Deviously Dark, "The Black Phone."

A paranormal parade into savage reality and sheer fantasy displays itself nefariously well in the "Black Phone."  

The graphic violence in this flick is minimal, aside from an axe to the head. The above picture is an actual still from this horror gem, and yes, shot in eight or 16mm. Only very brief segments laden throughout the film appear this way. The rest of the film is shot extremely clear, and the terror was mostly cerebral.  

A child who sees the torture of other children in her dreams becomes a true asset to the police in her brothers kidnapping. The children were the focal actors throughout the film, even more so than Ethan Hawk. 

Mason Thames, Miguel Cazarez Mora, Tristan Pravong and Madeleine McGraw, pictured, held their own and brought the story to life.

Ethan Hawk epitomizes evil too well in some scenes, and that's why he's Hawk. a real icon in the world of actors.

Thames is Finny, the last child kidnapped in a small town, and the spirts of other murdered middle-schoolers come to his aide via the black phone, or do they? 

I simply liked "The Black Phone," it was dark and disturbing, yet conveyed cleverly to the masses. 

Mark Izzy Schurr    

 

Serve None, but the Conscience Within

Enduring the cold airless vacuums of space amidst the infinite cosmos and yearning to see beyond the veil of knowledge. thus began the tale of the Silver Surfer. (Stan Lee / Mark Izzy Schurr)    

"Origins," is an easy 208 page read that has embedded itself into my imagination. The Siver Surfer, aka, Chrome Dome rides the waves of infinity on his indestructible board which obeys his mental commands. As we all know from our comic book reading, Glactus granted the Surfman all his powers, and the rest is a mind journey into the chaos of reality and fantasy. 

John Buscema's artwork weaved marvelously into Stan Lee's words in this 2007 release. 

Earth, a world of madness, where reason is shunned, and violence prevails, no longer shall the Silver Surfer be part of man's insanity. Let humanity do what it will. Worlds without limits await my coming. I shall be true to my trust. While infinity beckons, I must leave behind my very heart, Shalla-Bal. Never has there been, never will there be another such as her. 

"I have seen the birth of planets and the death of worlds. Galaxies crumble and new suns aborning, yet in every star and every sun, I see her face," the Silver Surfer said.

The tangible emotions of love and the wanton wonders of youth are cosmically displayed on "Part Two Duel in the Depths" 

Time is long and fate is fickle. My destiny lies before me, and where it beckons, there shall soar the Silver Surfer. (Stan Lee) 

The mystic vapers of imaginations runs rampant in "Ogrins." Infinity and oblivion collide with the savage and sensational emotions of humanity within these pages of the Silver Surfer. 

Mark Izzy Schurr