Silence can be the greatest tool at the disposal of any horror film. Silence means that at any moment, someone or something could be alerted to movement, someone’s presence, someone’s fear, and quickly make things worse. It’s possibly the most effective tool at building tension a horror director can use. Scott Derrickson (“Doctor Strange,” “Sinister”) clearly knows this well given his latest fantastically dreadful film, “The Black Phone.”
Starring newcomer Mason Thames, the film follows Finney Shaw, a young boy living in Colorado in 1978. After five local kids go missing, he’s also taken by a serial kidnapper and killer nicknamed “The Grabber”, played by Ethan Hawke (“Before Sunrise,” “First Reformed”), and tries to escape captivity while his younger sister Gwen, played by newcomer Madeleine McGraw, tries desperately to find him.
But that’s not even close to how supernatural things get. Thames and McGraw have genuinely, believable rapport and love on display. Not once do you question their sibling bond and they light up the screen together. Hawke, meanwhile, is chilling. Not a moment goes by without his unnerving manner of speaking filling your heart with dread. No scene with him is ever certain, and he’s unnerving the entire time, in every meaning of the word. For the most part, the film’s child actors are all fine, but some of them struggle with line delivery and a handful of moments early on could’ve used a second take.
“Black Phone” fills out the 70s aesthetic nicely, with tube TVs, brick houses everywhere and an overall maroon tint to this terrifying tale. It’s exceptionally put together, and the films usage of flashbacks and home video also helps create the unsettling atmosphere. Hawke’s mask is a feat of production and costume design. Not in that its particularly complex, but its so simple and brilliantly effective.
Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill (“Doctor Strange,” “Sinister”) craft a fun balance between a real-world hunt for the Grabber and the more supernatural elements at play. The titular phone is an enigma throughout the entire film, never ever being fully explained. The same goes for Gwen. So much of the film hints at its stranger, unexplained elements without sitting the audience down and explaining it all like their children. It’s remarkably refreshing in the way that it trusts the audience and helps to add to the tension as, again, nothing is fully explained.
The heavy use of sound throughout “Black Phone” is likely its best aspect. When a musical score is present, composed by Mark Korven (“The VVitch,” “The Lighthouse”), it plays with electronic and wavy synth notes in a tense and fun way. However, much of the film is just ambient noise and silent, meaning that when the phone does ring or a door does creek, it immediately fills you with dread. It’s a perfect exercise in creating and keeping tension.
Which is why the film’s handful of more comedic moments don’t really land. They’re funny, but it means that the tension the film’s worked so hard to build is deflated almost instantly. It gets it back every time though, and there aren’t many of these moments. On the other hand, the moments when Hawke delivers a line that makes himself giggle, it’ll chill your blood.
“The Black Phone” is a good ol’ fashioned horror delight. It’s lead by a terrifying performance and the aesthetic, with some great child performances and a fantastic use of tension and silence. It’s just a rock-solid film all around, the kind of horror film that will be enjoyed for quite some time. 4/5
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