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