View Poll Results: The Black Phone (Scott Derrickson)

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  • Yay

    4 80.00%
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Thread: The Black Phone (Scott Derrickson)

  1. #1
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    The Black Phone (Scott Derrickson)


  2. #2
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    Surprised there wasn't a poll for this one yet. Anyway, Joe Hill sure seems to be following closely on his dad's footsteps with his brand of Horror and Derrickson directs the shit out of this - their combined efforts add unexpected flair to the somewhat derivative material, and the last third of the film delivers like crazy. Some people are against jump scares in general but this film puts them to great use. I was left wanting to know more about Ethan Hawke's villain, specially the motivations behind his many quirks, but I think that's deliberate building for a possible sequel. There's a particular character who might or might not be a parody of a famous performance in Zodiac that adds some much needed comic relief.

  3. #3
    Quote Quoting Grouchy (view post)
    There's a particular character who might or might not be a parody of a famous performance in Zodiac that adds some much needed comic relief.
    Really? Which performance?

  4. #4
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    Yay, but just barely. Appreciated the 70's setting (and physical abuse angle), although production designers can probably get that aspect right in their sleep. But, I kinda feel cheated by this.

    SPOILERS

    The phone figured heavily in the trailers, like some sort of hook, something that elicited a legit WTF from me. Like I'd wanna see who was actually calling and what the resolution was going to be like. But's really kinda silly instead of clever because, insofar as I got it, the phone definitely doesn't work, so the kid is just pretending to hear the other victim's voices to get him safely through the ordeal. Then there is the stuff with the villain's ignorant brother, seemingly just shoehorned in to add some extra mystery to a movie which is far more straightforward than the adds would have you believe. And what to say of the sister? As far as I got that, she had dreams or visions which revealed literal clues to her brother's whereabouts, but the movie makes no case for such a supernatural element to be a valid component of the kind of movie this is. Why couldn't it simply be a police procedural instead?

    Maybe I should have gone for a 'nay'.
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  5. #5
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting StuSmallz (view post)
    Really? Which performance?


    I don't know, I thought they cast Ziggy from The Wire for the physical likeness but maybe I'm reading too much into it.

  6. #6
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    Enjoyed this more for its performances and filmmaking rather than its plotting, once the latter gets past its catchy horror hook. The utilization of its supernatural elements is pretty thin that it makes the middle section sag; that and some spotty pacing feel like the result of a short being expanded to feature length. But the two kids are great, plus Derrickson's era evocation has some real pleasingly filmic texture to it, not to mention he doesn't skimp on the violence not only from the central horror figure but also what the kids themselves are capable of inflicting on each other. Very satisfying and cathartic horror climax in quite a while too. 7/10
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
    The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
    The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
    Sisters (1973) - 6.5
    Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5

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