Review: ‘The Black Phone’ — a Terrifying, Stephen King Inspired Horror Film
Scott Derrickson channels the great horror writer in his unforgettable 2021 horror film
When it came to cinemas in 2021, The Black Phone was one of my most anticipated films of all time. Sinister, the film that put Derrickson onto the map for many thanks to its genuinely blood-curdling faux-found footage sequences, was not only one of the horror films that really thrust me into the genre (alongside The Blair Witch Project, The Conjuring and some others) but also a personal favourite, had proven that Derrickson could create an incredibly unnerving atmosphere and showed that he knew how to get a terrific performance from Ethan Hawke. So when The Black Phone’s trailer showed Hawke in a rare villainous turn as a masked child kidnapper, I was immediately interested.
Seeing the film in cinemas, I spent much of the time curled up and/or covering my ears, anticipating Derrickson jumpscares after the infamous lawnmower jumpscare in Sinister had scared the life out of me when I saw it in my teens. But The Black Phone only has one real jumpscare in its 100 minute runtime. This is one of many things that saw the film hailed as a refreshing shift away from the two strands of horror trends — either, films are Hereditary-esque ‘prestige’ horrors…
