No. 53 (2022) THE BLACK PHONE July 11th.

 

Film No. 53  (2022)  July 11th.  6:45 PM  EVENT CINEMAS,  Cine 6,  Innaloo.

"I had a dream about it. He was taken by a man with black balloons?" (Gwen is discussing her dream, and describing details of the abduction that only the police know).

Ethan Hawke plays nasty here in an interesting career choice. But he does it in full mask so maybe we don't really see this narcissistic brute as anything resembling nice guy Hawke. It is the young cast of BLACK PHONE who elevate it to a level that will please the lovers of the Hostage/Terror genre. There is even a touch of the Coming of Age theme.

Finney (Mason Thomas) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) are a brother and sister with a strong alliance. In the care of their loving, but abusive father Terrence (Jeremy Davies) they insulate each other from a sadness in their house. So  these two are our heroes and their town is gripped by the deeds of a serial killer, named The Grabber (Hawke). He lives amongst them. Finney, yes you guessed it, is grabbed and will be No. 6 unless all that has gone before doesn't fit into place like a 500 piece jigsaw.

So where does the black phone fit in? Easy, there is a disconnected black phone attached to the wall of the dank cellar where Finney is being held hostage. He gets calls from The Grabber's earlier victims. One in particular is a friend, Robin (Miguel Cazarez Mora). The details in the calls represent puzzle pieces. If you truly, really have bought in, the silliness of the activities Finney carries out in the cellar won't matter. Oh! I nearly forgot, Finney's sister has dreams. The dreams of a clairvoyant. Police have her as their go-to informant, that's how good Gwen is at dreaming.

 

I'm being flippant, I know, but the film is fun. The violence is gratuitous but the same could be said for the odd Hanna-Barbera cartoon!

           

There are holes galore in plot, script and design here, but BLACK PHONE does not pretend to be anything other than a low budget ($18M) horror flick. Take your seat, be prepared to buy into all that Scott Derrickson (DR STRANGE, SINISTER) serves up, and strap up for the ride. Do that and you'll be "grabbed" for the 95 minute run time. Guaranteed!  8GUMS.