Locked up in the basement of sadistic, serial child-killer's home, Finney starts to get messages on a disconnected, old black telephone from the ghosts of The Grabber's previous victims.
Meanwhile, his younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) is having vivid dreams about The Grabber's victims, including details not released to the general public, which piques the interest of the police.
As the ghosts on the phone guide Finney into trying to complete their own escape attempts, Gwen - against the wishes of their alcoholic and abusive father, Terrance (Jeremy Davies) - tries to piece together clues to her brother's location.
With its '70s suburban setting, psychic kids, ghosts, and creepy and enigmatic antagonist, writer/director Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone has an immediate, overpowering Stephen King vibe about it... which is unsurprising as it's based on a short story of the same name by King's son, Joe Hill.
Unfortunately, for all its intensity and jeopardy, there's little depth to the story. While The Black Phone is incredibly well-made, but it simply lacks any enduring substance or character depth.
Sure, it's suggested that Gwen got her "abilities" from her mum (who had been driven to suicide by her own visions) and presumably that's also why Finney could hear the black phone "ringing", but that's about it.
Some of the hardest moments to watch don't actually involve The Grabber, who by and large (for what we actually see) is all talk, but are, instead, of the inexcusably violent Terrance beating on Gwen for attracting the attention of the police because of her dreams!
Then, much of the film's resolution hinges on the police's immediate willingness to act on Gwen's dreams, which - given the apparent "true crime" grittiness that Scott Derrickson (of Sinister and Doctor Strange fame) seems to be chasing here - feels rather far-fetched.
But it was the 70's, I guess, perhaps the Denver police were more open to pursuing leads from the dreams of tween girls?
In truth, throughout the 100-minute movie, the paranormal aspects are treated in a very matter-of-fact manner, as if psychic kids and ghosts were an accepted part of real life in 1970's suburban America, rather than the stuff of nightmares and horror flicks.
Nevertheless, The Black Phone is a powerful and engaging thriller, with a disturbing and memorable central performance from Ethan Hawke in a variety of Tom Savini-designed masks, that bear more than a passing resemblance to Lon Chaney's iconic character from the legendary, lost, silent horror movie London After Midnight.
However, while The Black Phone understandably unnerves its audience with a constant sense of threat towards its young captive lead, this ultimately feels very superficial.
Even the pseudo-bait-and-switch, Silence of The Lambs-inspired, arrival of the cavalry at the end isn't the giant misdirect you fear it might have been, that could have opened the plot up for a potentially darker denouement.
For all its supernatural trappings, The Black Phone is disappointingly linear, devoid of any interesting twists or revelations at the eleventh hour.
Ultimately, while there's definitely the essence of a potentially great horror movie in what has been brought to the screen, you are left with the distinct feeling that there could have been so much more to The Black Phone.
Sure, it's suggested that Gwen got her "abilities" from her mum (who had been driven to suicide by her own visions) and presumably that's also why Finney could hear the black phone "ringing", but that's about it.
Some of the hardest moments to watch don't actually involve The Grabber, who by and large (for what we actually see) is all talk, but are, instead, of the inexcusably violent Terrance beating on Gwen for attracting the attention of the police because of her dreams!
Then, much of the film's resolution hinges on the police's immediate willingness to act on Gwen's dreams, which - given the apparent "true crime" grittiness that Scott Derrickson (of Sinister and Doctor Strange fame) seems to be chasing here - feels rather far-fetched.
But it was the 70's, I guess, perhaps the Denver police were more open to pursuing leads from the dreams of tween girls?
In truth, throughout the 100-minute movie, the paranormal aspects are treated in a very matter-of-fact manner, as if psychic kids and ghosts were an accepted part of real life in 1970's suburban America, rather than the stuff of nightmares and horror flicks.
Nevertheless, The Black Phone is a powerful and engaging thriller, with a disturbing and memorable central performance from Ethan Hawke in a variety of Tom Savini-designed masks, that bear more than a passing resemblance to Lon Chaney's iconic character from the legendary, lost, silent horror movie London After Midnight.
However, while The Black Phone understandably unnerves its audience with a constant sense of threat towards its young captive lead, this ultimately feels very superficial.
Even the pseudo-bait-and-switch, Silence of The Lambs-inspired, arrival of the cavalry at the end isn't the giant misdirect you fear it might have been, that could have opened the plot up for a potentially darker denouement.
For all its supernatural trappings, The Black Phone is disappointingly linear, devoid of any interesting twists or revelations at the eleventh hour.
Ultimately, while there's definitely the essence of a potentially great horror movie in what has been brought to the screen, you are left with the distinct feeling that there could have been so much more to The Black Phone.
