, Sinister 2, and IT chapter two), Tristan Pravong as Bruce Yamada, Jacob Moran as Billy Showalter, Banks Repeta as Griffin Stagg, Brady Hepner as Vance Hopper, Rebecca Clarke as Donna, Gaven Wilde as Moose, Spencer Fitzgerald as Buzz, Jordan Isaiah White as Matty, and Brady Ryan as Matt.

The Plot:

After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer’s previous victims.

Positives:

One of the many positives I have about this movie is the cast, and I know I said this in my “Scream (2022)” review, but the cast worked so well together. I really enjoyed Ethan Hawke’s performance as The Grabber as it sent chills down my spine when I saw him wearing that mask and the dialogue he had in the movie. I loved the performance of Mason Thames and Madeline McGraw as brother Finney and sister Gwendolyn Blake as they felt like actual siblings trying to protect each other and their performances make the audience hope that they get reunited.

Pictured above is Ethan Hawke as The Grabber

Image credit: Universal Pictures and BlumHouse Studios

The second positive I have is how faithful the movie was to the short story which can be read over here, The Black Phone short story by Joe Hill. I really loved the fact that Scott Derrickson includes elements from the story while telling his own story. Now it may seem cliché to some, but I believe that adaptations of stories can be faithful to the source material while telling their own story has the potential to be good or at least decent…but that’s just my opinion.

The third positive I have is that the victims felt like actual people and not meaningless characters that killed off with no consequences. These victims matter and it pays off in the finale. As the movie progresses, we get to learn some backstory on some of the victims and that makes the movie so disturbing.

Negatives:

One negative I have about the movie is that we do not learn about The Grabber played by Ethan Hawke’s backstory. With the movie having a budget of $16 million and earning over $150 million, Here’s hoping that we get a prequel exploring The Grabber’s backstory and his motivations.

My overall thoughts

After watching this movie, I can say that this movie has the potential to be a classic for future generations. This movie is one of my favorite horror movies of 2022 as it delivered on the scares, the chills, and the thrills. The characters were amazing, I enjoyed the soundtrack, and it had many edge of your seat moments.

What did you think about The Black Phone?

Feel free to leave a comment

The Black Phone trailer:

The Black Phone Trailer (2022)

Where to watch The Black Phone?

Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital Retailers, and Peacock

Sources of Information:

IMDB-The Black Phone

The Black Phone short story by Joe Hill

CNBC: Blumhouse’s ‘The Black Phone’ shows that horror, and original storytelling have a place at the box office.

 Pictured above is “The Black Phone” poster. Image credit: Universal Pictures and BlumHouse Studios

📞 The Black Phone 🤡 The Black Phone is definitely one of the few good thriller/horror movies that have been released this year so far. I'd say its less horror and more of a thriller/suspense film. The pacing was good, and the plot was well-developed. I really liked the story, and we were presented with a very creepy villain, who was played by Ethan Hawke. The cast performance was outstanding, especially the children (I'd give them awards, if I could) - shout out to Madeleine, who played Finney's little sister; she was the standout of the film for me. The movie kept me on my toes for the most part, and then it was slightly predictable - I don't mean this as a negative point. The overall substance of the film, the characters and the events that lead to the fight scenes (and the ending) was very refreshing, and touching - even with the elements of dread that the movie managed to make me feel. The sound editing, effects and jump scares were of a much better 'quality' from what I've been watching in recent horror movies from the past few years. One minor qualm is that I wish we were given more info on The Grabber, such as a backstory of some kind. Consequently, I would have liked more of Ethan Hawke, he was excellent and terrifying whenever he appeared. I'm very open to a prequel/sequel. Your thoughts? #theblackphone #blackphone #finneyshaw #masonthames #gwen #madeleinemcgraw #ethanhawke #thegrabber #horror #thriller #suspense #horrormovie https://www.instagram.com/p/CjQlka3NoIr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Ok I love the black phone, but it kinda baffles me that the cops seemed to believe gwen so quickly over having psychic dreams, even going to lengths that they sought her out a few times for advice on the kidnappings 😂

Warnings for a discussion of a film/short story called The Black Phone, which deals with a young boy being abducted and abused by a much older man. This response discusses the abuse toward the young boy.

Honestly, Gwen's dreams were the least interesting aspect of the film to me. They don't do anything for the plot! Take out her dreams and the ending of the film doesn't change. I really think they should have used the time taken up by her dreams to explore the backstories of the missing boys instead. Though, that would have robbed us of Gwendolyn Blake time and she is such a great fucking character.

The police are like...really bad at their jobs. How many fucking people are buying black balloons in their town? We know the police know about the black balloons because of the scene of them questioning Gwen. Can't they just keep a tab on all the people who buy black balloons just for a list of names?

Speaking of that first scene with them and Gwen, what was their point? Did they actually think Gwen was an accomplice of the Grabber and that she would be stupid enough to tell a classmate about it? Did they think someone in their police force was giving out details to a young student? Why would a detective on their force be doing that?

Now, to their credit, it is weird that Gwen would know that information, they should be questioning her, but they are super aggressive with how they speak to a 10-year-old girl. Granted, Gwen gets aggressive back and it's a great scene, but why are they so hostile in the beginning?

With them believing her dreams so quickly, it is rather odd, but the police have 0 leads in the film. They can't connect any of the kidnappings, they can't find bodies, they have no descriptions of the Grabber. These dudes are grasping at straws and honestly, if Max didn't have cocaine out on the table, I think they would have asked for his help, if nothing more than for his dedication to the case.

We also don't know who knew about her mother. It seems like Gwen and Finney's mother also had strange dreams and psychic visions that led to her suicide. If she had some friends or told anyone about it, then there's at least a history of the family supposedly having supernatural abilities.

I also think it helps to her credit that she kind of knows two of the boys taken. She has class with Bruce's sister, Amy, and Robin is the friend of her brother. If she was having dreams about Billy or Griffin, two kids she never knew, it's more of a stretch. She has a connection to two of the boys and later three of the boys when Finney goes missing.

To summarize: it's weird how hostile the police are in the beginning with a young girl and their logic of her helping the Grabber doesn't make any sense. But, the police are desperate, we know Gwen's mother set a precedent for the family having odd abilities and Gwen partially knows some of the boys going missing.