Have always had a lot of appreciation for horror, even though it isn't my favorite genre, and "The Black Phone" has been waiting in our watch queue for quite a while now, but for a variety of reasons I always postponed my viewing.
Hmm, my mother taught me that looking great is important, but to seduce one should leave a little to the imagination.
One thing I've learned about horror/suspense flicks over the years is that creepy images alone are not enough to base the entire experience around. Sure, you can load a film with jump-scares and grisly images, but if there isn't an interesting or coherent plot to back it up, the entire experience will be transient (at best) and utterly forgettable (at worst). Unfortunately, the former is very close to my feelings about "The Black Phone".
Without giving away too much of the plot, It’s very Stephen King territory, where the use of horror is meant to symbolically reflect the very real life horrors these children endure. Rather fitting since this is adapted from a short story by Joe Hill, King’s son, who’s certainly influenced by his horror roots. Now I didn't go into this blind - I read the short story a couple of days prior to seeing the film, and it is only 20 pages so I was a bit nervous and skeptical about how well it could be fleshed out and adapted to the big screen.
Anyhoo - the film started off strong with extreme horror juxtaposed by nostalgic familiarity. However, as the plot progressed I felt that certain aspects that I was excited about were never fleshed out in full, and the plot was left feeling simple. It had all the potential to be an incredibly creepy horror with a dive into the psychology/human psyche, but instead I felt that it relied on simple paranormal themes to create spooks. I would have loved to see the themes of isolation, vulnerability, and danger-in-your-own-backyard further explored. I also think the villian in this story relied too heavily on cosmetic creep rather than creating a truly and deeply disturbing character. Speaking of him -- he made me think of John Wayne Gacy - especially all the victims being young boys and burying them under concrete in the basement of a house.
Also, not getting any backstory on why the Grabber did what he did, or what he was trying to accomplish, but I guess it 's true to reality that we don't always get a real definitive answer on why killers do what they do. They probably wanted to leave some mystery, but I would have liked a little peek into the killers mind.
Ultimately, the film felt bare-bones for me. I still enjoyed watching it, and I do have to say that cinematically it is stunning. I was left thinking perhaps the book did have more of these aspects explored but wasn't translated to film, but was disappointed to see that isn't the case either.
Just like a good romance is all about the yearning, a good horror is all about the dread - and methinks they could have spent a bit more time and effort to build that through character depth and plot complexity. :)A
Hmm, my mother taught me that looking great is important, but to seduce one should leave a little to the imagination.
One thing I've learned about horror/suspense flicks over the years is that creepy images alone are not enough to base the entire experience around. Sure, you can load a film with jump-scares and grisly images, but if there isn't an interesting or coherent plot to back it up, the entire experience will be transient (at best) and utterly forgettable (at worst). Unfortunately, the former is very close to my feelings about "The Black Phone".
Without giving away too much of the plot, It’s very Stephen King territory, where the use of horror is meant to symbolically reflect the very real life horrors these children endure. Rather fitting since this is adapted from a short story by Joe Hill, King’s son, who’s certainly influenced by his horror roots. Now I didn't go into this blind - I read the short story a couple of days prior to seeing the film, and it is only 20 pages so I was a bit nervous and skeptical about how well it could be fleshed out and adapted to the big screen.
Anyhoo - the film started off strong with extreme horror juxtaposed by nostalgic familiarity. However, as the plot progressed I felt that certain aspects that I was excited about were never fleshed out in full, and the plot was left feeling simple. It had all the potential to be an incredibly creepy horror with a dive into the psychology/human psyche, but instead I felt that it relied on simple paranormal themes to create spooks. I would have loved to see the themes of isolation, vulnerability, and danger-in-your-own-backyard further explored. I also think the villian in this story relied too heavily on cosmetic creep rather than creating a truly and deeply disturbing character. Speaking of him -- he made me think of John Wayne Gacy - especially all the victims being young boys and burying them under concrete in the basement of a house.
Also, not getting any backstory on why the Grabber did what he did, or what he was trying to accomplish, but I guess it 's true to reality that we don't always get a real definitive answer on why killers do what they do. They probably wanted to leave some mystery, but I would have liked a little peek into the killers mind.
Ultimately, the film felt bare-bones for me. I still enjoyed watching it, and I do have to say that cinematically it is stunning. I was left thinking perhaps the book did have more of these aspects explored but wasn't translated to film, but was disappointed to see that isn't the case either.
Just like a good romance is all about the yearning, a good horror is all about the dread - and methinks they could have spent a bit more time and effort to build that through character depth and plot complexity. :)A