In The Black Phone, a new horror movie based on a short story by Joe Hill—oldest son of horror icon Stephen King—star Ethan Hawke pulls a Pennywise and plants nightmares in viewers’ minds before the movie even makes it into theaters.
Here’s the synopsis for The Black Phone:
Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.
HoH
Save for changing character names, the movie’s synopsis tracks well with Joe Hill’s short story, which is about a kid named “John Finney” who “is locked in a basement that’s stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead . . .”
Sounds like a real megadose of horror, and with a gifted actor like Hawke handling creepy child killer villain duties (the role includes wearing a lot of nightmarish masks), The Black Phone could end up a Halloween staple for years to come.
The Black Phone won’t premiere in time for this year’s spooky holiday. It hits theaters February 4, 2022.