- "Want to see a magic trick?"
- ―The Grabber
| The Black Phone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | The Black Phone |
| Director: | Scott Derrickson |
| Writers: | Scott Derrickson; C. Robert Cargill |
| Producers: | Jason Blum; Ryan Turek; Christopher H. Warner; Joe Hill; C. Robert Cargill; Scott Derrickson; Jennifer Scudder Trent |
| Composer: | Mark Korven |
| Cinematography: | Brett Jutkiewicz |
| Editors: | Frédéric Thoraval |
| Production | |
| Production company: | Blumhouse Productions Crooked Highway |
| Distributed by: | Universal Pictures |
| Released: | June 24th, 2021 |
| Rating: | R |
| Running time: | 103 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $89,237,185 (US) [1] $157,239,185 (Worldwide) |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | — |
The Black Phone is an American feature film of the psycho-thriller and supernatural thriller subgenres of horror. It was written and directed by Scott Derrickson with a screenplay co-written by C. Robert Cargill. It is based on the short story "The Black Phone", written by Joe Hill. It was presented by Universal Pictures and produced by Blumhouse Productions and Crooked Highway. It opened theatrically in the United States on June 24th, 2021. It had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 25th, 2021.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Mason Thames | Finney Blake |
| Madeleine McGraw | Gwen Blake |
| Ethan Hawke | The Grabber |
| Jeremy Davies | Terrence Blake |
| E. Roger Mitchell | Detective Wright |
| Troy Rudeseal | Detective Miller |
| James Ransone | Max |
| Miguel Cazarez Mora | Robin |
| Rebecca Clarke | Donna |
| J. Gaven Wilde | Moose |
| Spencer Fitzgerald | Buzz |
| Jordan Isaiah White | Matty |
| Brady Ryan | Matt |
| Tristan Pravong | Bruce |
| Jacob Moran | Billy |
| Brady Hepner | Vance |
| Banks Repeta | Griffin |
| Parrish Stikeleather | Mister Hopkins |
| Kristina Arjona | Mrs. Fulgrim |
| Sheila M. O'Rear | Principal Keller |
| Rocco G. Poveromo | Chief of Police |
| Kellan Rhude | Patrolman |
| Nina Repeta | Sally's mother |
| Reagan Shumate | Teen girl |
| Bay Allebach | Teen girl #2 |
| Dashiell Derrickson | Jackass #1 |
| Braxton Alexander Defosse | Jackass #2 |
| Lukas Colagross | Shop-N-Go Kid |
| Mark Riccardi | Umpire |
| Andrew Farmer | Teammate #1 |
| T. Maxwell Martin | Teammate #2 |
| Garrison Starkweather | Teammate #3 |
| Megan Petersen | Math teacher |
| Rob Fortunato | Cop |
| Christy Connell | Office attendant |
Notes & Trivia[]
- The Black Phone redirects to this page.
- This movie is an adaptation of the short story "The Black Phone". It was written by Joe Hill, son of famed horror author Stephen King and was first published in issue #39 of The Third Alternative in 2004, and later included in Hill's own 2005 collection 20th Century Ghosts. The story was later released by HarperCollins e-books on February 3rd, 2009.
- The tagline for this film is "Never talk to strangers".
- There are a total of thirty-five credited cast members in this film.
- Principal shooting on The Black Phone commenced on February 9th, 2021 and concluded on March 27th. The movie was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina. [2]
- Following its limited release, The Black Phone was also screened at Beyond Fest on October 9th, 2021, and the Tribeca Film Festival on June 18th, 2022.
- The Black Phone was released on video-on-demand on July 14th, 2022. It began streaming on the Peacock service on August 14th, 2022. [3][4]
- The Black Phone was released on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray by Universal Studios on August 16th, 2022. The collection includes a DVD copy and a digital download code. [5]
- Frédéric Thoraval also worked as an editor on Sinister in 2012, which was his first work in the horror genre.
- Actor Brady M. Ryan, who plays Matt, is credited as Brady Ryan in this film.
- Actress Sheila O'Rear, who plays Principal Keller, is credited as Sheila M. O'Rear in this film.
- Actor Rocco Poveromo, who plays the Chief of Police, is credited as Rocco G. Poveromo in this film.
- Actor Robert Fortunato, who plays a cop, is credited as Rob Fortunato in this film.
- The setting for the film is Denver, Colorado in the year 1978.
- Director Scott Derrickson is also known for directing Hellraiser: Inferno in 2000, The Exorcism of Emily Rose in 2005 and Sinister in 2012.
- This is the fourth horror film work for actor Ethan Hawke. In 2009 he played Edward Dalton in the vampire sci-fi film Daybreakers. In 2012 he played Ellison Oswalt in Sinister (also directed by Scott Derrickson). In 2013 he played James Sandin in The Purge, which is more of a suspense thriller than a horror movie, but is often lumped in with the genre.
- Actor James Ransone is also known for playing Deputy So-and-So in Sinister and Sinister II, as well as adult Eddie Kasprak in It: Chapter Two.
- The antagonist of this film lures his victims with black balloons. In the IT novel, TV miniseries and feature film series, the antagonist Pennywise lures his victims with red balloons. IT was written by Stephen King, father of "The Black Phone" short story author Joe Hill.
- This is Mason Thames' first professional acting work in film. Prior to playing Finn, he played Daniel Stevens on three episodes of For All Mankind in 2019.
- This is Madeleine McGraw's seventh film work as an actress or voice actress. This is her first work in the horror genre. She is a year and six months younger than co-star Mason Thames.
- Actress Nina Repeta, who plays Sally's mother, is the real-life mother of actor Banks Repeta, who plays Griffin.
- The mask that the Grabber wears was designed by makeup/special effects artist Tom Savini.
- The disappearance of the paperboy is a reference to an actual case. On September 5th, 1982, a paperboy from Des Moines, Iowa named Johnny Gosch disappeared without a trace. It remains an unsolved case to this day.
- The Grabber's tactic of dropping groceries outside of his van to lure the aid of potential victims is similar to that of real-world serial killer Ted Bundy, who would lull his victims into a sense of sympathy by feigning an injury, then locking them inside of his van to be murdered elsewhere. In fiction, this strategy is also employed by Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb in the 1991 thriller The Silence of the Lambs.
- The movie that Terrence Blake is watching at home is The Tingler from 1959. It was directed by William Castle and stars Vincent Price and Judith Evelyn.
Recommendations[]
Welcome to the Blumhouse[]
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See also[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Box Office Mojo; The Black Phone (2021); All Releases.
- ↑ IMDB; The Black Phone (2021); Filming & Production.
- ↑ IMDB; The Black Phone (2021); Release Info.
- ↑ Deadline.com; "NBCUniversal's New Theatrical Window Scheme To Bring Films to Peacock After As Few as 45 Days Of Release"; (December 9th, 2021). Hayes, Dade.
- ↑ Blu-ray.com; The Black Phone Blu-ray; Collector's Edition/Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD; Universal Studios; 2022; 104 min.